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A review by the_bookish_hag
Babel by R.F. Kuang
5.0
Babel takes place in the 1830’s predominantly in England. It is centered around the journey of Robin Swift and how he went from a young boy in Canton to a revolutionary in England. Robin Swift is given the opportunity to leave poverty, disease, and his motherland of China behind. He exchanges this for an academic opportunity given to him by a visiting Englishman; strings attached. What transcends in the years to come are a whirlwind of culture, history, sexism, light magic, racism, friendship, and revolution. Though this is set in the 1830’s the issues within are still unfortunately relevant today. Do not let the size of this book overwhelm you because this is not as difficult of a read as one may think as long as you have an open mind. R.F Kuang also adds little annotations which help readers understand historical context without having to stop and look up something which I appreciated.
After making his way to England from China, Robin spends the next few years under the care of the Englishman who brought him over, Professor Lovell. He is tutored in multiple languages so that he can fulfill part of his bargain which is to attend the most prestigious, Oxford University, and become a translator. In this world translators are used to help facilitate the use of Babel's subtle magic system which feels very easy to digest as it's linguistics based with light fantasy elements. Using words, translators find connecting words across languages then apply them to silver bars to use almost like a spell. Silver bars can help with many things like keep bridges up, help gun men shoot more accurately and sewage management. After years of relentless tutoring Robin is accepted into Babel, the translation school within Oxford. Robin makes quick friends with his three fellow Babblers. As an Indo-Trinidadian and Filipino I specifically adored this friend group of a Haitian girl named Victoire, a Bengali Muslim boy named Rami, an English rose named Letty and of course, Robin. Kaung repeatedly reminds you while you are laughing and learning with our beloved babblers that it is not permanent that there is a sleeping giant awaiting them. I appreciated this little cluster and yet I was continuously worried for them.
There is a slow realization of our BIPOC babblers, that what they are learning and working towards comes at a cost to others like them who cannot afford the same opportunities. They realize how everything in their world is connected and under the shadow of England's empirical greed as well as her unwillingness to see any one other than white and British to be truly human. They understand who truly sees and hears them versus those who would rather keep calm and carry on. What this book does well is create solidarity between those who are marginalized and wish to make a difference. This attempts to break barriers of race, gender, and class. There are added historical twists. For instance, the silver industrial revolution, or what we know as the industrial revolution, Kaung portrays how it affected the white working class in the book. She then bridges the gap over time to show the full picture of working class peoples across many nations and how they are being exploited by the British government.
This book is to be read with an open mind and a listening heart because some topics are heavy such as white fragility, sexism, colonization along with the guilt those topics can leave. The story telling gives you most of what you need or want in a novel. I would say I personally would have liked the moments we learned deeper about Victoire, Ramy, and Letty to be a bit more early on but I also understand their placement. Needless to say when Ramy laughed, I snickered. When Robin cried I sobbed, and when Letty bristled I bristled back. The sharing between Ramy, Victoire, and Robin and their quick jabs at others about the lives they lead felt like my own friends and their experiences. I also appreciate that there is no romance in this story, it has more important things to say. When attempting to answer is violence necessary during times of revolution I think this book helps you understand that yes there is always more nuance but sometimes to be taken seriously you have to speak the language of your oppressor. I read half and also listened to the audiobook and the voice actors do a wonderful job at narrating. Considering how much of this book is dependent on language I found it more enjoyable to hear the pronunciations by native speakers than read them. Please keep in mind I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum so forgive me if you think I am missing important information. If you are willing to read something with heavy topics that asks you to address your own personal prejudices, please try Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History. If you find yourself combative when it comes to these issues, I still think you should try.
After making his way to England from China, Robin spends the next few years under the care of the Englishman who brought him over, Professor Lovell. He is tutored in multiple languages so that he can fulfill part of his bargain which is to attend the most prestigious, Oxford University, and become a translator. In this world translators are used to help facilitate the use of Babel's subtle magic system which feels very easy to digest as it's linguistics based with light fantasy elements. Using words, translators find connecting words across languages then apply them to silver bars to use almost like a spell. Silver bars can help with many things like keep bridges up, help gun men shoot more accurately and sewage management. After years of relentless tutoring Robin is accepted into Babel, the translation school within Oxford. Robin makes quick friends with his three fellow Babblers. As an Indo-Trinidadian and Filipino I specifically adored this friend group of a Haitian girl named Victoire, a Bengali Muslim boy named Rami, an English rose named Letty and of course, Robin. Kaung repeatedly reminds you while you are laughing and learning with our beloved babblers that it is not permanent that there is a sleeping giant awaiting them. I appreciated this little cluster and yet I was continuously worried for them.
There is a slow realization of our BIPOC babblers, that what they are learning and working towards comes at a cost to others like them who cannot afford the same opportunities. They realize how everything in their world is connected and under the shadow of England's empirical greed as well as her unwillingness to see any one other than white and British to be truly human. They understand who truly sees and hears them versus those who would rather keep calm and carry on. What this book does well is create solidarity between those who are marginalized and wish to make a difference. This attempts to break barriers of race, gender, and class. There are added historical twists. For instance, the silver industrial revolution, or what we know as the industrial revolution, Kaung portrays how it affected the white working class in the book. She then bridges the gap over time to show the full picture of working class peoples across many nations and how they are being exploited by the British government.
This book is to be read with an open mind and a listening heart because some topics are heavy such as white fragility, sexism, colonization along with the guilt those topics can leave. The story telling gives you most of what you need or want in a novel. I would say I personally would have liked the moments we learned deeper about Victoire, Ramy, and Letty to be a bit more early on but I also understand their placement. Needless to say when Ramy laughed, I snickered. When Robin cried I sobbed, and when Letty bristled I bristled back. The sharing between Ramy, Victoire, and Robin and their quick jabs at others about the lives they lead felt like my own friends and their experiences. I also appreciate that there is no romance in this story, it has more important things to say. When attempting to answer is violence necessary during times of revolution I think this book helps you understand that yes there is always more nuance but sometimes to be taken seriously you have to speak the language of your oppressor. I read half and also listened to the audiobook and the voice actors do a wonderful job at narrating. Considering how much of this book is dependent on language I found it more enjoyable to hear the pronunciations by native speakers than read them. Please keep in mind I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum so forgive me if you think I am missing important information. If you are willing to read something with heavy topics that asks you to address your own personal prejudices, please try Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History. If you find yourself combative when it comes to these issues, I still think you should try.