Babel (PB)
Paperback - 560 pages
Ā
nstant #1Ā New York TimesĀ Bestseller from the author ofĀ The Poppy WarĀ Ā
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comesĀ Babel, a thematic response toĀ The Secret HistoryĀ and a tonal retort toĀ Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrellĀ that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.
āAbsolutely phenomenal . . . brilliant, razor-sharp . . . grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out.ā āShannon Chakraborty, bestselling author ofĀ The City of Brass
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day heāll enroll in Oxford Universityās prestigious Royal Institute of Translationāalso known as Babel.
Babel is the worldās center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver workingāthe art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver barsāhas made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empireās quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decideā¦
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?Ā
Ā
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Description
Paperback - 560 pages
Ā
nstant #1Ā New York TimesĀ Bestseller from the author ofĀ The Poppy WarĀ Ā
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comesĀ Babel, a thematic response toĀ The Secret HistoryĀ and a tonal retort toĀ Jonathan Strange & Mr. NorrellĀ that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.
āAbsolutely phenomenal . . . brilliant, razor-sharp . . . grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out.ā āShannon Chakraborty, bestselling author ofĀ The City of Brass
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day heāll enroll in Oxford Universityās prestigious Royal Institute of Translationāalso known as Babel.
Babel is the worldās center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver workingāthe art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver barsāhas made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empireās quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decideā¦
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?Ā
Ā
