.png)
“Betrayal. 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?” ― R.F. Kuang, Babel
Published in 2022, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translator's Revolution by R.F. Kuang reached the first spot on The New York Times Best Seller list and has also won Blackwell's Books of the Year for Fiction in 2022.
The author takes inspiration from her own experiences and history as a translator and an oxford graduate.
*There will be spoilers about the book but I'll be giving the spoiler-free review first, so I'll give a warning before the spoilers start.
“That's the beauty of learning a new language. It should feel like an enormous undertaking. It ought to intimidate you. It makes you appreciate the complexity of the ones you know already.” ― R.F. Kuang, Babel
Spoiler Free - Review
Summary
In Oxford 1836, Robin Swift, an orphan from Canton who grew up in England, arrives at Oxford for the Study of Languages and Silver work. In this world, everything runs on Silver Bars and Language usage, very few people know how this works. And soon Robin and his three classmates are going to be one of them but will they survive this empire and its colonialism and imperialism?
Opinion
Even though you expect this book to be tough to understand, it isn't. It isn't too complicated. Everything is explained simply, and easy to understand.
It touches on important topics and instead of just telling us about them, shows them to use. We comprehend the decisions of our main characters because we know what they are going through.
The characters are well-written and feel realistic. They grow through real-life issues that change them for either better or worse.
Overall, an amazing book that's worth reading
Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
“If we push in the right spots - then we've moved things to the breaking point. The future becomes fluid, and change is possible. History isn't a premed 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.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel
Spoiler Review
Positives
Writing Style - It is easy to understand and it isn't one of those Dark Academia books that make you feel dumb.
The Plot - It is thought out. It doesn't feel too stretched or too short. It leaves you wanting more at the end of each chapter.
The Setting - The story takes place in Oxford. The university plays a prominent role throughout the book.
Genre - This is the peak of Dark Academia. Best one I've read. The vibe and aesthetic are there and are just perfect.
“So, you see, translators do not so much deliver a message as the rewrite the original. And herein lies the difficulty - rewriting is still writing, and writing always reflects the authors ideology and biases.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel
Negatives
Sometimes there are points where there is a lot of information about translation. They can be too much to comprehend.
Although I thought the characters were realistic, for you, they might feel like caricatures or you might love them there are no guarantees.
Not everyone will understand the themes of the book and that's fine if you don't.
“A lie was not a lie if it was never uttered; questions that were never asked did not need answers. They would both remain perfectly content to linger in the liminal, endless space between truth and denial.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel
Themes
Colonialism - This is set around the time when the British had a lot of power. It cleverly shows us how their rule affected the lives of their own country and how it affected the foreigners.
Racism - Our main protagonist, Robin is from China and his best friend Ramy is from India. We are shown how they both face racism and how they deal with it as a majority of the students at Babel are white. Victoire, another main character, also faces this issue besides sexism she faces. Ex - When people think she's her white roommate's (Letty) maid rather than thinking of her as a student at the university.
“We are foreign because this nation has marked us so, and as long as we’re punished daily for our ties to our homelands, we might as well defend them." - R.F. Kuang
Sexism - Victoire and Letty are the only female students at the university. Students there think they don't deserve to be there because of their gender.
“I suppose we decided to be girls because being boys seems to require giving up half your brain cells.”
― R.F. Kuang
Opinion
I really don't have words to tell how much this book affected me. I cried reading the ending. Just read it.
“Words tell stories. Specifically, the history of those words - how they came into use, and how their meaning morphed into what they mean today - tell us just as much about a people, if not more, than any other kind of historical artefact.”
- R.F. Kuang
Till the Next
Happy Reading
Comments