A review by sarah_irene
Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

There are so many things I want to say about this book and yet words fail me, even as a linguist myself (apologies for the word-vomit ahead - it's taken me 24 hours to get my thoughts out!). I had been waiting for this book to come out for months before it did and then I was waiting for the right time to buy it given that I don't really have enough time to read for pleasure (living that Spanish linguistics grad student life). Shout-out to my bestie for accidently buying 2 copies and gifting me one!

'Babel' did not disappoint. R.F. Kuang has created an amazing story of the imperial/colonial industrial complex rooted in a magical realism so real that I could clearly see the world the way she depicted it. I was surprised to read in the short bibliography at the end of the book (loved this!) that Kuang hadn't studied linguistics until starting 'Babel' - she uses great references and I find it intriguing how we see the characters being portrayed so heavily connected to their cultural and linguistic identities, as languages shape our understandings of the world and the cultures of it. As a language nerd, I loved reading the linguistic notes and seeing the characters and hearing explanations for different linguistic phenomena. The match-pair system will continue to stay in the front of my mind for quite a long time. This book as a whole will stick with me for years to come.


THE FOLLOWING SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS AND DISCUSSIONS OF RACIAL INEQUALITY

I wanted so badly for Letty to to come around and join her cohort, her friends, but her outcome was unavailable. As a white woman scholar, and someone who believes in reparations and listening to and lifting voices of oppressed and marginalized peoples (BIPOC, AAPI, Latin@, immigrant, and Native/Indigenous communities who have been especially mistreated by white colonizers), I was rooting for Letty to stop and listen to her friends and educate herself on the issues that they had been facing all along. But I also know that I, too, have likely been the Letty of the group and might be again in the future. And that, to my current self, is terrifying. But that is how the system works. White people - not just white men - will continue to turn blindly against the outcries of people of color because "they should be grateful for what they have" which is inevitably the bare minimum. As I continue in my never-ending journey to educate myself and elevate non-white voices and immigrant stories, I feel that I will return to Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty to remember that it is not only my responsibility to recognize my own privilege, but to aide those whose voices have been repressed by my people in whatever way they say my help is needed.

 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings