Babel Book Review | I Read Dark Academia’s Most Beloved Novel, And You Won’t Like What I Have To Say About It.
May contain spoilers. Babel book review.
Babel, by R.F. Kuang, is a beloved book among many dark academia/ fantasy lovers and I struggled to see why.
At its core, it is a whimsical portrayal of Oxford academia set against the crushing realities of colonialism. The premise was intriguing in many ways and certainly thought-provoking; however, the novel itself was not what I had hoped it would be.
I do want to say that much of Kuang’s writing is beautiful and lyrical. My criticism does not mean I believe she is a bad author, nor that I wouldn’t read her other work. Rather, I think Babel was perhaps too ambitious in its meaning and plot. In striving to carry so much thematic weight, the characters and other narrative elements that give a story life felt transparent and, at times, neglected.
This post is all about my very honest Babel book review. However, everyone’s opinions are different and I invite you to comment your thoughts in the comments below.
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An unfortunately honest Babel book review.
The bad…
Babel sits in a category of literature that is often beautiful to read but unnecessarily long. And, don’t get me wrong, I love a long book, but a book that is long for the sake of being long is not my cup of tea. At times, it felt slow, and as a result, I felt increasingly less motivated to read as the book went on. Often the protagonists/ antagonists felt much more like vehicles for the overarching message about colonialism than fully realised individuals. As a result, I felt little emotional connection or remorse, because the characters lacked depth and vitality.
Ramy and Robin are portrayed as best friends after barely a day, and even three-quarters of the way through the novel I struggled to distinguish Letty from Victoire, as they seemed to exist more as a collective than as individuals with defining traits. The attempt to create a close-knit group of young academics lacked the substance and development needed to make their relationships feel authentic, making me all too aware they were merely vehicles of literature.
Similarly, I went into this book expecting fantasy, and I was severely disappointed. The fantastical element centres on silver bars, which function as a form of magic and act as the building blocks of society. These bars can be engineered to hold up bridges or keep the Thames free from sewage, effectively streamlining the world around them. However, they felt relatively underused until the final stages of the novel, and I never felt fully immersed in a magical world. I felt more could have been done with the bars from the beginning to increase the accordance of a fantastical version of London. Again, I was left disappointed.
The good…
However, thematically the novel had some good elements and it wasn’t all bad. I enjoyed reading about the perspective of colonialism on those who had simultaneously benefited from it and fallen victim to it. I thought that created an interesting dichotomy. It also made me reflect on the world today, and how these ideas are very much relevant.
The writing was also lyrical and beautiful. Although Kuang had faults at character building, I very much enjoyed her setting descriptions and use of language. As an English Literature graduate, this tickled an itch in my brain.
Babel, an annotation guide.
If I haven’t deterred you completely, and you do decide to read it, this is the annotation guide I used:
Red= Language
Blue= character quotations
Green= Story development
yellow= funny/ sad moments
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Finally, My rating.
It is no secret that I did not enjoy this book. I found it lacked the depth of character and fantasy needed for me to truly get lost in it. However, it did have a few redeeming qualities, particularly in its language and descriptions. And so, I rate this book a 2.3/ 5.
Rating: 2.3 out of 5
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This post was all about my very honest Babel book review
Comment below your thoughts and opinions, and what I should read next.
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