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A review by stefaniacg
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
I was trying to power through this book hoping it would get better, but I've read some reviews that perfectly articulate my discomfort with it, so I'm dnf-ing it.
For a fantasy book that's about a magic system surrounding the etymology of words in 19th century Oxford it is surprisingly flat and boring. It actually felt like attending an uninspiring lecture on imperialism for people who never (ever!) confronted the relationship between colonizers and its colonies before - by that I mean it felt both stiff and very, very superficial.
The biggest suspension of disbelief in this fantasy is to imagine that if Britain *had magic* it would behave exactly the same way it did without magic. I mean, please. Imagine how much more atrocious the acts from a magically powered British empire would be and how that would resonate in every single aspect of life.
Definitely(!!!) not for me.
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Em bom português: a impressão que tive foi que esse livro tentou "lacrar" e acabou passando pano pra imperialista. E isso me deixa com raiva porque faz com que a discussão de temas complexos e necessários seja feita de forma extremamente rasa, quase como se bastasse citar racismo e ter personagens não-brancos para que uma obra não seja racista (e não é bem assim, amigos).
For a fantasy book that's about a magic system surrounding the etymology of words in 19th century Oxford it is surprisingly flat and boring. It actually felt like attending an uninspiring lecture on imperialism for people who never (ever!) confronted the relationship between colonizers and its colonies before - by that I mean it felt both stiff and very, very superficial.
The biggest suspension of disbelief in this fantasy is to imagine that if Britain *had magic* it would behave exactly the same way it did without magic. I mean, please. Imagine how much more atrocious the acts from a magically powered British empire would be and how that would resonate in every single aspect of life.
Definitely(!!!) not for me.
-
Em bom português: a impressão que tive foi que esse livro tentou "lacrar" e acabou passando pano pra imperialista. E isso me deixa com raiva porque faz com que a discussão de temas complexos e necessários seja feita de forma extremamente rasa, quase como se bastasse citar racismo e ter personagens não-brancos para que uma obra não seja racista (e não é bem assim, amigos).