i teared up when i finished babel. thats how good this was. im writing this review right after finishing the book, because if i wait, my thoughts and feeling just wont be as good, you know? this book literally left me staring into space for a solid minute, because i am shook. i dont even know where to start.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Published by: Harper Voyager on August 23rd, 2022
Genres: historical fiction, fantasy
Age rating: young adult/adult – 15+
Length: 544 pages (hardcover)
Final Verdict: favourite
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
this book in emojis: 📚✨️🖤🗡🏰💰
note: i was so in shock when i finished this that i didnt feel in the mood for grammar…so the grammar here isn’t the best, but it’s 100% readable, trust me.
you probably know the premise by now: a young boy from canton named robin swift is taken away to england after his mothers’ death. there, he studies latin and greek, and eventually gains admittance to oxford university. he becomes a ‘babbler’, someone who studies language and translation.
i was super intimidated by the book to start off, both due to its thickness and because i wasnt sure if i would enjoy reading something so academic. in some ways, i was right to fear it; it’s not really a book you can read before bed, and requires your full attention. because it’s so big, there are some details that i forget about, which are then rementioned later. then i have to wrack my brain to try and remember what that’s referring to 🙃 but it wasn’t that big of a deal, overall.
anyway, it was so worth the read. i shouldn’t have been afraid of it. the start was a little slow, sure, but the last 60%ish of it more than made up for the slower start. the start isn’t useless, though: you need it to really understand the world and background, and especially to connect to the characters.
speaking of, i loved all the characters. i love robin’s awkward shyness, but that he’s so dedicated to his studies. he’s such a nerd but i love that for him, and i loved his character development.
i love ramy’s cheerfulness but also slight sarcasm, and the way he always looked out for his friends. victoire’s honestly one of my favourites. she knows what she wants and fights for it, and doesn’t give up – even though she’s a black woman living in the 1800s, studying for a profession that is mostly occupied with white men.
letty represented white superiority, for the most part. that made her slightly unlikable, but she still had some redeeming qualities. she tries to understand her friends (for the most part). i empathized with the fact that she really just wanted to have friends, that she loved them but ultimately struggled to 100% understand them.
griffin was another one of my favourites. yes, he got on my nerves a bit on first, but he just seemed so raw and hurt. honestly, i kind of admire him. he just wanted to right the wrongs in the world, and was willing to sacrifice anything to do that. all the members in the rebellion, hermes, were like that, to be honest. i just loved griffin most.
professor lovell, on the other hand, pissed me off. like stay at least 6 feet apart at all times (both down and to the side 🙂). he was just so brainwashed and annoying and dumb and how on earth can one justify colonization??? like how can you be so full of yourself that you’re willing to do things that i will not mention because spoilers, but how can you justify that? do you really believe that white people are just that much better? he will never ever ever be redeemed in my eyes (watch me write a post abt this)
the plot twists were crazy. the characters had to adapt to their circumstances super fast, but they did it in a way that seemed realistic (for the most part). they did some rash and dumb things, but that’s what makes them human. r.f. kuang did a great job both making them have realistic emotions regarding their circumstances/actions, as well as showing the influence of racism/colonization on their decisions and actions, and it just added more depth to their characters, to be honest. as letty was white, it helped solidify their differences even more – but also helped show how people & love can bridge those gaps.
i really liked how ramy held onto his faith & culture so strongly; he’s a (brown) muslim, and he was constantly striving to eat his own foods, etc (we get a whole segment about them making terrible curry, or something like that). we see him pray, and he doesn’t drink – but he was also good fun. to me, he was a great representation of islam. he was a good character/person, and held on to his religion. he didn’t sacrifice any part of himself to fit into the mold. he says he does, but for the most part he’s really good. all too often in literature, we see muslim/brown characters changing themselves to be more compatible with the story or for whatever reason, but Babel didn’t do that, and i appreciated that.
the academic component of it just made so much sense, too. i actually learned from this book, but it was written in such a captivating way (and was so well incorporated) that i didnt mind. and it tied in so well with the magic/fantasy part of this book. the magic system MADE SENSE. ✨️ i was so happy about that. rather than people saying that ‘that’s just the way it is’, the science was explain – and so was the nuanced history and opinions behind everything that happens in this book.
i’m currently taking a course at school about colonization, and babel handled the topic so well. they mention how bad colonization is (obviously), but i loved how the characters battled to show the world that it’s bad, and were willing to sacrifice anything to show that. (that was the main purpose of the rebellion, actually). letty was a pain in the ass because she just. kept. denying it, but at least the other main characters fought for their opinions.
what else? i don’t know what else to say 😭 its just so good
i could talk about the beautiful writing, how it captured me and i just couldn’t leave the world. i could talk about how the magic system made perfect sense, how i loved loved loved how the science/what the characters were studying was incorporated into the magic (i already said this, but i needed to mention it again). i could ramble more about the characters, how they grew and changed as the story went on.
i could talk about the ending, how it almost made me cry because it was so profound and because i just DIDNT WANT THE BOOK TO END. i could talk about the formatting, because it’s so cool how the book is split into mini books, each representing a ‘chapter’ in his life. i could talk about the plot twists and ramble about those (i might actually make a blog post about that), but that would be spoilery, and i dont want to do that)
other notes: the language is a little heavy; its quite academic, so that’s why i’d recommend it for ages 15 and up. there’s nothing inappropriate at all, there there’s maybe only one or two swears. it can just be a little hard to read 🙂
this book is a work of art. it’s timeless, and i will read it time and time again. i just finished it, and i couldn’t wait to write my review, but i also just wanted to pick it up and read it over and over again. it’s just so good. i wish i hadn’t waited this long. my roman empire fr 😔
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