Babel

Overall I enjoyed reading the novel — great story building, interesting concept, and a lot of nostalgia reading about Oxford (especially all the details about the scones! I missed Vaults and Gardens a lot). However, the last part of the book did not feel like it fit the first three-quarters or so in terms of meticulous world building. Indeed the last third or quarter of the book (everything after Canton, but maybe even including the Canton trip) kind of read like a fan-fiction for the first part of the book. Also the last part of the book, all the parts about colonialism, felt a bit moralizing (like obviously I agree, but it did feel a bit more like it was being shoved down my throat).

The story takes place in 1830s Oxford and follows the students and teachers who attend the prestigious Babel institution, where they use their language translation skills to create magic in the form of silver making. In the beginning, the students are awed and grateful to be in this environment, but as they learn more about the school and Oxford and its place within the British empire, they become more and more disillusioned to their learnings and their work.

What I liked

I liked the characterization of Professor Lovell, the drama of his relationship with Robin, and the initial world-building, especially as we are introduced to the Tower and the intricacies of silver-making. I liked all of the professors and graduate students; their speech and quirks and personalities all seemed quite alive to me.

I love the translation aspect a lot as well. How beautiful and creative that you can take the meaning in-between words to create magic? I loved the very ending as well, when Robin reminisces on one of his first conversations with Ramy (😭), who comments that Robin is a great listener and therefore a great translator, and that a big part of translation is the skill of being able to hear what someone is saying.

I also liked the Canton part a lot, as well. I liked the historical significance and bridging between East and West, as well as the part where Robin insists on going to see the opium den. I liked that the opium war was actually front and center in this book and one of the main plot points.

I did like that the Tower of Babel does fall at the end of the book. It seemed quite fitting and poetic that way.

Some things that didn’t make sense

• It didn’t make sense to me that Lovell’s wife comes to the Tower asking for money; I thought she was the rich woman that Lovell married in order to get her money?
• None of them seemed to age or grow much as characters at a time in their life when they should be coming-of-age. They must be around 18 years old when they enter Babel, but there are no romances (at a time when this must be front and center for many people that age) or even a desire to suppress a feeling for romance. On one hand I like that it takes the focus away from that, because that is not the focus of this book. On the other hand, it felt a little less realistic, especially as they are probably in their early 20s by the end of the book. And yet they all still feel like 13-year-old kids, like when they ask Hermes Society where all the adults are.