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xiuhmeztli's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
medium-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
3.75
ericadawson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I'd give it 4.9 if I could. Explanation below:
People like to pull Playfair's quote about the violence and betrayal of translation from the text and present it as one of the most gut-wrenching lines in the entire novel. In fact, there are many such lines across many contexts. If I went through Babel now to put them all here, I'd never stop. I may as well quote the whole book.
Babel is about a a young, half-Chinese, half-English man named Robin Swift as he grapples with his role in support Britain's colonial Empire in the 1830s. The lynchpin for all of England's dealings is silver, imbued with the magical and abstract powers of the tongue via the powerful spaces between translation.
Babel has almost everything for me. I love all of the characters. The "math" of the arcs--that is, why anyone one character says or does anything at any give time--makes perfect sense. It's not predictable; simply logical. I could never hate Robin or Victoire or Letty for their initial love of Babel. I couldn't blame Ramy for anything he did or said. Letty's white feminism, white supremancy, and willfully ignorant understanding of the world was on point until it got tiresome.
That is where I have to shave off a portion of a point, unfortunately. Letty's point as a character was hammered home until the wood was dented and the head was flying off the hammer. While I can understand that narrative math of Robin, Ramy, and Victoire explaining to Letty over and over how hard it is to be non-white in a fundamentally white supremacist insitution, white supremacist land--at a point, I grew patient with them. Especially afterLetty shoots Ramy in a classic case of a white woman's sexual entitlement to a brown man ending in violence , I truly could not wrap my head around why they bothered speaking to her again, after that.
Another portion of a point gets shaved off for Victoire's character. I loved her, I do, I just wish she stood out more from the beginning. I loved her especially in the end, with how her character was set up against Robin's and how they played off each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Yet another portion of a point for the pacing of the ending in general. It was slow for me. There were two supposed twists/keys to success that I was waiting for the characters to remember and use, which made me get impatient.
None of these things overall seriously detracts from my star-point rating for Babel. It was a lovely book. The prose was straightforward without being plain, and often punched me in the gut (in a good way). The concept was amazing, and the entire plot was clearly well-researched. I loved the footnotes. I loved everything. Highly recommended. If there was top-shelf wine for books, Babel would be up there.
People like to pull Playfair's quote about the violence and betrayal of translation from the text and present it as one of the most gut-wrenching lines in the entire novel. In fact, there are many such lines across many contexts. If I went through Babel now to put them all here, I'd never stop. I may as well quote the whole book.
Babel is about a a young, half-Chinese, half-English man named Robin Swift as he grapples with his role in support Britain's colonial Empire in the 1830s. The lynchpin for all of England's dealings is silver, imbued with the magical and abstract powers of the tongue via the powerful spaces between translation.
Babel has almost everything for me. I love all of the characters. The "math" of the arcs--that is, why anyone one character says or does anything at any give time--makes perfect sense. It's not predictable; simply logical. I could never hate Robin or Victoire or Letty for their initial love of Babel. I couldn't blame Ramy for anything he did or said. Letty's white feminism, white supremancy, and willfully ignorant understanding of the world was on point until it got tiresome.
That is where I have to shave off a portion of a point, unfortunately. Letty's point as a character was hammered home until the wood was dented and the head was flying off the hammer. While I can understand that narrative math of Robin, Ramy, and Victoire explaining to Letty over and over how hard it is to be non-white in a fundamentally white supremacist insitution, white supremacist land--at a point, I grew patient with them. Especially after
Another portion of a point gets shaved off for Victoire's character. I loved her, I do, I just wish she stood out more from the beginning. I loved her especially in the end, with how her character was set up against Robin's and how they played off each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Yet another portion of a point for the pacing of the ending in general. It was slow for me. There were two supposed twists/keys to success that I was waiting for the characters to remember and use, which made me get impatient.
None of these things overall seriously detracts from my star-point rating for Babel. It was a lovely book. The prose was straightforward without being plain, and often punched me in the gut (in a good way). The concept was amazing, and the entire plot was clearly well-researched. I loved the footnotes. I loved everything. Highly recommended. If there was top-shelf wine for books, Babel would be up there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Racial slurs, Classism, and Blood
Moderate: Colonisation, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Addiction
dakota_hawkins's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-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
4.0
horse_in_the_library's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Absolutely enthralling. Equal parts Johnathan Strange and Name of the Wind, two of my absolute favourites. Anti-imperialist, cognitive, language based magic system, dark academia. Read read read now now now
occuprop's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
swoozyc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
4.5
libbygamberg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
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? No
4.75
isalou17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75