Synopsis:
From award-winning author R.F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide… Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
Review:
In the second week of September 2022, Babel debuted at the top spot on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction but dropped to the ninth spot the following week before disappearing from the list by the end of the month.
Babel was generally well received by critics, including starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. Booklist called the novel "engaging" and "richly descriptive," while Kirkus said it’s "ambitious and powerful while displaying a deep love of language and literature." Kirkus further called it "an expansive, sympathetic, and nevertheless scathing critique of Western imperialism and how individuals are forced to make their peace with the system and survive or to fight back and face the consequences."
Amal El-Mohtar, writing for The New York Times Book Review wrote, "Babel derives its power from sustaining a contradiction, from trying to hold in your head both love and hatred for the charming thing that sustains itself by devouring you."
Many reviews discussed Kuang's attempt to complicate modern understandings of academia in the 1830s, including the research and footnotes she included throughout the novel. The Guardian said, "This is a scholarly book by a superb scholar," highlighting how "the pages are heavy with footnotes; not the more usual whimsical ones ... but academic notes, hectoring and preachy." They further noted how the characters "are pretentious, but vulnerable too, and the balance is lovely."[11] Similarly, the Chicago Review of Books highlighted how Babel "educates and urges us to reframe—to (re)translate—the dominant narrative of what the West calls its civilization." They called the novel "brilliant both in concept and execution, ... a page-turner with footnotes, a thriller with a higher purpose, a Bildungsroman where the stakes matter." Library Journal echoed the sentiment, writing about how Kuang "prompts readers to question the ethics of both empire and academia." They continued, saying, "Kuang is a refreshing and essential voice in fiction, and her latest will have wide appeal." Paste noted that Babel is "a meticulously researched period piece, a primal scream from the traditionally unheard." However, they added, "its determination to make sure it’s (admittedly important) message is heard, means a significant chunk of this doorstopper’s 500+ pages feel didactic and lecture-y, rather than fully transformative." Publishers Weekly negatively reviewed the novel, saying, "Kuang underwhelms with a didactic, unsubtle take on dark academia and imperialism." They explained, "The narrative is frequently interrupted by lectures on why imperialism is bad, not trusting the reader or the plot itself enough to know that this message will be clear from the events as they unfold. Kuang assumes an audience that disagrees with her, and the result keeps readers who are already aware of the evils of racism and empire at arm’s length. The characters, meanwhile, often feel dubiously motivated."
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