Jo

I'm torn between giving this book a 3 or a 4.
First of all, Babel is an amazing essay on colonialism, identity and language. It truly makes you appreciate the work that went into it and even through all of that it stays an easy read.
I believe R.F. Kuang's message can be heard loud and clear while reading the book, as the characters are obvious representations of what they mean (even by just knowing their birthplaces). A big bravo to the author for this undertaking. I loved the use of different languages throughout the book and the way philosophy sentences were littered about the place.
Moreover, the silver metaphor is a really great idea, and would have loved to see it explored a bit more.

Babel is, however, extremely fatalist. 80% into the book I was still waiting for something to happen, other than reading the story of how the characters are torn between a good Oxfordian life and not betraying their motherlands/beliefs. Then everything explodes, litteraly. In a few pages Oxford and London are no more, and everyone is dead, but we don't get anything else, it is left for us to interpret, and it seems, the book, the story, the lifes in it, were all for nothing. (That being said, the epilogue is named Victoire, after one of the characters, could mean something)

The silver and translators metaphor is very good, a very nice invention, but is used so rarely that it could have been something you read in passing in today's newspaper. It is used to explain a multitude of things (from sewers to battleships) but most often than not you can replace it with the word “steam” or “fuel” and you get a book without fantasy that still works.

Overall, if you like languages and identity-issues in your reading, you'll probably have a good time. If you don't like fatalism, best avoid it. If you are looking for something thrilling, the last few chapters are good.

I ended up settling on a 4 because the theme of the book is great, the underlying metaphor is great, the essay is great, the use of language is great, Kuang's writing is great, but it is conveyed through a very slow, fatalist story, with underdeveloped characters.