Scan barcode
A review by nicolesbookcase
Babel by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"'But that's precisely the devil's trick,' Robin insisted. 'This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it."
This is a hard one for me to rate. The content and the message, important and necessary. The way it was put together, a bit of a hard sell for me.
The first half was slow and dry, a bit hard to get through. If you enjoy lectures about the etymology of language, you're in for a treat, but otherwise, it was just a bit too much information and not enough happening. It wasn't until about 50% in that something actually happened that I was excited about. From then on, I really enjoyed the book. Very evidently, I prefer plot-driven books, and the beginning just didn't have enough plot points to pull me in.
The writing in this is fantastic. It's somehow easy to follow, but at the same time definitely not an easy read, kind of like the contradictions in this story. The way Kuang gets her meaning across is so eloquent; I'm not one to annotate books, but I actually got myself some tabs to mark certain parts because they're so evocative. The technical aspects of this are interesting, albeit a little dry, but it is a story about language and translation, so I understand the impact of why it was delved into so deeply, and I appreciate how much research went into making this as accurate as possible. And reading it through the lenses of the characters in this book, who are obviously enamored by language of any kind, made it more interesting! I could feel the awe and devotion these people have for what they're learning and what they can do!
"For how could there ever be an Adamic language? The thought now made him laugh. There was no innate, perfectly comprehensible language; there was no candidate, not English, not French, that could bully and absorb enough to become one. Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation - a necessary endeavor, however futile, to move between them."
Reading the book through the lens of Robin, a somewhat white-passing Chinese man, gives this story so many sides and makes the development of his character, through his struggles with coming to terms with who he is and what he believes in, so relevant and incisive. Kuang did a brilliant job in choosing Robin as the main POV of this book; his is an easy POV to empathize with. He has such conflicting opinions and has to muddle through his feelings the entire way through and decide who to be at the end of it all. "You have such a great fear of freedom, brother. It's shackling you. You've identified so hard with the colonizer, you think any threat to them is a threat to you. When are you going to realize you can't be one of them?" He struggles with the clashes between his ethnic background and growing up in Canton, but then being embroiled in the culture and language of England and Oxford and seeing those ironies in himself. "And he wondered at the contradiction: that he despised them, that he knew they could be up to no good, and that still he wanted to be respected by them enough to be included in their ranks. It was a very strange mix of emotions. He hadn't the faintest idea how to sort through them." Being able to compare all of that with Ramy, an Indian man, Victoire, a Black woman, and Letty, a white woman, really gave this story so much depth. I loved learning more about each character, their stories and experiences and flaws.
"Robin wondered then how much of Anthony's life had been spent carefully translating himself to white people, how much of his genial, affable polish was an artful construction to fit a particular idea of a Black man in white England, and to afford himself maximum access within an institution like Babel. And he wondered if there would ever be a day that came when all this was unnecessary, when white people would look at him and Anthony and simply listen, when their words would have worth and value because they were uttered, when they would not have to hide who they were, when they wouldn't have to go through endless distortions just to be understood."
The worldbuilding fell flat; there really wasn't much worldbuilding to speak of. The one aspect of fantasy didn't actually contribute much to making the world different. If not for the magic silver bars, the world would have turned out exactly the same, though perhaps a bit slower, only with actual engineering ingenuity instead of magic. Yes, the ending did depend on the magic of the silver bars, but it was very allegorical to real life. I tend to expect certain things when I am reading a fantasy book, and this did not deliver in that respect.
If you're looking for a plot-heavy, high-stakes fantasy with vast worldbuilding, this is not the book for you. Categorizing this book as fantasy is not it; it falls more within the lines of historical fiction, so if you enjoy historical fiction, you will definitely enjoy this more than if you're going into it expecting fantasy. If you enjoy the intricacies of language and think the meaning of words and translation are interesting, there is so much of that in this book! If the historical and modern significance and effects of colonialism and imperialism are something you want to read about, this is the book for you! If you want to be utterly torn apart by a friendship between four people that doesn't end well, read this book. This is ultimately a very real and uncomfortable story that deals with topics that are incredibly relevant but are hard to read about and grapple with. This is an important book. I just wish it had been crafted a little differently.
This is a hard one for me to rate. The content and the message, important and necessary. The way it was put together, a bit of a hard sell for me.
The first half was slow and dry, a bit hard to get through. If you enjoy lectures about the etymology of language, you're in for a treat, but otherwise, it was just a bit too much information and not enough happening. It wasn't until about 50% in that something actually happened that I was excited about. From then on, I really enjoyed the book. Very evidently, I prefer plot-driven books, and the beginning just didn't have enough plot points to pull me in.
The writing in this is fantastic. It's somehow easy to follow, but at the same time definitely not an easy read, kind of like the contradictions in this story. The way Kuang gets her meaning across is so eloquent; I'm not one to annotate books, but I actually got myself some tabs to mark certain parts because they're so evocative. The technical aspects of this are interesting, albeit a little dry, but it is a story about language and translation, so I understand the impact of why it was delved into so deeply, and I appreciate how much research went into making this as accurate as possible. And reading it through the lenses of the characters in this book, who are obviously enamored by language of any kind, made it more interesting! I could feel the awe and devotion these people have for what they're learning and what they can do!
"For how could there ever be an Adamic language? The thought now made him laugh. There was no innate, perfectly comprehensible language; there was no candidate, not English, not French, that could bully and absorb enough to become one. Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation - a necessary endeavor, however futile, to move between them."
Reading the book through the lens of Robin, a somewhat white-passing Chinese man, gives this story so many sides and makes the development of his character, through his struggles with coming to terms with who he is and what he believes in, so relevant and incisive. Kuang did a brilliant job in choosing Robin as the main POV of this book; his is an easy POV to empathize with. He has such conflicting opinions and has to muddle through his feelings the entire way through and decide who to be at the end of it all. "You have such a great fear of freedom, brother. It's shackling you. You've identified so hard with the colonizer, you think any threat to them is a threat to you. When are you going to realize you can't be one of them?" He struggles with the clashes between his ethnic background and growing up in Canton, but then being embroiled in the culture and language of England and Oxford and seeing those ironies in himself. "And he wondered at the contradiction: that he despised them, that he knew they could be up to no good, and that still he wanted to be respected by them enough to be included in their ranks. It was a very strange mix of emotions. He hadn't the faintest idea how to sort through them." Being able to compare all of that with Ramy, an Indian man, Victoire, a Black woman, and Letty, a white woman, really gave this story so much depth. I loved learning more about each character, their stories and experiences and flaws.
"Robin wondered then how much of Anthony's life had been spent carefully translating himself to white people, how much of his genial, affable polish was an artful construction to fit a particular idea of a Black man in white England, and to afford himself maximum access within an institution like Babel. And he wondered if there would ever be a day that came when all this was unnecessary, when white people would look at him and Anthony and simply listen, when their words would have worth and value because they were uttered, when they would not have to hide who they were, when they wouldn't have to go through endless distortions just to be understood."
The worldbuilding fell flat; there really wasn't much worldbuilding to speak of. The one aspect of fantasy didn't actually contribute much to making the world different. If not for the magic silver bars, the world would have turned out exactly the same, though perhaps a bit slower, only with actual engineering ingenuity instead of magic. Yes, the ending did depend on the magic of the silver bars, but it was very allegorical to real life. I tend to expect certain things when I am reading a fantasy book, and this did not deliver in that respect.
If you're looking for a plot-heavy, high-stakes fantasy with vast worldbuilding, this is not the book for you. Categorizing this book as fantasy is not it; it falls more within the lines of historical fiction, so if you enjoy historical fiction, you will definitely enjoy this more than if you're going into it expecting fantasy. If you enjoy the intricacies of language and think the meaning of words and translation are interesting, there is so much of that in this book! If the historical and modern significance and effects of colonialism and imperialism are something you want to read about, this is the book for you! If you want to be utterly torn apart by a friendship between four people that doesn't end well, read this book. This is ultimately a very real and uncomfortable story that deals with topics that are incredibly relevant but are hard to read about and grapple with. This is an important book. I just wish it had been crafted a little differently.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Classism