A review by tvislife
Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Beautiful.
I really, really loved this book. The main characters, their dynamic, the magic system, the focus on language, secret societies, the main conflict, the light it shines on racism and hypocrisy in academia—all of it was so exquisitely done, I was just obsessed. It follows Robin Swift, a boy taken from Canton as a child and brought to England to become a translator for Babel.
I would love to know how much time was spent researching linguistics and translation for this book, because it had to be an ungodly amount. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fictional book that was this casually informative about an academic subject, and an obscure one at that (yes, everyone knows “language”, but translation? Who learns that?).
I just loved this. The book really hit a yearning for what I missed in college. The group of friends that was initially bound together by the nature of just being around one another, and a collective misery over difficult coursework, but slowly blossomed into true friendship; the utter helplessness of feeling like you’ll never understand a concept or subject and the euphoria when you finally do; the sense of not quite belonging, but wanting more than anything to be on the inside (which is different for the POC characters in the book than it was for me, obviously, but the sentiment is there. God I sound like Letty).
All of it just combined into a really beautiful work of dark academia, with a scathing look at racism in these prestigious institutions as well (and white countries in general). Robin and Ramy and Victoire were never going to belong. It doesn’t matter how hard they worked or how brilliant they were. It was so heartbreaking and frustrating to see how they were diminished, again and again, by their peers and by the people who “took care” of them. I’m not happy with how the book ended, but I don’t know how else it could have gone for any of them. Highly recommend.
I really, really loved this book. The main characters, their dynamic, the magic system, the focus on language, secret societies, the main conflict, the light it shines on racism and hypocrisy in academia—all of it was so exquisitely done, I was just obsessed. It follows Robin Swift, a boy taken from Canton as a child and brought to England to become a translator for Babel.
I would love to know how much time was spent researching linguistics and translation for this book, because it had to be an ungodly amount. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fictional book that was this casually informative about an academic subject, and an obscure one at that (yes, everyone knows “language”, but translation? Who learns that?).
I just loved this. The book really hit a yearning for what I missed in college. The group of friends that was initially bound together by the nature of just being around one another, and a collective misery over difficult coursework, but slowly blossomed into true friendship; the utter helplessness of feeling like you’ll never understand a concept or subject and the euphoria when you finally do; the sense of not quite belonging, but wanting more than anything to be on the inside (which is different for the POC characters in the book than it was for me, obviously, but the sentiment is there. God I sound like Letty).
All of it just combined into a really beautiful work of dark academia, with a scathing look at racism in these prestigious institutions as well (and white countries in general). Robin and Ramy and Victoire were never going to belong. It doesn’t matter how hard they worked or how brilliant they were. It was so heartbreaking and frustrating to see how they were diminished, again and again, by their peers and by the people who “took care” of them. I’m not happy with how the book ended, but I don’t know how else it could have gone for any of them. Highly recommend.