Melissa

“Inside, the heady wood-dust smell of freshly printed books was overwhelming. If tobacco smelled like this, Robin thought, he'd huff it every day. He stepped toward the closest shelf, hand lifted tentatively towards the books on display, too afraid to touch them - they seemed so new and crisp, their spines were uncracked, their pages smooth and bright.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel

“That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel

“It's us. Frozen in time, captured in a moment we'll never get back as long as we live. It's wonderful.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel

“Empire needed extraction. Violence shocked the system, because the system could not cannibalize itself and survive.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel