From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

Babel

R.F. Kuang

Start date: December 1, 2024

Finish date: December 31, 2024

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: December 2024 - Modern

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MODERN / POPULAR READS

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What Members Thought

Apr 10, 2023 Katie rated it liked it

I feel like this book reminds me so much of Voltaire's fictional works and how they actually serve as thinly veiled disguises of his own personal philosophy. The protagonists are less supposed to be three dimensional characters who could actually exist and more like archetypes of the different people who you would find on Twitter. I did enjoy the book but it was pretty apparent the author was using this book to push her own political views, and this is definitely more obvious in the footnotes. ( I feel like this book reminds me so much of Voltaire's fictional works and how they actually serve as thinly veiled disguises of his own personal philosophy. The protagonists are less supposed to be three dimensional characters who could actually exist and more like archetypes of the different people who you would find on Twitter. I did enjoy the book but it was pretty apparent the author was using this book to push her own political views, and this is definitely more obvious in the footnotes. (Insert minor note on typography here: the asterisks are so tiny! I would see a footnote and then be like wait a minute where was the asterisk and have to comb back through the text and interrogate every apostrophe and end quote! It got to the point where I didn't even bother reading some of the footnotes.)

I do think the author's political views are really interesting and very compelling. There was definitely a point in my life where I thought violence is the only way for the oppressed to make those in power and those whose privilege allow them to remain disinterested and nonchalant CARE. And this book definitely makes the argument that if you want to wrest power away from the privileged and well, powerful, then you have to threaten their property and their capital. This book then nuances this argument by pointing out that even great acts of violence as a form of protest, even if committed, still will not make great impact or change to the power structure. It requires a continued effort, recurring protests and acts of violence. Theres so much to discuss in terms of social activism, politics, and the methodology of protest in this work. I think it's a great book to read if you're interested in those topics but if you just want a good story, I would not exactly recommend this book. I stopped caring about the characters once it became obvious they were just little puppets used to act out the author's political views. I don't understand the internal motivation. I just didn't buy how quickly some of the characters changed personalities and motivations. The villains were very blatantly malicious and prejudiced to the point where it was almost comical. The ending was very depressing and anticlimactic and not worth the 540-page payoff.

3/5 definitely an interesting read for the social commentary and pro radical activism ideology. Meh on the story and character work. ...more

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