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A review by leonidskies
Babel by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
A lot (a lot!) of people have said a lot of things about this book. I'm going to give it a shot too.
After I finished this book, I was devastated - terrible, horrible things happen to very good people, and that's the whole point. But while what struck me towards the final parts was the tragedy and its near inevitability in the face of colonial power, what hit me time and again as I read (this is a little longer than my usual reads, so it took me a while) was how incisive the writing was.
Despite his hesitance, Robin sees what's happening around him and understands - not always fully, and not without his personal limits, but he sees nonetheless. To me, that made both his action and inaction more powerful. Everything in this book felt so considered and exact, fully aware of its implications and meanings. It's rare that I've read politically-focused fiction like this that's so clear about exactly what it means and manages to strike the point time and again.
There was also something particularly wonderful in this book as a work set in Oxford - I was at the university at the same time as the author and so many of the Oxford-shaped emotions hit me right where it hurt. That mix of joy, hope, misery, and isolation, combined with the slap across the face of privileged peers and contented academics alike spoke right to my heart. Ow.
This is a book that really inspired me to pick up my more political-process writing again. It's hard to want to write about politics in such a direct way in fiction in our current landscape, and this book being so heartfelt and cutting at the same time is precious to me in making me feel so strongly that it's worth it.
After I finished this book, I was devastated - terrible, horrible things happen to very good people, and that's the whole point. But while what struck me towards the final parts was the tragedy and its near inevitability in the face of colonial power, what hit me time and again as I read (this is a little longer than my usual reads, so it took me a while) was how incisive the writing was.
Despite his hesitance, Robin sees what's happening around him and understands - not always fully, and not without his personal limits, but he sees nonetheless. To me, that made both his action and inaction more powerful. Everything in this book felt so considered and exact, fully aware of its implications and meanings. It's rare that I've read politically-focused fiction like this that's so clear about exactly what it means and manages to strike the point time and again.
There was also something particularly wonderful in this book as a work set in Oxford - I was at the university at the same time as the author and so many of the Oxford-shaped emotions hit me right where it hurt. That mix of joy, hope, misery, and isolation, combined with the slap across the face of privileged peers and contented academics alike spoke right to my heart. Ow.
This is a book that really inspired me to pick up my more political-process writing again. It's hard to want to write about politics in such a direct way in fiction in our current landscape, and this book being so heartfelt and cutting at the same time is precious to me in making me feel so strongly that it's worth it.