Babel
Set in an alternate 1830s Oxford, Babel follows Robin Swift, a Chinese boy brought to study at the prestigious Royal Institute of Translation. Here, students harness the magic of translation through silver-working, powering the British Empire's expansion. As Robin uncovers the violent cost of this linguistic sorcery, he faces an impossible choice between complicity and revolution. Kuang masterfully weaves themes of colonialism, academia, and the power of language into a devastating critique of empire.
Buy the book on AmazonHighlighting Quotes
- 1. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes.
- 2. The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.
- 3. Power did not lie in the tower. It lay in its destruction.