A review by lexi17d
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

“[Babel] gnaws at questions that have bothered me since I started graduate school—chiefly the brokenness of academia, and the sacrifices that true change might require.” -R.F. Kuang

I am in awe of all R.F. Kuang’s books, and Babel is absolutely no exception. This book accomplishes everything that dark academia is meant to be. The amount of knowledge and research that R.F. Kuang has put into the art of translation is immensely apparent throughout the book. Kuang’s mastery at words is so baffling, I have difficulty finding my own to express how amazed I am. 
This book broaches themes of racism, sexism, classism, and bigotry in academia and translation in such an elegant, yet blunt way as to render impossible to ignore. Admittedly, I had not really considered how the act of translation is a betrayal of the intended meaning from the original language, and how the process of translation often shifts the intent towards racist and bigoted perspectives.  This book did an outstanding job at showing how translation and lost meaning between languages can harm people, and the lengths and sacrifices that are required to instill true change at an academic, institutional, and bureaucratic level. 

I will be thinking about the themes of this book for a very, very long time. 

R.F. Kuang, you are a treasure. 

Wow. 

“An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.” 
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