Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang | Review

"We're here to make magic with words."

"An Act of Translation Is An Act of Betrayal."

    Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translator's Revolution by R.F. Kuang is a historical dark academia novel of epic proportions. We follow Robin Swift, a biracial Chinese boy who was swept away from his plague-filled village in Canton when he was only a small child by Richard Lovell, a linguistics professor at the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University, also known as Babel. Robin is taken to England, where he is taught Latin and Greek to go with his Mandarin and English, with the hopes of one day being accepted into Babel and be the next generation of translators working for the British Empire. Only, once he gets there, he is greeted with conflicting worldviews: on the one hand, Babel is a literary paradise, ripe for harvesting young foreign minds for their native languages to better enhance the silver-work that runs the country; on the other hand, it's a colonialist's dream, a place where foreign languages (and students) are being used against the very countries they come from. Robin must choose his path -- the path of a translator, or the path of a revolutionary. 

    Okay, I'm sure you've all heard nothing but praise about Babel, and I'm here to tell you...it's all absolutely true. This book is a masterpiece of language, culture, and rebellion. The escalation in the plot is perfectly executed, and yes, the plot-twist is as amazing as you've heard. I can't imagine the impact this book has had on biracial and POC, if it impacted me as much as it did. 

    As someone who has studied many different languages (but not to the extent of anyone in this novel) I loved all of the translation in the story. It was fascinating to see how a word came to be in English, and the magic (a very, very small amount of magic, that it feels silly to classify as such) and how it worked. And I always got a thrill when I saw the characters working with Greek, because it's a language I've studied myself and I was able to see the connections they were making when it came to the translations. 

“English did not just borrow words from other languages; it was stuffed to the brim with foreign influences, a Frankenstein vernacular. And Robin found it incredible, how this country, whose citizens prided themselves so much on being better than the rest of the world, could not make it through an afternoon tea without borrowed goods.”

    The tonal shift in the story is probably one of the best I've ever read. The story starts out gruesome, I won't deny that. Robin is literally carried away from his house, where the rest of his family lay dead and rotting from a plague that had swept through Canton. From there, the story lightens a bit, Robin is in a new household learning everything his mind can absorb, and while it's not a loving home, it's home nonetheless. Oxford, part one, is a dream made reality. The buildings are beautiful and the food is luxurious and Robin has more money than he knows what to do with. He has friends and is being intellectually challenged by them and his professors every day. Oxford, part two, is a bloody massacre of a story, with violence and rebellion and the fate of an entire country on the back of Robin's shoulders. 

“If we push in the right spots - then we've moved things to the breaking point. The 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.”

    One last thing I want to talk about are the characters. We have Robin, our protagonist, but also his cohort at Oxford: Victoire, Letty, and Ramy. I loved seeing how Robin, Ramy, and Victoire interacted with each other in the rare moments Letty wasn't with them (Letty was the only white person in their cohort, as well as the only high-born person). Seeing that disconnect was fascinating, because Letty was nearly always with them, and it was preferred that way. After all, all four of them were Oxford Babblers, and therefore othered in the grand scheme of the university's society. Their character work was so fleshed out, I could feel them practically leaping off of the page. 

    I recommend Babel to...well, everyone. I think there is something in here for every reader. 

    I gave Babel a CAWPILE score of 9.00, which of course comes out to a grand total of 5 out of 5 stars. A worthy rating for a worthy book. 

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It took me forever to read this book. December has not been a good month for me, reading or otherwise. It took me about 22 days to finally finish Babel, but I loved it all the same. I will definitely be rereading it soon though, probably next year sometime. 

Have you read Babel? If so, tell me your favorite character. I think mine has to be Ramy. His mind worked so incredibly, I'd love to like, sit down to tea with him and just talk about stuff. I'm fully prepared to be mercilessly schooled by Ramy. 

Until next time, friends!