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A review by foxgame
Babel by R.F. Kuang
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved the linguistics and reading a book about languages. It is ironic that the silver bars that don’t work were the ones for translate because words with similar meanings across different languages don’t have the same depth or cultural resonance.
Robin, the MMC, was a character that was prone to taking the easy a path rather than make a choice. Whether this stemmed from the instance of when he chose to read a novel as a child and was then beaten for it, or just a personality trait, idk.
The story also revolves around the 18th century’s British Empire sense of self, where the rich upper class white man is the only opinion that matters and is always right regardless. The implicit and very explicit racism covered in this book is repulsive, probably more so when considering it is probably tame to what existed at that time and likely exists today.
I found this book insightful and thought provoking.
Robin, the MMC, was a character that was prone to taking the easy a path rather than make a choice. Whether this stemmed from the instance of when he chose to read a novel as a child and was then beaten for it, or just a personality trait, idk.
The story also revolves around the 18th century’s British Empire sense of self, where the rich upper class white man is the only opinion that matters and is always right regardless. The implicit and very explicit racism covered in this book is repulsive, probably more so when considering it is probably tame to what existed at that time and likely exists today.
I found this book insightful and thought provoking.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Slavery