Babel

(3.5/5 rounded up to 4)

Plot/Pacing (3/5) - This book starts of kind of slow (which is not a bad thing). Kaung takes her time introducing us to the or world she has created (or more accurately, adapted) for this book. Not very much actually happens in the first half of the book after the initial setup. It mostly consists of the our protagonist, Robin Swift, agonizing over his position as both someone with immense privilege while also being someone of minority status in an imperialist state. The second half of the book is where things really pick up. This where the part of the title or the Necessity of Violence starts to make sense. On their own, I like both halves of the book. They just feel incredibly different. We go from years passing to days. Now I understand that this is intentional and that the catalyst for this is Robin’s decision to take a more active role in the plot coincides with this change but the unfortunate result is that the first half of the book becomes a bit forgettable once the action picks up in the second part.

Writing (4/5) - I largely enjoyed the writing. I think Kuang does a fantastic job depicting the platonic love between Robin and his class cohort. She also manages to strike a compelling balance between a true historical fiction and a fantasy novel. The magic system feels very grounded and convincing in its incorporation into society. I have seen a few people complain that the magic system doesn’t change the status quo much from the actual one of colonialist Britain but I’d argue that’s the point. The point is not to create a new world but to slightly change our own in way that allows the author to explore her thesis (which is not hard to find) more thoroughly. It explores the use of language and translation and their roles in colonialism (fairly intangible concepts) and gives them a physical, monetary form which is easier to work with.

The thing that bothered me a bit were the footnotes. At times they were interesting and charming and at others they felt unnecessary. I think Kaung should trust her readers a bit more to understand the story she telling and her intentions with it. What I sense is that she is uncomfortable including racism in her stories without some condemnation of it in the same breath. It feels like a classic show don’t tell kind of deal.

Characters (3.5/5) - The characters were kind of 50/50 for me. I thought Robin was a compelling character and his development through the book is something that I personally relate to a lot. I found his relationships with Professor Lovell and Remy engaging to see unfold and develop. None of the other characters had much of an impact on me though. None of the character deaths affected me much at all. I feel like I should have been a lot more shocked when Professor Lovell died and a lot more unset when Remy, Victoire (or so I thought), and Griffin died. I wanted to relate to Victoire a lot more than I did, especially considering the she's the sole surviving protagonist, but I feel like not enough time was spent developing her character. I will say that Kuang does a good job making me hate Letty. From the beginning though it was hard for me to see why the rest of the cohort liked her at all. It seemed like they put up with her more to keep the group together than out of actual affection.

Overall - This book was enjoyable to read. I found the mini lessons on linguistics and etymology charming and Robins character compelling enough to be invested in his fate. The ending left me a bit melancholic and I had to think for a while about how I felt about it which I think was the intention. I think that someone of the people who dislike this book were expecting it to be something it wasn’t. This isn’t a grown up Hogwarts or anything close to it. It feels more like a thought experiment about colonialism and on of it’s many tools of oppression. In that regard I think it’s an ambitious novel that is pulled of quite well and I will be looking out for more of Kuang’s work.