Review

Introduction
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, a
masterpiece by R.F.Kuang, is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking novels
of speculative fiction I’ve read in my whole life. The book, brilliant both in concept and execution,
is not only an ingenious fantasy about the magical power of the translation, but also a brilliant and
sharp critique of British imperialism, capitalism and the complicity of academia in perpetuating
and enabling them.

Setting
I was pleasantly surprised by the world-building: Babel is set in an alternate-reality 1830s England
in which Britain's global economic and colonial supremacy are the results of the use of magical
silver bars, whose power comes from capturing what is "lost in translation" between words in
different languages that have similar, but not identical, meanings. These silver bars can be used in
many ways such as for increasing industrial and agricultural production, for improving the accuracy
of bullets or for healing injuries. To channel their power Oxford University created the Royal
Institute of Translation, generally called "Babel”, where scholars work to find match-pairs.

Plot
The book is about an orphan from Canton who is adopted by Richard Lovell, a Babel professor, and
takes the English name Robin Swift. Robin excels in his studies and is accepted into university,
where he establishes a deep connection and creates a long-lasting bond with Ramy Mirza, A
Muslim Indian student from Kolkata, Letitia Price, the daughter of a British admiral, and Victoire
Desgraves, a Haitian student raised in France.
The story is focused on their growing awareness that their academic efforts maintain Britain's
imperialist supremacy, the power of language, the sacrifices of resistance and the use of violence.
As far as I’m concerned, the plot, which at the beginning is gripping despite seeming rather
predictable to me, then becomes too fast-moving and, in some aspects, a little far-fetched.

Atmosphere
What struck me is that, through the use of a picturesque style and a vivid use of imagery, Kuang is
able to bring back to life 19 th century Oxford and create a captivating and enchanting atmosphere -
Oxford, the city of the dreaming spires, has in its centre Babel, the tower from which all the power
of the Empire flows and the core of all knowledge and progress in the world.
It is a fairy tale for Robin: a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. However, knowledge
serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel and by extension the
British Empire as a translator inevitably means betraying his motherland. After all, as Robin is
constantly reminded, An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. Therefore, Oxford’s
dreaming spires slowly turn out to be the bars of a golden cage and Robin’s love for Babel soon
begins to chain his soul. The poet runs untrammelled across the meadow, the translator dances in
shackles is the short sentence that doesn’t only foreshadow Robin’s fate, but also highlights the
difference between the poet, who is free to say whatever he likes, and the translator, who needs to
be translator, literary critic and poet all at once so that the translation matches the original.
I appreciated both Kuang’s aphorisms and descriptions which accurately depict how life was in the
Victorian Age.
Main Character
The character I liked most is the protagonist, Robin Swift, whose real name remains a mystery. In
fact, Robin is the name that Richard Lovell, his biological father, made him choose when the boy,
an orphan from Canton, decided to follow him to England.
I was fascinated by Robin’s internal duality which reflects the external dichotomy in the Victorian
Age, also known as Victorian compromise, an expression used to evidence the great contradictions
of this complex time.
From the book I discovered that the protagonist is extremely conflicted because, on the one hand
he lives the life of a typical English scholar, on the other hand, he is conscious not only of the
exploitation of his country-men perpetrated by the British Empire, but also that society will never
accept him as English due to his origins. They were men at Oxford they were not Oxford men he
realizes while talking to Ramy before going to sleep.
That’s the reason why he finds himself caught between the majestic Babel, represented by his
father, a cold, committed and unyielding imperialist, and the shadowy Hermes Society, an
organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports Britain in which takes part
Griffin, his rebellious and tormented step-brother.
Robin’s contribution to society consists in preventing Britain from pursuing an unjust war with
China over silver and opium and raising awareness among the lower classes of the brutality of
colonisation.
I like him because he is smart, sensible, caring and has a great character development – he goes
from being a shy and naïve scholar to a revolutionary who questions himself about the necessity of
violence. However, even though I’m conscious of the reasons why he acted this way, I was
disappointed by his ultimate decision to sacrifice himself for the good of the Resistance by setting
Babel on fire. I would highly recommend reading this incendiary novel for the reasons I’ve
mentioned above.

Federica

P.S. If I were doing the exam, I wouldn’t include so many paragraphs (only the 1 st one and the
last one): that’s just to give you context!