I just finished listening to Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang. The book came highly recommended by The Internet (BookTok, BookTube, Instagram, Discord, podcasts, etc.) and I was in the mood for some dark academia. I’ll admit it, I went through an intense and short lived phase of wanting to be emo in a library while wearing tweed… at the age of 37. Instead of reading The Secret History I went with Bable. I didn’t know anything about the book so I was operating on: well reviewed online, dark academia, and written by a woman of color. Yellowface, Kuang’s most recent book, had just come out and was getting good reviews too.
Here’s the spoiler free review.
The book was fine and I don’t think I’d recommend it.
Babel is about colonialism. And in the first half, Kuang presents the characters encountering oppression in an artful way. Of course there are moments of being bullied by a group of rich white boys (the most terrifying group of people on the planet) and moments of “we can’t do that because we’re not white.” However, the big picture idea of people being exploited for their language and labor is subtly written. I like the idea of language being an extractable resource. I also enjoyed reflecting on the world that Kuang had set up and how it compares to real life.
The rest of the book was flat out annoying. I felt like Kuang was literally hitting me in the head with 500+ pages. I don’t disagree with the points she was making. She just wrote them in a super heavy handed way. Maybe I missed the transition because I was listening and not reading, but the tone shift was very sudden. Robin’s motivation never felt clear to me. There was so much potential and instead I have a bruise in the middle of my forehead.
Finally, the style of writing in Bable is too similar to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Both books are operating on the conventions of 1800s novels so there will be overlap. But Bable felt like a knock off because of footnotes and similar voice acting. I was near constantly wishing I was reading Clarke’s book and not Kuang’s. Not because of the topics and themes but because the writing is so much better in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
I don’t regret spending twenty four hours listening to Babel. It was interesting until it was annoying. I know what the hype is about even if I don’t get it. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t love this book because I am all about calling out oppression. I would not recommend it.
Spoilers ahead.
Much of Robin’s motivation for “burning it all down,” seemed to be based on personal experiences. It was repeatedly pointed out that he wanted revenge for Ramy’s death. Dude had every right to be driven by revenge and also, it cheapened the concept of revolution to me. Revolution is about collective freedom, not a personal grudge.
The paragraphs and paragraphs of Robin’s angst and anxiety were boring.
I wish Robin had killed Letty at the end of the book. Her white savior complex went on too long.
I generally found the ending unsatisfying.