“Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution” by R.F. Kuang follows Robin Swift, a Chinese boy who is removed from his motherland for the purpose of being trained at Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation, to ultimately assist in strengthening and expanding the British Empire. The story takes place in 1830s England, with the sole deviation from reality being the resource of imperial interest, which is magical silver bars powered by imperfect translations.
The book leaves very few stones unturned, exploring themes of language, identity, imperialism, colonialism, and inequality within academia. I consumed all 500 pages of “Babel” in one voracious, derealized weekend. From cover to cover, I found myself firmly situated and invested in the reality-adjacent world Kuang built. The book was the perfect accessible introduction to the inherent hypocrisy of the Western world, and as the title suggests, the necessity of violence is spoon-fed to the reader in a riveting fantasy novel package. In a devastating betrayal, not everyone in UR Book Club was able to finish what is inarguably a very dense read in the thick of midterm season (gasp). Consequently, our final thoughts are a tad disorderly, albeit overwhelmingly positive.
One crowd-pleasing element of “Babel” was what we as a club described as the “Harry Potter Effect.” For around half the book, the vibes are cozy, successfully overshadowing any anxieties that may have been introduced. The main characters are happily fostering their relationships and their love of learning in a way that was relatable to all of us as students, especially those of us with backgrounds in linguistics, classics, and anthropology. The main four characters, Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty embody characterization and themes of found family that are both lovely and devastating. Despite this, if we had to choose one character to read the book for, it’s Griffin, who serves as the main catalyst for Robin’s character development and general “rapscallion,” as club member Skylar put it.
The primary critique from those who finished the book was the uneven pacing. Due to the lengthy exposition, the ensuing climax and conclusion can feel somewhat rushed. Additionally, a few members found Kuang’s somewhat pedantic writing style as grating. One member stated they often felt like screaming “Okay, I get it!” every time Kuang would diverge into an over-explanation of some thematic element that likely could have been left to the reader to figure out on their own. Although these points have validity from a stylistic preference perspective, I interpreted each point as a necessary creative choice to mirror and communicate the reality of extended systemic oppression and subsequent revolution. However, this is coming from me, someone who hesitates to accept any criticism on what I view as a perfect, five-star read.
“Babel” is the third member-nominated book that we have elected to read together this semester. The Book Club’s previous reads include “Butter” by Asako Yuzuki and “Interview with the Vampire” by Anne Rice, both of which inspired some stimulating conversation among members. If you are interested in hearing more of our thoughts and potentially sharing your own, I entreat you to pick up our next read, “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf and pop by our last discussion of the semester on Thursday, Dec. 5.
