Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

Babel is a stunning blend of history, magic, and language that kept me hooked from start to finish. A must-read for anyone who loves smart fantasy with heart. Highly recommended!

The copy arrived in good condition, though I was a bit disappointed with the paper quality..it tends to bleed through when highlighted, which can be frustrating for those of us who love annotating our books. That aside, this was an absolutely gorgeous read. I loved every bit of it..not just for the plot (a bit weak), but for the exquisite writing and the fascinating exploration of language and etymology. The setting felt refreshingly unique; it was my first time reading something centered around translators at Oxford, complete with touches of historical context that made it even more engaging. Despite the minor issue with the paper, the book itself was completely worth it, beautiful, thought-provoking, and thoroughly enjoyable.

“An act of translation is necessarily an act of betrayal” concludes a character in the book and that essentially forms the crux of this novel — it starts with the hope that translation can bridge different cultures, but the protagonists soon discover that the power of words can tear people apart in a colonial framework. Babel is a historical fantasy novel set in an alternate version of early 19th century England where the Royal Institute of Translation in Oxford (or Babel) drives the country’s technological prowess and colonial ambitions. Translators use silver bars enchanted with “match pairs” in different languages to do so. Robin Swift, Ramy Mirza, Victoire Desgraves and Letty Price enrol at Babel, longing to belong and grappling with their loyalties to their capitalist masters and their people. Kuang's writing is accessible, simple, and fast-paced, yet insightful with her detailed exploration of the etymology of words in multiple languages. She liberally uses footnotes throughout the book. These range from pure fiction to reality, are often quirky, but significantly add to the book. However, at times, I felt the plot was somewhat formulaic — she has taken standard tropes such as racism (Robin’s real Chinese name is never revealed), capitalism and callousness (the willingness to profit from opium even at the expense of a generation’s well-being), friendship and betrayal, and same-sex love (with subtle hints) and checked them against her plot. The varied tempo of her writing was another slight gripe for me. While the book is somewhat of a page-turner, the story moves along at a very rapid clip in the first third of the book while it gets stretched out in the concluding parts. Nevertheless, as Robin feels as a young child, “what a pleasure it was to hold the weight of an entire, finished story” in my hands! Pros: Inventive plot, insightful and pacy Cons: Slightly clichéd, varying pace

Great read! I'll leave the review for Goodreads but the book is really well designed. It falls open so well, has the perfect binding so that it sits well on the table. And the typeface makes for a really good reading experience, I love a good font - so well thought through.

I have been waiting to read this book for the longest time. I was elated to finally start it. I read so much about it, yet somehow missed the most important parts. This book is about Robin Swift, a Chinese boy who was fathered by Oxford College Professor Lovell out of wedlock ofcourse. When the plague strikes China, Robin s family perishes, Professor Lovell comes to rescue his illegitimate child. He never once addresses him as his son, but Robin is told to leave China behind as well as his birth name. From then on, Robin is trained by the best of professors in languages like Latin, Greek, Chinese. In preparation, for him to enter Babel, the language translation College. It's a dream come true, when he is accepted in it. He makes three other friends, Ramy, Letty and Victoire. Together they make a life in this College. Their friendship grows stronger, and they build a life of gratitude around the campus. Until, Robin meets Griffin, a boy who turns out to be his elder brother. Griffin works for Hermes Society, a rebel group stealing silver bars from Babel. When he and his friends get entangled into this web of stealing, deceit and murder, life starts reeling. My thoughts, initially I really enjoyed the language, the whole magical concept laced in. The kind of research Ms.Kuang has put in multiple languages, is truly admirable. There is so much literature about language, I found myself relishing the beauty in so many lines. The plot took me through Oxford College and their friendship was so relatable and endearing. Half way through, I found myself losing the initial excitement, only because there was a lot of technical details. I found the pace get slower and wandering when it will pick up again. After eighty percent of its completion the pace does pick up and story holds together. I finished it, and am glad I didn't shelf it, though I was tempted to somewhere down the line. All in all, it was a great story, you only got to hold on a bit midway.

This book blends together a great mixture of language and fantasy . Is shows different aspects of colonialism, racism and the struggles faced by different groups of people through the eyes of young students. The narration is very engaging and even thought eh story is more of a slow burn but it never felt slow. A good emotional ending.

The quality of the cover page over the hardcover is not that good but otherwise the printing is great and so is the book

“𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒅. 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆.“ This has to be one of the most wonderfully well-written books that I have read. It is a book where the writing made me want to know how it was written, the whole process behind it and by the end of it I was crying out of sadness and pure wonder like I’d watched a great thing collapse. (iykyk) The way Kuang has incorporated language and linguistics into the text feels impossible even while reading it, that too not just one language but multiple ancient languages. The constant feeling of awe while reading such an influential text as it moved through multiple themes like power struggle, culture, identity, colonialism, the importance of language and translation, racism and politics was ever present. The attention to detail and perfection of Kuang is evident and the rigorous research that would’ve been done is so remarkable I can’t even begin to imagine. The characters are charmingly complex and layered. Robin, in the continuous dilemma of being loyal to his culture while working for the British. Ramy, the rebellious one always standing up against discrimination. Victoire, filled with determination to survive no matter what comes her way. These characters show the tenacity that humans portray in the face of adversity when they are hanging by the last thread. Then there is Letty, who is so glad for the opportunity of being able to study and work that she pays no attention to the prejudice that her friends have to face on a daily basis and doesn’t understand how they can even think to give it all up. The plot is beautiful, it’s like a slow-burn romance but with freedom and liberation. The ending left me miserable and throughout the book it felt like I was a tiny little part of it all, which is the best feeling a reader can hope for.