Reviews

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

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isabellarobinson7's review against another edition

2.0

This review has been in my drafts folder for a week now so I just need to cut my losses and publish it. And here it is, after a bajillion attempts to post it on my laptop and a bajillion more errors that Goodreads decided to have in every area you can think of, I am doing it through my phone, which seems to be fine. Honestly, just sod off Goodreads.

Rating: 2 stars

Ok, so Babel-17 was tied for the Nebula in 1967 with Flowers For Algernon. Safe to say my expectations were high. But it was just fine. It was ok. And before you come at me for the two star rating, if you hover over the second star on the Goodreads site (through a laptop/PC) you get a little banner that says, and I quote, "it was ok", which, coincidentally, is exactly my opinion.

So this book has a lot to do with linguistics, so I thought, "cool, sci-fi Tolkien" but it is not quite in the same vein. Babel-17 surrounds the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which is basically the idea that your opinions and world view etc. are often dictated by what language you speak. That is how understand it anyway, being monolingual. Let me find a proper definition: "The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, refers to the proposal that the particular language one speaks influences the way one thinks about reality." So I was kind of right. I am really not the person to talk about this as, like I said, I only speak one language (monolingual), and my country only has three national languages (English, Māori, NZSL) so I feel it is not my place whatsoever to make any kind of comment on this hypothesis at all. Samuel R. Delany, however, can't stop discussing it, and does believe in the hypothesis... or did at the time of writing Babel-17, at least (Check out Babel-17's Wikipedia page under the "Language" heading for more information). So maybe it is true, or maybe it's not.

I switched between the audio and physical for Babel-17, and I found the narrator of the audiobook was kind of hard to listen to. When he was doing the female voice it was fine, but whenever he was talking normally, or especially when he was doing Calli’s voice, it was too low…? At the normal speed I listen to it became difficult to understand. It was like my ears needed a different setting because the audio felt like it was cutting in and out. Maybe this is just me though. I could have just turned the speed down I suppose. But then it would have been slower and... speed. I am speed. One winner, 42 losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Oh wait that's Cars.

So that's it. I am not opposed to reading more Delany in the future, but so far he is not one of those authors whose stories I will be pondering over.

znnys's review against another edition

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4.0

Babel-17 has been on my radar for years and I'm glad that I finally got around to reading it. It has all the staples of 20th century Sci Fi - optimistic ideas about technological and societal progression, a vast array of unique characters, a series of adventurous throughout space. I was particularly fascinated by this novel from the 1960s portraying polyamorous relationships, especially as something that's almost necessary for navigators to function properly. The discorporate were a fun and weird concept. I LOVE the overarching theme of language shaping how people understand the world around them, and how a poet is deemed the most qualified to interpret language, as she has the most experience taking concepts and feelings and putting them into words.

This is an entertaining book, though at times I wish Delany had put the same effort into his characters as he'd put into his intellectual thought experiments. They come off a little one-note, while Rhydra wears a million hats and excels at everything. I would have liked to see a more balanced crew, and perhaps a more flawed protagonist.

Nonetheless, great read.