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A review by emmalong
Babel by R.F. Kuang
5.0
Babel. Simply one of the best books of our
time.
The themes this book delves into including identity, race,
colonialism, and all-encompassing racism are so
unbelievably well done and each is hit upon with the
importance thev deserve. Our main character Robin is
orphaned in Canton and "adopted" by Professor Lovell who
raises him and shapes him into a learning and translating
machine, ultimately to attend Oxford's Babel for the benefit
of the Crown. More sinister and racist foundations support
England than Robin or any of his peers could ever imagine
and they are faced with decisions between comfort or
standing up for what they believe in.
I savored every second of this book. I had been reading at a maniac's pace at this point and I forced myself to slow down for this book because I didn't want it to end. I found myself even going back and REREADING parts, that's how good it was. Please look up content warmings before reading but I think the benefit of reading this book far outweighs any negatives for me.
time.
The themes this book delves into including identity, race,
colonialism, and all-encompassing racism are so
unbelievably well done and each is hit upon with the
importance thev deserve. Our main character Robin is
orphaned in Canton and "adopted" by Professor Lovell who
raises him and shapes him into a learning and translating
machine, ultimately to attend Oxford's Babel for the benefit
of the Crown. More sinister and racist foundations support
England than Robin or any of his peers could ever imagine
and they are faced with decisions between comfort or
standing up for what they believe in.
I savored every second of this book. I had been reading at a maniac's pace at this point and I forced myself to slow down for this book because I didn't want it to end. I found myself even going back and REREADING parts, that's how good it was. Please look up content warmings before reading but I think the benefit of reading this book far outweighs any negatives for me.