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

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is one of those books that I probably never would have picked up if not for it being a bookclub selection. I felt intimidated by its size and content, but I’m so happy I took the chance. Thank you @bookendsfriends for the motivation 💛

This book was so complex it’s hard to even write about. Babel crosses the lines of dark academia, magical realism, historical fiction, and fantasy. It was heavy, both in size and in content. Touching on themes of racism, sexism, classism, colonialism, addiction, slavery, suicidal ideation, and war.  

Babel will make you think, reflect, and feel the whole way through. Even sitting here writing this my mind is reeling and my heart is aching over this story and these characters, and also the fact that this novel so closely parallels the way things still are today, despite being set in the 1800’s. 

R.F. Kuang is brilliant. I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that someone wrote this book, with all its complexities, details, and depth. I’m just mind blown and in awe. 

“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.”

“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?”