read: 09/10/23 - 14/11/23 | spoilers!
To start, a major kudos to this book for its incredible articulation of the nuance within translation. Though nothing new (in terms of ideology and theory) was said, Kuang had an incredible talent for wording the complications of translation in a chilling way. Ranging from

"an act of translation is always an act of betrayal"

to

"the translator dances in shackles"

, there are many quotes to pick from that display Kuang's talent. Her commentary on colonialism and imperialism has a similar tone, gifting me possibly my favourite line from the book:

"And Robin found it incredible, how this country, whose citizens prided themselves so much on being better than the rest of the world, could not make it through an afternoon tea without borrowed goods."

However, despite all its pros, 'Babel' primarily disappointed me in its character work. There were a few issues with the book - pacing that was far too slow at times, repetitive descriptions of London and Oxford, and an overload of footnotes that sometimes were unneeded - yet the underdevelopment of the characters was what really let me down, mainly because there was so much potential. Kuang had created such an intricate foundation for her characters, and utilised none of it. Robin and Lovell's relationship, Robin and Griffin's relationship, Robin and Ramy's relationship, Letty's relationship with everyone else. But, even with the many possibilities Kuang had, it was left unexplored, and instead stated instead of shown.
We are told many things, but that is all. Kuang tells us what she intends without actually weaving it into her plot.

We are told Ramy and Robin have a connection beyond friendship but, despite one-liners of charged looks or tense moments, there is never anything that indicates that. The infuriating thing is that this could have been easily fixed. Robin and Ramy were across the hall from each other, yet not once does Kuang use that to have something as simple as the two having a midnight talk in their rooms. This lack of utilising set-up is another issue between Robin and Professor Lovell. They have such a complex relationship, one that could have been built up in the lessons Robin has to have with Lovell in Oxford, yet it is skimmed over completely. And the apparent 'love triangle' did not exist to me until Kuang says it herself in the text.

As aforementioned, this is more disappointing than annoying because the potential is there, and, even more so, Kuang actually picks up on this for the middle 100 pages of the book.

On the trip to Canton, Ramy and Robin go on a late-night walk. Robin and Lovell's relationship is put under strain. We get a new environment and we avoid repetitive descriptors. Yet, the moment we return back to Oxford, it falls apart again.

There was a major issue with Kuang uselessly stating what we were meant to interpret from the text rather than spending time on making characters and emotions convincing enough so that she doesn't HAVE to tell us. It was a shame because Kuang is clearly a talented writer with amazing ideas and a gift for groundwork, I just wish some more time would have been spent on execution to weight the scenes that would have been so impactful had the characters been more fleshed out.
Overall, her prose and ideas were heavily respectable, and the middle section of the book was thoroughly enjoyable, but there were still many things left to be desired.