"or the necessity of violence"

I've been seeing a lot of resounding praise for this novel including the word "masterpiece," and I definitely can say I agree with the use of the word here. While this book holds oh so much, and so well (I loooooved the consistent footnotes), it also tells a story that resonated with me for its beautiful moments of simplicity regarding making friends in a place of learning. 
From the very beginning, Robin's journey to Oxford felt like one I wanted to believe would go as smoothly as possible. But, because Kuang is the fantastic writer she is, and the undertones of colonialism's destruction permeate the narrative from the very first page, I knew this couldn't be the case. I loved, despite this heavier aspect of the novel, how the wonders of academic camaraderie were crafted. The shared exhaustion, codependency in coursework, late night swapping of thoughts, and everything in between---it made me desperately miss grad school. It also made me think about the unique quality of Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty's group, seeing how they butt heads harmlessly in the beginning and terribly at the end due to the environment of the institution they were in and the work they were doing. Victoire quickly became my favorite character, and Letty quickly became the character I was the most fascinated by---from her complicated relationship with Ramy that we really only get to examine from Robin's limited scope, to her Interlude near the novel's end. Yes, she's a white woman in a country that supports her existence for the most part, but the intricacies of the oppression she felt she faced as a woman at Babel (in the shadow of her late brother) really made me stop and ponder her perspective as it related to Ramy, Victoire, and Robin's situations as students in the same country at the same school. When things really started to hit the fan, I knew the group couldn't all see a happy ending, but I wonder what happened to Letty on the other side.
I haven't even touched on this book's completely unique magic system yet, but maybe that's because all I really have to say is that it blew me away. Not once, or twice, or three times, but pretty much any time a new facet of it was explained or demonstrated in a scene or footnote (I really loved those footnotes). The amount of research as well as fascination with and innate knowledge about language and translation it took to write this, and write it well, increases my already vast appreciation for Kuang as an author and human being. I think I need to add The Poppy War to my to be read list.



Some of my favorite quotes from Babel:

"He pulled on his English accent like a new coat, adjusted everything he could about himself to make it fit, and, within weeks, wore it with comfort."

"He enjoyed novels more than anything else."

"Never, Robin thought, would he understand these men, who talked of the world and its movements like a grand chess game, where countries and peoples were pieces to be moved and manipulated at will."

"If they're going to tell stories about you, use it to your advantage. The English are never going to think I'm posh, but if I fit into their fantasy, then they'll at least think I'm royalty."

"It felt now as if they had all the time in the world to do nothing but be happy, if they could just remember how."

"Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world, No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation -- a necessary endeavor, however futile, to move between them."

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