Babel Indigo Special Edition: A Novel

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a b Baugher Milas, Lacy (2022-08-21). "Babel Is an Ambitious Epic That Doesn't Trust Its Audience Enough". Paste Magazine . Retrieved 2022-11-27. I understand that it can be difficult to shut down the bad faith reader inside your head. Still, authors need to stop writing to convince an imaginary person that they’re morally righteous, and start treating their readers like intelligent adults who can figure things out on their own. Problem is, you can’t write a book for someone like that. First of all, because this person is not real: they’re a mental image conjured by the author’s own anxieties and insecurities. Secondly, because no good art has even come out of a need to pre-emptively defend oneself from baseless accusations. And thirdly, because despite Kuang’s best efforts, it’s impossible to make criticism-proof art. I have mixed feelings about Babel, R.F. Kuang’s Locus Award-winning novel, which I will try to articulate below.

Mainly, though, Babel is about colonialism and revolution. Robin questions how he should live, whether he should focus on his own survival while at the heart of the colonial empire or resist. Both come at a personal cost: the weight of denial or the risk of his life. Kuang takes the reader along Robin’s realistic journey of realizing the necessity of resistance and violence to achieve decolonization. This book is most heartbreaking not in the parts related to death, but in the parts about hoping and hoping to one day belong and be valued in a place that does not see him as human—and the realization that it never will. Like with the Poppy War trilogy (and in my opinion, even more than TPW), I do think Kuang gets caught up with painting large thematic statements and subsequently leaves behind the characters. But I enjoy Kuang’s writing specifically for her themes, so I can’t exactly complain. Babel is set in Britain in the first half of the 1800s. A young Chinese boy is brought from Canton to London by a language professor and taught Latin, Greek and Chinese in preparation for his future studies at Babel-- Oxford University's Institute of Translation. In this alternate world enchanted silver is used to power the empire, and it is the careful application of language that enables silver's power to be harnessed. In short, it is about how colonial powers used language to control and profit from others. What if the city of dreaming spires is, in reality, a tower leading them to an inevitable nightmare through the illusion of grandeur and greatness? Babel is not as grim as The Poppy War Trilogy. It also has a comparatively more likable main character, which I'll get into soon. And these elements made the events and development in Babel more relatable. Look, I could talk about the plot all day long if I want to. But it is quite frankly impossible to discuss in more detail what made the themes executed in Babel so cleverly done without going into spoiler territory. The book isn't out yet for more than two months, and I prefer leaving the best of the plot in Babel to future readers to find out for themselves. Instead, I will now proceed to elaborate upon the characters of Babel and their characterizations. Second, this book is too far in the weeds about language and etymology, the origin and history of English words. Certain sections of Babel were so technical that they reminded me of my tax classes (but I found those much more interesting because literally the rules save you real money or keep you out of prison). I have put off writing this review for months, for no reason other than I was afraid of failing to fully and accurately explain R.F. Kuang’s newest work to people interested in reading it. So I hope you’ll forgive me for letting myself off the hook in a way—I’m not going to be covering the entirety of Babel in this single Goodreads review. As more people read their advance copies, I’m sure there’ll be a surplus of opinions to take into consideration before beginning this book, but I’m not going to attempt to take Rebecca’s place in telling this story.From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel , a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.

This Indigo special edition of Babel includes an exclusive—and somewhat cheeky—dramatis personae for the key players in the novel. The descriptions may contain spoilers, though, so we’re putting it at the end! Critical Praise This book was engaged in a mean-spiritedness that felt fundamentally gross to me. I call out gross shit when I see it, and if that makes me an uncultured swine, so be it If you are plugged into the bookish scene, you have probably noticed that special edition hardcovers are everywhere. From anniversary rereleases, to book box editions, to books that just got a lot of hype. With all of these special editions out there, it raises a lot of questions! Is this the new trend? Are these books actually collectible? What even is the point of all these editions? Let’s get into it. What’s clear is that Rebecca’s time at Cambridge, Oxford, and later Yale greatly informed both her writing and perspective on the state of the world, particularly how it came to be this way. The result is a scathing indictment of British and European colonialism, including the rippling effects across continents; and it’s entirely deserved. Magic in this world is just another resource to be extracted from the poor by the powerful, and when those wells run dry they do what their real life counterparts did—embark to find and exploit other lands and people. But no amount of blood spent will ever be enough to satisfy their incessant thirst for more. The biggest flaw of Babel for me is that the messages are not subtle. This is shaping up to be a trend in Kuang’s works, and while I don’t necessarily hate it, I don’t quite love it either. While I enjoyed some of the footnotes that gave us extra tidbits of historical information, others grated on me with their haughty “this is racist by the way, in case you didn’t know” remarks about things that were… obviously racist. I love all of the themes that Kuang so expertly explores, but I am smart enough to figure out for myself how x represents a symbol of oppression or x reveals an imperialist mindset—and I don’t need it repeated throughout the book either. Kuang is brilliant, certainly, and I think her commentary on and critique of whiteness and colonialism is, too. I just wish she would trust the reader a little more.

A good rule of thumb in this case is to expect a big announcement after a special edition of your favorite book is released, or to expect a special edition coming after a big announcement. Trust me, once you see the pattern, you’ll start seeing it everywhere. https://limitededitionbook com/2022/06/08/radley-london-book-street-the-queens-jubilee-2022-special-limited-edition/ It was almost impressive how Kuang made sure that not a single white character is remotely likable. Even the cook, who was initially nice to Robin when he arrived in Britain, is later revealed to be a terrible person because she saw Robin getting beaten and didn't do anything about it. So yeah, kudos to the author for her dogged determination to make sure no white gets away seeming likeable. https://limitededitionbook com/2021/05/01/limited-edition-adolf-galland-lot-2-signed-books-leather-wrap-slipcase-rare-mint/

content warnings :: murder, violence, gore, torture, racism, colorism, misogyny, sexual harassment, loss of loved ones, depictions of blood, depictions of grief, discussion of: war, slaveryso many people are going to have so many individual heart shattering reactions to their identity because of this book. it made me feel pride, it made me feel shame, it made me hopeful, it made me grieve, it truly kind of made me feel everything. but right now i am just feeling in awe of rf kuang and everything they are doing in literature, showing all the different words people use for violence. https://limitededitionbook com/2021/05/22/the-chronicles-of-narnia-barnes-noble-leatherbound-like-new-9781435117150/ a b Pulley, Natasha (2022-09-10). "Babel by RF Kuang review – an ingenious fantasy about empire". The Guardian . Retrieved 2022-11-27. Professor Richard Lovell: A professor of Chinese and committed imperialist. Cold and unyielding, he fathered both Griffin and Robin to create bilingual Chinese students for Babel.

And Letty, most privileged and least likable character but slowly she gets under your skin and her straightforwardness, sharp comments deeply affect you. Eventually you learn to resonate with her. First, way too much time was covered in this book. Even in Harry Potter, they only cover one year in each book. This book covers way too many years. It would have been better if RK Kuang just focused on the first year at Oxford or broke up Babel into several different books.

Read-Alikes

Writing (4.5/5): R.F. Kuang's writing has improved significantly since The Poppy War trilogy. Her somewhat sloppy writing was the weakest part of that trilogy, especially in The Dragon Republic. Kuang has taken a huge leap forward with Babel, which has the feel of a modern classic. I especially love how naturally she interweaves etymological discourses throughout the main narrative thread. My only minor complaint is her overuse of footnotes. Sometimes the footnotes are used appropriately, e.g., to provide historical or linguistic context, but too often she uses footnotes as a crutch to explain her characters' inner thoughts, which should be apparent from the main text. Robin, Ramy, Letty and Victorie are specifically chosen because of their unique abilities with languages and their minority issues. Robin and Ramy can not be Oxford men, they can only be men in Oxford. The girls forced to live far away from the main campus, being treated unequally. If it wasn’t obvious from full title, Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, you’re going to get a healthy helping of both the ‘Dark’ and ‘Academia’ portions of the genre. I’d also like to emphasize that Kuang goes well beyond an academic aesthetic setting, fully entrenching every aspect of the story deep within the bowels of academia. We get to see students rigorously study their specialized fields, but also the unsavory sides of this culture typically hidden from public view. The magic system is no exception to this rule, relying fundamentally on language, and specifically the act of translation. Lovers of literature, historians and linguists, both professionals and enthusiasts, will adore this aspect. It’s not a flashy kind of magic and deceptively simple in concept, which is why it lends so easily into an alternate history novel. The way it’s incorporated feels plausible, and the who and why this power is being sought, all too probable. Fletcher, Lydia (July 1, 2022). "Babel; or, The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution". Library Journal . Retrieved 2022-11-27.