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

by R.F. Kuang

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About this book

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 of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel's research in foreign languages serves the Empire's quest to colonize everything it encounters.

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports 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? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?

Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire.

“One thing united them all, without Babel they had nowhere in this country to go. They had been chosen for privileges they couldn't have ever imagined, funded by powerful and wealthy men whose motives they didn't understand and they were acutely aware these could be lost at any moment. That precariousness made them simultaneously bold and terrified. They had the keys to the kingdom. They did not want to give them back.”

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

Count your Coffees!

Only a few chapters in, I knew Babel was going to be a problem: 'How do you review a book I have so much to say and feel about?'

First and foremost, Babel is language...not just written in a beautiful language, but also about language. R.F. Kuang is a translator and it shows. She knows the ins and outs of languages, the dialectic and etymology of words. If you love words, foreign languages and syntaxis, this book is a treasure trove of annotations.

But Babel is also about culture, and the close relationship it has with language. She knows (and shows) how language is used to shape the world around is, for better or worse.

Because Babel is also about making a stand. It is a stand against all that is wrong with Dark Academia. Against colonial politics of the past. Against colonial politics of the present (I'm looking at you, China). While it is a so-called alternate history, at the same time, it isn't. It is a metaphor of the world past and present and asks us one important question:

'What are you willing to sacrifice to right those wrongs, and is violence really a necessity?'

Babel is a heavy read. It is emotional, it is raw. Yet I loved every single moment of it. It is such intelligent writing and for me, the best Dark Academia book out there at the moment. It doesn't suffer from the stiffness The Secret History has, but goes much deeper than If We Were Villains. It is simply a new benchmark that might influence and change the genre as a whole.

This will be my best read from 2022!

Buy this book: https://amzn.to/3GQ9vOp Disclaimer: This site earns a small commission fee if you buy using any of the commercial links. This will not cost you anything extra, but helps me invest in the content I offer you free of charge. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your patronage, it makes all the difference!