Intriguing and well-written

Babel by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There's a ton of themes to deal with in this heavy novel. I am still processing the book, but will share a few thoughts.

Colonialism, racism, and how language forms our identities are probably the three themes that stood out for me. War, and its rationalizations are another.

Lighter themes include relationships and identity (not to say that those are light in general, but here they were often sub themes that influenced the other larger themes)

Power is probably the biggest contender here though as it affects all the others.

I have always loved looking at etymology and this book gives a complex look at language and the meaning of words, and how those words can change via other languages and cultures. And how language is powerful overall.

I am not a person who learns languages easily (or at all), so I quickly fell in love with many of these characters whose facility with language brings them to Babel and Oxford.

I debated between a 4 and a 5, and realized for me, having started writing reviews vs rating in 2023, a 5 tends to mean for me, a book I would recommend everyone reading. While I do think this is indeed a worthy book, I am not sure it is an easy one to pick up and stick with.

Who knows though as I have played around with my ratings often. Giving a 1 then feeling like since I finished a book it should get a 2. Giving that 2 then thinking about plot holes or other red flags and thinking it should remain a 1. I will probably continue to internally debate rating distinctions this year.

This was my first completed book of 2024. It was a book that I intended to read last year, but remained in my TBR pile.

Thus, I have completed my first resolution, to finish this book.

I am quite glad I did, and I expect it will continue to be on my mind

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