Babel

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

por

Libro electrónico, 641 páginas

Idioma English

Publicado el 31 de agosto de 2022 por HarperCollins UK.

ISBN:
978-0-00-850183-9
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4 estrellas (3 reseñas)

The city of dreaming spires.

It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.

And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.

Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.

Until it became a prison…

But can a student stand against an empire?

1 edición

reseñó Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution de R. F. Kuang

Review of 'Babel' on 'Goodreads'

5 estrellas

This memorable novel is both ingeniously creative and importantly timely in its message. R.F. Kuang weaves together a story that injects magical realism into a novel that is both historical and revisionist. That is, this is a story that asks us to imagine the road not taken at a certain time in history, and the ethics of the decisions of those in power–and question how and why such power came to be, in the first place.

I felt that the characters were well-developed and realistically complex, making it possible for the reader to feel the emotion in their stories. The plot was also well crafted and paced.

Instead of summarizing the plot, I want to simply recommend this novel, which I knew nothing about before I started reading. Part of the magic, for me, was simply reading on to discover the shape of the world as it is created by …

reseñó Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution de R. F. Kuang

Review of 'Babel' on 'Goodreads'

4 estrellas

It was good, really good. The characters were interesting and three dimensional and enjoyable, the setting and plot was engaging and high stakes, and the translation lectures were tailor made for language nerds like me.

However, don’t do like I did and go into this expecting a fantasy novel. This is, mostly, historical fiction with a magic system reskinning technological progress in Victorian England.

This is not a knock on it, though, saying that it’s superfluous; it has a very interesting, if specific effect on the reader’s relationship with the world. It moves all of the varied goods and services that imperial Britain used to maintain power over their colonies into one spot and one profession: Oxford translators. As I see it, the silver magic system mostly exists to move the political center of Britain into this area. And I enjoyed it if only for this facet, if not for …

reseñó Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution de R. F. Kuang

Good, but not without flaws

4 estrellas

Some frustration with footnotes (both spotting the asterix and how Kuang was using them - particularly early on - but there was a moment of clarity later on… but then Chapter 31 happened?!?) and that the queer characters were killed off and never able to tell each other they were head-over-heels (and not in a tragedy style way either)… but otherwise really good.

I love translation and the thought that goes into it - much of which is covered here.

Temas

  • Fantasy
  • Historical Fiction
  • Languages
  • Colonialism

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