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A review by donie
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?
The world-building of this book is one of the most unique ones I had ever encountered; I looove when we can clearly tell that the author had put so much research into writing a book! The characters has so much depth and complexities to them, and Ramy had become my favorite muslim character written by a non-muslim author. There's so much to say about this book but I can't put it into words so let's just say I simply adored this book (if I have to say name a con about it, I guess I'm a bit torn by the footnotes because sometimes it feels greatly insightful and other times distracting).
The world-building of this book is one of the most unique ones I had ever encountered; I looove when we can clearly tell that the author had put so much research into writing a book! The characters has so much depth and complexities to them, and Ramy had become my favorite muslim character written by a non-muslim author. There's so much to say about this book but I can't put it into words so let's just say I simply adored this book (if I have to say name a con about it, I guess I'm a bit torn by the footnotes because sometimes it feels greatly insightful and other times distracting).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation
Moderate: Racial slurs