louzr's reviews
133 reviews

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.

read: 01/10/23 - 30/10/23 | spoilers!
I have tried a couple translations of 'Inferno', yet Kirkpatrick's is the one that captured me the most. There is an accuracy for the original work, yet a preservation of emotion that can sometimes be lost through language barriers when it comes to word-for-word translations. There were many moments of humour, emotion, and beautiful uses of language from Dante, alongside his incredible creativity. There was a real intelligence weaved into the circles, especially with how the punishment of the circles reflected something of the sin itself (eg:

the storms of 'Lust' representing the violent throws of love

), yet also a real talent with the way he was capable of weaving many mythologies and religions together. Kirkpatrick's translation gifted me with one of my all-time favourite quotes from a book:

"Hunger proved a greater power than grief."

An incredible read. I'm excited to move onto the rest of The Commedia soon.

read: 04/10/23 - 11/10/23
Though I have the original dates I read this collection, it is one I return to and reread often. It was exactly the type of thing I had been trying to find forever; A varied collection of poems, not only in length and style but also in theme and meaning, accumulated from multiple cultures and their myths. Though some familiar, it was an introduction to many works I hadn't seen before, and was accompanied by the most gorgeous illustrations. The poems were beautiful, cleverly picked and occasionally added with a helpful note to context, and the collection was really tied together by Chris Riddell's work.
One of my favourites that I own :]

read: 01/10/23 - 08/10/23
This collection was an incredible, and often witty, commentary on many things, particularly racism, love, and over-consumption. The stories ranged from touching to disturbing. The most heart-aching for me was 'The Lion & The Spider', a story that initially seemed a little slower than the others but ended up having so much humanity sewn into it. There were some odder plots, namely 'Lark Street', that took a more abstract approach than the dystopia of the other tales, though I liked the occasional switch-up from slice-of-life to almost horror. It kept the stories varied and moving. Overall, despite some weaker stories (as is always the case with short-story collections), I thoroughly enjoyed Adjei-Brenyah's narrative in both its intelligence and its dark sense of humour.

read: 22/09/23 - 29/09/23 | spoilers!
I think this is the only book I have ever read that I have absolutely zero criticisms of. You could be particular and argue it is not entirely accurate to the Achilles of The Iliad (eg:

Miller's Achilles not having bed slaves, whilst Homer's did,

and differences alike), yet I understand certain exclusions and never expect a retelling to be a stand-in for the original work, and Miller manages to weave her world with Homer's in such an interesting way. I think she keeps in much of Homer's characterisation unchanged whilst also making it her own, which is an incredible skill.

She keeps in Achilles' overt hubris, violence, grief, and power whilst somehow making it understandable, even tolerable, through her narrative. She also characterises Patroclus in a very human way, adding a dimension to him that is endearing to read.

The love she writes is so uniquely its own. It is undefined whilst speaking for itself. It is specific whilst uncontained. Miller has an enviable talent of building emotion. Her storytelling makes it so that she never has to explicitly say anything at all. To try and articulate the effect her prose had on me is impossible. Her word choices were unobvious, her sentence structures were melodic, her dialogue was breath-taking. The beauty of Miller's poetic prose is that her simplest sentences end up hitting the hardest. An unforgettable line for me will always be:

"His eyes, green as spring leaves, met mine. 'Patroclus. I have given them enough. I will not give them this.'"

There are many moments like that in Miller's prose: A definitive, and simple, line amongst her mosaic of other sentences.
The sad scenes were shattering, the loving scenes were heart-aching. The characterisation was perfect, the retelling was honest but new. Beautifully written yet nowhere near pretentious. It is a book that almost gives me vertigo to think about, and I am so excited to continue with Miller's work in 2024.