Babel. Una storia arcana

‘ Without translation, I would be limited to the borders of my own country, ’ wrote the great Italian author Italo Calvino and when ‘ words travel the world, ’ as translator Anna Rusconi says ‘ translators do the driving. ’ So what happens when these hands are behind the wheel of a war machine, what respo Leggi tutto

“Babel, Or the Necessity of Trauma Porn” I can talk about the many problems I had with this book in terms of its length, its structure, its utterly paper-thin characters, and how goddamned condescending it is, and you can find that discussion below. But I feel that I should start with the part of thi Leggi tutto

ARC was provided by the publisher—Harper Voyager—in exchange for an honest review. Babel was absolutely impressive, ambitious, and intelligently crafted. As unbelievable as it sounds, R.F. Kuang has triumphed over The Poppy War Trilogy—which I loved so much—with this one book. “Language was always Leggi tutto

The Italian word for disappointment is delusione , from the Latin de-ludus , literally “to make fun of”. Its closest cognate in the English language is delusion , which the Oxford Dictionary defines as “an idiosyncratic belief or impression maintained despite being contradicted by reality”. R. F. Kuang Leggi tutto

Babel reminded me of the classics and literature I had to study in my school days. Yes, there was a lot of noteworthy ideas and discussions to be had but by god was it a challenge to get through. First off, the person who wrote the marketing tagline, "for fans of The Poppy War" needs to be fired fro Leggi tutto

By the end of Babel, I was shaking. Maybe out of grief, maybe out of awe; I felt as if I had watched something monumental flourish and collapse. And, for a minute, the world seemed so still, like the last few pages were a clip from a silent film. I’m writing this review immediately after finishing t Leggi tutto

I tried my very hardest to like this. I thought The Poppy War was excellent when I read it a few years ago, and Babel seemed like a combination of subjects I find fascinating and spent my own uni days immersed in-- history, language/linguistics, colonial studies --but in hindsight, I wonder if I mig Leggi tutto