The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

One of our June Book of the Month is Babel by R.F. Kuang



Please discuss here and remember to use spoiler tags as needed, as everyone reads at different speeds and may start at different times.

Goodreads Choice AwardNominee for Best Fantasy (2022)
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic 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. The tower and its students are 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 the arcane craft 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?

Do we start on June 1st?

The "official" start date is 1 June, but of course you can start earlier, if you want to. :)

Oh good! I’m about to finish my current book and babel was up next! Kismet :)

It's a SIGN! 🙃

I can’t get it from the library until July so I’ll be diving in then.

Jen, the thread stays open, so you re welcome to post comments any time. :)

i'm rereading this (i first read it about this time last year), currently up to chapter 9, and i'm loving it just as much as i did the first time. r.f. kuang and babel in particular are... very controversial in my monthly book club lol, and i've gone into this reread trying to take into account some of the criticism i've heard, but admittedly i'm not seeing where they're coming from!

Does anyone else have trouble reading this book? it’s pretty good, but it’s just difficult to digest

I'm going to start it tonight and I'm in interested in how it will be as I didn't really like Yellowface.

I’m going to start tomorrow. Just finished my last book

Can't wait to reread this one next weekend!

Ohhh, so nice! I could directly get it from my online library so I am in as well! Looking forward to this

Ok, I’m only 15 pages deep and I am already in love. This is my first read by Kuang and I am impressed. Her ability to infuse both culture and voice is so refreshing!

I have started and read the first two chapters and I am very curious how it will go on! I loved her book yellowface so I am sure that it will be good too :) very interesting topic with the translations

I have also read 2 chapters, and am interested to see where it goes. I will continue at about a 30 page a day pace

This is my first book of the month. Are we supposed to read certain chapters for discussion? Sorry for the silly question.

Adriann wrote: "This is my first book of the month. Are we supposed to read certain chapters for discussion? Sorry for the silly question."

Hi, no it's not a silly question at all.

These BoTMs are very laid-back, so we don't use chapter break-downs. If you decide to join, we are happy to have you. You can come by the thread any time to share views, impressions or post questions. :)

I finished part 1. I like it so far and am looking forward to learning about Hermes.

Any thoughts on part 1?

I read this last year and enjoyed it.

I do like Kuang and find her work to be thought provoking. This one, even more so, with the contrasting views by the multiple main characters. I liked how she was able to do a decent job writing from different perspectives without choosing a side.

Finished part 2. Seems to have slowed down a bit...they are year 3 and still not a lot of info about Hermes

I finished part 3 and am well into part 4. I am not liking certain characterizations she has of the English/Anglos in general, similar to some issues I had with Yellowface. But overall I am invested in the story.

I am really enjoying it - although it is taking me some time to get through it as I put it down for a few days and then return to it. I find her illustration of European colonialism and the use of language very interesting.

Spoiler - I just finished the part about forced opium trading in China versus restrictions within England. I’m not sure if that is historical but it made for an interesting bit of story.

Adriann wrote: "I am really enjoying it - although it is taking me some time to get through it as I put it down for a few days and then return to it. I find her illustration of European colonialism and the use of ..."

There were two opium wars one in 1839 which this book is probably referring to, and one in 1860. The 1839 war is what eventually ceded Hong Kong to Britain (it was returned to China in 1997) and opened several ports to trade including Canton. Some of the characters resemble real historic figures. The second one legalized opium in China

Thanks Denise!

Finished it. i understand the point they wanted to make but (view spoiler)[ Robin really messed up by choosing personal revenge over slowly making a point. I don't think the author is convincing that violence is always necessary for revolution as it questions at the beginning (hide spoiler)]

Finished it, and it was really good. Such an interesting read, for someone who loves language it was very enjoyable!