R.F. Kuang's "Babel" Will Break Your Heart, and You Should Read It Immediately (2024)

FAQs

Why is Babel's book so popular? ›

This is a book about racism, colonialism, and bias.

It is also a story about the beauty of language, and the lovely way diversity in language represents the different ways we go through the world and perceive it. And of course, the impossibility of perfect translation (literal and non-literal).

I absolutely loved it! I loved the world building. If you go into this having no idea of British social and economic history up until the 1840s, do yourself a favour and read up on it before going into Babel. Or, like me, have google at hand to look everything up.

As much as the historical background is accurately depicted, the novel also works as a fantasy story by inserting Babel into 19th-century Oxford.

This is a book that centres around words and languages and education of the highest level and for me, there were passages I had to read more than once. But this isn't something that's a negative or detracts from the overall story. I read it in two days, because I found it incredibly difficult to put down.

It is not a book that tackles romance in a traditional way; it is all quite subtle, and yet the feelings are intense, described with insistence and despair - just like love often is. In a way, all kinds of love are redefined in this book without wanting it to be a romance. Hope this makes sense.

Thematically similar to The Poppy War, Kuang's first book series, the book criticizes British imperialism, capitalism, and the complicity of academia in perpetuating and enabling them.

I don't recommend for young children to watch Babel, but with all of the complex themes presented, it is definitely worth a watch for adults who don't shy away from real life and teens who are mature and have a caring, mature adult around who is willing to talk about some hard, real life concepts.

The Bottom Line. Language-learning app Babbel teaches phrases and vocabulary you'll actually use, but the exercises can get dull. It's best for people who are adept at learning languages and maybe speak a few already. PCMag editors select and review products independently.

The aforementioned hyper-sexuality and nudity of a deaf teenage girl in Tokyo, a Moroccan boy peeping on his sister and then masturbating a short while later, and various scenes of realistic-looking gun violence might make it inappropriate for many kids.

Is Babel based on a true story? ›

Babel is a fantasy novel rather than a historical one because silver can be embued with powerful charms via knowledge in language translation. This magical silver powers the industrial revolution and is a metaphor for capitalism. Actually, for the evils of capitalism.

Here in this house, we don't judge a book by its cover. Except of course we do, all the time, and it's this vice that makes Babel so utterly magnetic. The gothic monochrome cityscape; the strike of glistening silver that tears through the centre of Oxford; and of course, the page edges, black as coal.

Babel is a historical fantasy novel that follows a Chinese boy, Robin Swift, who's plucked from the slums of Canton in 1828 by Oxford professor Richard Lovell to prepare for eventual study at the fictional Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University, otherwise known as Babel.

The Books of Babel is tremendous, and I hope it's remembered for a long time. I plan to be first in line for Bancroft's next work. Recommended if you like: adventure fantasy, creative worldbuilding, classic/literary-leaning prose.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. The average reader, reading at a speed of 300 WPM, would take 11 hours and 8 minutes to read Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang.

Babel is a historical fantasy novel that follows a Chinese boy, Robin Swift, who's plucked from the slums of Canton in 1828 by Oxford professor Richard Lovell to prepare for eventual study at the fictional Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University, otherwise known as Babel.

Having sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling is the best-selling book series in history. The first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books of all time.

Americanah as a modern classic

Why? Because it goes beyond the story of the main characters and illustrates the broader topics of race and identity of Black people living in non-Black countries. Americanah is a book of contrasts.