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A review by catmisae
Babel by R.F. Kuang
challenging
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There was a lot I liked about this book, but I didn’t end up enjoying it as much as I wanted to. The world building was great, and all the talk of match pairs and translation made me nostalgic for my time studying linguistics as an undergraduate.
Unfortunately I think Kuang put so much work into the world building and linguistics content that she didn’t have a lot of space left for the character development. For a story about belonging, alienation and a conflicted sense of national identity, our protagonists felt pretty flat to me. The reader would often be told that characters felt certain ways for specific reasons, but as a result their various reactions and changes in perspective felt forced. They almost seemed more like figures in a case study rather than characters in a work of fiction. Maybe this was deliberate? I’m not sure.
Unfortunately I think Kuang put so much work into the world building and linguistics content that she didn’t have a lot of space left for the character development. For a story about belonging, alienation and a conflicted sense of national identity, our protagonists felt pretty flat to me. The reader would often be told that characters felt certain ways for specific reasons, but as a result their various reactions and changes in perspective felt forced. They almost seemed more like figures in a case study rather than characters in a work of fiction. Maybe this was deliberate? I’m not sure.
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Gun violence, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Slavery, War, and Islamophobia