When I saw the promotional material rolling out for R F Kuang’s latest novel, Babel, I immediately put it on my to-be-read list. There were so many aspects of the book that intrigued me: the gorgeous cover, the Victorian setting, the promise of a story about students standing up against the British Empire to save their countries from imperialism and war. As soon as I could, I got myself a copy and dug right in.
Reading Babel was a strange experience for me. I have never read a book that made me feel so many contradictory emotions. Babel is a rich and nuanced novel which explores the ways colonisation, linguistics and translation intersected to promote 19th century British imperialism. I love this fresh and unique perspective and admire the way Kuang delved into it. However, as a story, there are many aspects of Babel that left me feeling disappointed and frustrated. Babel just wasn’t a novel that worked well for me, even though I enjoyed and appreciated its themes.
