Over the summer, I was finally able to sit down and make a reading list. It quickly grew (and grew and grew) as I had fallen behind in my reading during the school year, and at the very top was R.F. Kuang’s Babel. I can safely say that Babel is one of those books you don’t see very often. It grabs you by the hand and tugs you through a story of language and magic that you soon realize isn’t entirely fictional. Babel has a fantastically engaging storyline that deals with very real and relevant problems along with a cast of beautifully crafted characters.
Our story begins in Canton, in 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by an outbreak of cholera, is taken to London for a rigorous education in languages. Robin trains in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese for years in preparation for his admittance to Oxford University’s Royal Translation Institute, the crown jewel of the British Empire. The tower is called Babel, and specializes in translation, linguistics, and silver-working, the magical manifestation of etymology. In Babel’s world, silver-working allows water to flow clearer, carriages to run smoother, and boats to sail faster. It’s the life-blood of the British Empire.
In Robin’s eyes, Oxford is a scholastic utopia - that is, until the saccharine veneer begins to crack, and the truth of just what Babel’s translation supports becomes clear. Robin soon realizes that serving Babel means betraying his motherland and supporting Britain’s imperialistic expansion. Stuck between Babel and a secret society set on destroying all the tower represents, Robin is forced to ask himself whether or not powerful institutions can be changed from within or if radical change necessitates revolution.
When I finished Babel, I had to sit and stare at its cover for a few minutes. Because beneath its fictional veneer, Babel is a meaningful exploration of language, identity, and lust for change. It deals with the issues of colonialism and imperialism, laying bare the scars they leave in their wake. Babel is a story of revolution, of fighting for change even when everyone around you seems against it. It is about clutching your sense of self close and not allowing others to rip it away. Babel is, without a doubt, a book everyone should read.
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