Quick summary of my review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved how it made me uncomfortable and frustrated at political and social justice issues. I loved the footnotes. I loved how it embraced different languages and how Kuang gave definitions to the reader. There were times the book was a bit academically-heavy for me and I zoned out a bit (a big gripe with others who have read this), but it was all very interesting. I hope when (not if) this gets picked up for either a film series or tv series, that it will be done right and the core themes Kuang have expressed are not excluded nor tamed down. It’s an emotionally heavy book in my eyes, and it is pretty long but it is really worth taking the plunge into the world of Babel.
Recipes inspired by this book: Beef Chow Fun, Sweet & Sour Pickled Chinese Mustard Cabbage, and New College Pudding
“Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?”
I’ve put off writing this review since I finished Babel mainly because I didn’t think I would be able to articulate the words and emotions I felt from reading this book. And to be honest, I will probably still mess this up and two weeks, months, or years from now I will want to edit this and add more.
Recently someone on Bookstagram posted a question asking peoples’ favorite read in January, and I replied with Babel. I stated that it was because it hurt me and it made me question a lot of things, and that I appreciated that throughout the book the most. Which is true, but that’s not the only reason I loved Babel.
Babel made me feel a range of emotions. It made me long for the friendships I gained while in school, and the carefree days we would have. It made me ache for the characters and the numerous situations they were put in, and the realization of why they were put in them. Babel made me want to learn every language ever recorded, and then Babel made me also realize I am too old and unfocused. It made me root for certain characters, it made me tense when I thought they were going to be hurt, it made me want to punch others in the face.
“This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it.”
Babel is an outright impressive book. There is a lot to unpack in this novel. It is not subtle in calling out colonialism or racism and spotlights microaggressions. But it also shows the beauty of friendships and the loneliness of not fitting in. You feel Kuang’s frustration with academia seeping throughout the story.
I adored Kuang’s writing style. I’ve never visited Oxford but her words made me feel the cobblestones under my feet, hear the indistinct background noise of patrons at the pub while I tried to have a whispered conversation, and forget to breathe while looking up in awe at the tower of Babel for the first time. Babel was my first book from her and I gobbled it up. I will definitely seek out Yellowface when it releases later this year, and I have been meaning to start The Poppy War for a while now and put it on a challenge list of mine for 2023.
“If we push in the right spots – if we create losses where the Empire can’t stand to suffer them – then we’ve moved things to the breaking point. Then the future becomes fluid, and change is possible. History isn’t a premade tapestry that we’ve got to suffer, a closed world with no exit. We can form it. Make it. We just have to choose to make it.”
Overall, I highly recommend that people read this book. If fantasy isn’t your thing, understand that this is not high fantasy with dragons and wizards, this is more dark academia, historical fiction, with a magic system involved. Due to the amount of footnotes involved, I would not recommend this as an audiobook, and am unsure how it would read as an ebook. (Update: It was brought to my attention on Instagram that the footnotes in the audiobook are of a different voice narrator and transition very well.)
This book keeps creeping into my thoughts even almost a month after finishing it; Babel sticks with you, the good parts of it and the uncomfortable parts of it. And I think that is what Kuang wanted, because if something makes you uncomfortable it is less likely you will forget it. It gnaws at you a bit, you keep going back to that moment and thinking about what was said, what was maybe not said but implied, and what you could – or should – have done.
Pros:
- I appreciated it did not have a big romance element to it
- Very unique plot and magic system
- Brings up heavy topics, and not subtly
- Kuang teaches you real, useful information in this fiction novel
- Like, Kuang did an INSANE amount of research for this book, especially on etymology, which you can tell Kuang is very passionate about.
Cons:
- I was hoping for a bit more fantasy-esque elements in it (really my own fault for assuming)
- Had some parts that are bit drawn out
- The footnotes can be distracting
- I wanted to get to know Victoire more
- The ending (I jest, it just made me feel feelings)
You can view my Babel-inspired recipes for Beef Chow Fun, New College Pudding, and Sweet & Sour Pickled Chinese Mustard Cabbage by clicking on the respective links. If you tried any of the recipes, please do tag me on Instagram @thebooktendercafe I would love to see your creations! You can also purchase Babel on Bookshop.org below, please know this is an affiliate link which means I may earn a commission if you buy from my link. It costs you absolutely nothing extra but just helps support The Booktender Cafe.