I’ve sat on this review for months (primarily because of the HarperCollins strike), but I think it helped to reflect on what I took away from Babel. I want to begin and say that Babel is absolutely brilliant. It is scathing, well-researched, and more. As a racialized academic in the humanities, Kuang touched on many things that deeply resonated with me, but one thing she got across wonderfully was the agonizing love/hate relationship that historically marginalized people have while in academia. I felt a lot of catharsis reading this book and sincerely empathized with Robin’s grief and Griffin’s anger in particular.

I can see how Kuang deliberately crafted her characters to be more than characters. They are part of a larger, very layered commentary on the violent, isolating nature of academia and its ties to powerful institutions and systems. Babel is a fascinating yet disturbing exploration of how disrupting the status quo, especially at institutions like Oxford, is a complex act of violence, depending on who is the one writing history.

I’ve seen some of the criticisms of this book. I feel confident in saying that some were terrible takes (I don’t need to rehash them, especially if you’ve seen them on other social media platforms), but I think there were some valid criticisms as well. I agree that the pacing of the book was a bit awkward, thinking back on my reading experience, and realizing that part of the reason why it took so long for me to get through this book was due to pacing. Another understandable critique was the desire to see the fantastical elements of this book to be fleshed out more (though this didn’t really bother me, personally). A third critique I saw that I do want to respond to is about the heavy-handed nature of the book. I can see why some may not like this, but… as a marginalized scholar in the humanities (and one who has gotten a degree in the United Kingdom), I can say with absolute confidence that this is our reality. It can be very in your face in the most appalling ways. A great example of this is when someone outright tells Robin’s cohort, “We accept you not despite, but because of your foreign backgrounds.” These moments are frequent throughout Babel, but Kuang is simply portraying what racialized academics face and the different ways these play out.

Babel is by no means perfect, but when it comes to the heart of the content, it is a tour de force in literature about academia. Babel is a desperately needed book in this realm of literature, especially with how frequently romanticized academia is to an alarming degree. This book truly brings the “dark” in “dark academia,” and no matter how heavy-handed the book may seem, I hope it brings some awareness to the power dynamics and lasting colonial legacies of the academic world.

(I have a lot of thoughts on this book, and all the notes I’ve written on this book barely make it in this review, but just know that this one hit very close to home.)