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A review by bookswithcuppatea
Babel by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
This is an exquisite book. As someone who loves languages, and the fascinating gaps and overlaps in meaning across languages, the whole idea of Babel was extraordinary. Words, the tension between match pairs across two or more languages, creating magic!
The four central characters, the cohort of students in a particular year, with their fierce and fragile friendships, drives the novel.
An insidious investigation to the power and pride and wilful blindness of colonisation, of using others for the benefit they offer at a cost to them and benefit only to power...
The tension builds slowly, and once events really started to escalate it was hard to look away!
The four central characters, the cohort of students in a particular year, with their fierce and fragile friendships, drives the novel.
An insidious investigation to the power and pride and wilful blindness of colonisation, of using others for the benefit they offer at a cost to them and benefit only to power...
The tension builds slowly, and once events really started to escalate it was hard to look away!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder