Babel

The premise of this book is wonderful: translations between languages are always imperfect, and those slight mismatches give them power. In the world of this book, actual magical power. This is used to cause effects large and small in the industrial-revolution alternative-history setting of the book. The author, who herself was born in one country and grew up in another, and is a scholar of Chinese literature and language, brings that perspective to the book with force and with nuance.

I have mixed feelings about the world that the author creates; in many ways, it's very much like our world at the same point in our history. The same colonial empires, the same power structures, etc., just for slightly different reasons. I feel like this is not really fully taking advantage of the premise. On the other hand, key elements of the plot very much hinge on interactions with real historical figures and events - I suppose that only really works if the world has a history similar to our own. It also sets up a point of possible divergence from our history.

The story she tells is powerful, wide-ranging, and provocative. It touches on issues of race, class, and imperialism, and makes some of the power structures implicit in them explicit by giving them literal powers. It's a strong tale of struggle and empowerment, and certainly worth a read.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. It's written in an engaging style that picks you up and draws you along - I found myself page turning and staying up to read one more chapter before bed. Usually a good sign that you've got yourself an engaging read!

The book is a fictionalised alternate history of the British colonial period of the early 19th century. Although it is inescapably told from a 21th century vantage point - the discussions of the characters often use phrases like "lived experience" that are not of their time - I thought it did a great job of setting the scene of the time period with its cruelties, inequalities and contradictions. I was particularly impressed with the setting - the descriptions of Oxford and the way that the author was able to create this feeling of a bubble within the city were especially well done, and the novel was at its best when it was set in and around the Tower of Babel. (I felt that when the narrative left the city it was not quite as strong in general).

I've read a lot of books of the form "character from disadvantaged background is given a chance to do something great, pushes through barriers of discrimination to succeed", to the point where I'm sometimes a bit numb to the formula. Whether or not you think this book is one of those probably hinges on your definition of "success"(!), but for me it neatly subverts the form in a pleasing way.

Characterisation is decent although I did feel that sometimes there was a bit too much explicit that could have been implicit. But one of the things that really stood out was how naturally the main friendship group was written. I thought the author did an excellent job of exploring how different personalities can fit together within a small group of friends.

It's very tempting to review books like this by analogy - you can see elements from authors like Susannah Clarke, Mary Gentle and JK Rowling. But ultimately I think this book is best described on its own merits. Its got a great setting and builds to a tense climax. It has an interesting point of view on the colonial time-period and manages to tell a fresh and satisfying story with it (rather than just making a point). Can recommend!

i have so much to say, and so many thoughts about this book, yet i haven't found the right words yet to translate my thoughts and feelings into written words (which is funny because that book is all about language, lol). all i can say for now is that this book made me fall in love with reading all over again, and now i just want to deep dive into my tbr list, well knowing that i have to realize and come to terms with the fact that babel has put my expectations very high as it has embodied literally everything i love about reading and literature and scratched the language nerd part of my brain so incredibly well. this is definitely one i will revisit a couple of times and which will cross my mind for a while. it was impossible to catch up on all the research, the historical contexts and backgrounds and OF COURSE the language and etymology facts during the first read, but i am ready to soak them all up. well, not quite ready, yet, as this has to settle a little and i have to arrange my thoughts first. but i am looking forward to it, and also looking forward to (maybe) share my thoughts in more detail.