Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

by R.F. Kuang

Book Overview

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War

"Absolutely phenomenal. One of the most brilliant, razor-sharp books I've had the pleasure of reading that isn't just an alternative fantastical history, but an interrogative one; one that grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out." -- Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass

From...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0063021439
• ISBN13: 9780063021433
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Fantasy but with a purposeful message/history

Kind of reminds me of Animal Farm, but so much more. It is a fantasy plot, but with obvious parallels to real history. For someone like me who doesn't know the history much, I will be rereading it as I learn more about the history of the time period it takes place. It builds upon this history and the perspective of minorities, especially those of colonized people, to argue that an oppressor can only be faced through some violence. While the message seems a bit pessimistic, I found the characters to be rather balanced and potentially accurate, but fitting for the argument. It's a book that can just be enjoyed as a fantasy novel or that can be looked at deeper to see if you agree with author or not and can discuss this with other readers. It also has more than one message/argument to think about, so even if you don't like the overarching argument, you can still think about the smaller ones more relevant to colonialism rather than protesting.