A review by crunchycrystals
Babel, an Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
i really loved the use of languages to talk about colonization, racism, and classism and how it relates to academia. i love languages and the use of it to explore the themes felt like it was made for me. it felt pretty dense at times since it's a thick book but i really enjoyed itÂ
i connected a lot with robin's story as an asian who doesn't know much about their own culture and grew up fairly disconnected from it and more connected to western culture. the scene where he commits to not forgetting cantonese despite them trying to force it out of him hit hard since i've also been told it's useless for me to learn/ use the language since it's not as useful as spanish for example. this book made me want to learn more about my own history and culture etc and i appreciate it for thatÂ
i connected a lot with robin's story as an asian who doesn't know much about their own culture and grew up fairly disconnected from it and more connected to western culture. the scene where he commits to not forgetting cantonese despite them trying to force it out of him hit hard since i've also been told it's useless for me to learn/ use the language since it's not as useful as spanish for example. this book made me want to learn more about my own history and culture etc and i appreciate it for thatÂ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Racism, Slavery, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Child abuse, Murder, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, and War
Minor: Car accident
racism, colonization, and classism are very important parts of the story. its set in the 1800s so people do say slurs and derogatory terms towards the non white characters (ex the word "chinaman" is used multiple times)