Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

834 reviews

emmas_reads_'s review

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

did i cry? absolutely.

did that make this book better? not really. (please don’t kill me)

let me preface with this: babel is such an important book for me, especially as a white woman, to read. and i’m glad i did. i think every white person should read this. a lot of it felt like colonialism and imperialism 101, but there were perspectives that i appreciate reading from, especially the difference between violent resistance to oppression and revenge (and if there’s any at all).

all of my problems with this book are purely technical - writing, characters, and pacing.

r f kuang’s writing: i found a lot of it a bit amateur-ish, there was a lot of infodumping on how the british empire functioned with the silver rather than industry. some of it felt natural, but i’d suddenly realize that i was being infodumped on. it was a jarring experience. i felt a lot of the foreshadowing was obvious, but that also could be on purpose and i didn’t pick up that subtext. i don’t think her writing style is for me - however she makes writing about grief her BITCH, and i love her for it.

the characters: i actually really appreciated these characters. sometimes they felt like the preachy twitter user engaged in race and colonialism discourse (which was also a weird aspect to the writing style of this book). i think they are all (minus letty) good representations of being raised within a privileged society yet experiecing racism and being molded as tools for furthering the colonization of their countries.

pacing: it was a bit odd. i saw someone say it should’ve been two books, and i’m a little inclined to agree. the first 3 parts of this book should’ve been a first book, to build up to the action of a sequel (the last 2 parts of this book).

extra misc. stuff:

armed/violent resistance is so, so important to learn about. as much as we preach “nonviolent protests,” so much of historical revolutions and decolonization (which is still ongoing) was armed resistance. it’s important to understand the buildup to violence because it happens over, and over, and over again - it’s literally on loop as we speak.

also: robin and ramy were so in love, i’m happy i got surprised by a bit of LGBTQ+ (it is pride month). if anyone needs scenes/quotes for evidence, i will provide.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

emviolet's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Racism, Colonisation, Torture, Death, Xenophobia, Suicide, Slavery, Murder, War, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Cultural appropriation

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. What an absolute masterpiece. Not for a moment could I predict what would happen. I am unwell, and I have read one of the best written books in this century. I cannot wait to return to this story again and again and again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence and Gun violence

rafritz1's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Death, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug abuse, Genocide, Car accident, and Classism

winterjasmine's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Classism, Death, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Blood, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, and Cultural appropriation

justinea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Very very slow to take off book. I think this would do very well in literature classrooms. Incredibly well written with very important themes. I think it could’ve been shorter. For my part, I found it educational but not always highly enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Death, and War

chelseaisreading's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

It is rare to read a book and just be in sheer awe of the author’s brilliance, but Babel is one such book. The intricate layers of history, language study, and colonial critique packed into this story following these four academics is nothing short of extraordinary. I find reading this book is timely, but realize that’s the point—these power struggles and structures are at the heart of most conflict we see throughout the modern world. Can you love something knowing what it is built upon? Can we make a difference? Is there a point in trying? In trying to translate that which can’t be described exactly in another language?
This one has me full of tears and thoughts.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: War

oceanelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely fucking brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide, Classism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

smateer73's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely one of the most incredible books I have read this year and probably all time. This book brings to the surface all those questions of language and colonization and power and violence and resistance and the oxymoronic nature of capitalism and consumption and the utter indifference that is the natural enemy of progress. I will be thinking about this book forever I think. As a linguist, I loved the concept of translation and betrayal and loss. As an academic I mourn for lost knowledge, even as I desire liberation. I want the world to be free and yet I do not want to give up basic comforts. But I must. We must. A violent world can only be faced with violence, with intersectional unity. Wow. Just wow. For one single book, and a fiction book at that to conjure all these thoughts is truly incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Racial slurs, War, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment

lucyatoz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Babel by R.F.Kuang is a brilliant read although it does challenge and engage you in so many disparate themes of race, class, colonialism, slavery,  violence and  exploitation of the many by the few. 

It tells the story of four young adults, Robin, Victoire, Ramy and Lettie, as they come together as the 1st year cohort at the Oxford University's Royal Institute of Translation in 1836, as they each have amazing talents when it comes to learning languages that can be used for the benefit of the British Empire, regardless of the cost for them and those they love and care about. 

It is a big and  ambitious novel tackling big topics although it starts off quite slowly, but when the group come together, the action starts apace and takes you on a fantastical journey, which, at times, I could not tell was real or imaginary.  

I borrowed a copy of this book from Taunton Library and listened to it on BorrowBox. I read this for prompt 26, hybrid genre, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Gore, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Toxic friendship, Death, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, and Blood