{"id":584,"date":"2026-08-15T09:17:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T09:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/?post_type=myreads&#038;p=584"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T13:28:44","slug":"babel","status":"publish","type":"myreads","link":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/?myreads=babel","title":{"rendered":"Babel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-e15afb30 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);flex-basis:33.3%\">\n<style data-wp-block-html=\"css\">\n._df_thumb {\n    width: 305px;\n    display: block;\n    margin-left: auto !important;\n    margin-right: auto !important;\n}\n\n@media only screen and (max-width: 768px) {\n    ._df_thumb {\n        width: 100%;\n        display: block;\n        margin-left: auto !important;\n        margin-right: auto !important;\n    }\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"_df_thumb \" id=\"df_546\"  _slug=\"546\" data-title=\"babel\" wpoptions=\"true\" thumb=\"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/57945316-1.jpg\" thumbtype=\"\" >Babel<\/div><script class=\"df-shortcode-script\" nowprocket type=\"application\/javascript\">window.option_df_546 = {\"outline\":[],\"autoEnableOutline\":\"false\",\"autoEnableThumbnail\":\"false\",\"overwritePDFOutline\":\"false\",\"backgroundImage\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wolf.campubl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/63a9be9945e295b9341dc00d13406b76.jpg\",\"direction\":\"1\",\"pageSize\":\"0\",\"source\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wolf.campubl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Preview-Babel-by-R.F.Kuang_compressed.pdf\",\"wpOptions\":\"true\"}; if(window.DFLIP && window.DFLIP.parseBooks){window.DFLIP.parseBooks();}<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-custom-color-4-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-top:0\">Click to read sample \ud83d\udcd6<br>or listen to the audiobook \ud83c\udfa7<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9780063021457-1.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:13px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-fca99130 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0\"><h1 style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:900;padding-right:0;padding-left:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\" class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-2 wp-block-post-title has-text-color has-custom-color-3-color has-xx-large-font-size has-evans-font-family\">Babel<\/h1>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-custom-color-3-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-3 wp-container-content-72558541 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:800\">R.F. Kuang<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-container-core-group-is-layout-82c4478a wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"min-height:0px;padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-custom-color-4-color has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-4 wp-container-content-72558541 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0;font-style:normal;font-weight:700\">From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes&nbsp;<em>Babel,<\/em>&nbsp;a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details has-custom-color-4-color has-text-color has-link-color has-evans-font-family has-small-font-size wp-elements-5 is-layout-flow wp-container-core-details-is-layout-470551b9 wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:700\" open><summary><em>Traduttore, traditore<\/em>: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.<\/summary>\n<p class=\"has-custom-color-4-color has-text-color has-link-color has-evans-font-family has-small-font-size wp-elements-6 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:400\"><strong>1828<\/strong>. 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 he\u2019ll enroll in Oxford University\u2019s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation\u2014also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world&#8217;s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working\u2014the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars\u2014has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire&#8217;s quest for colonization.<br><br>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 decide . . .<br><br><em><strong>Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:23px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4d6339ab wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:0px;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-dbfbc6bc wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:0px;background-color:#fff6e6;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-right:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-style:none;border-width:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);box-shadow:var(--wp--preset--shadow--natural)\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-custom-color-4-color has-text-color has-link-color has-evans-font-family has-small-font-size wp-elements-7 wp-container-content-69bc4bdf wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:700\">RECOMMENDED BY<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-custom-color-3-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-8 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:0\">Alex<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-contrast-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-9 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:0;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);font-style:italic;font-weight:600\">\u201cBetrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-custom-color-3-color has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-10 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);font-style:normal;font-weight:400\">\u25b8 I love how Babel touched deep and complex topics such as racism, sexism, and colonialism. It showed how these concepts are integrated and sometimes overlap in society. It also highlighted the importance and power of language and knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-custom-color-4-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-11 wp-block-paragraph\">\u2605 \u2605 \u2605 \u2605 \u2605<br>5 \/ 5<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click to read sample \ud83d\udcd6or listen to the audiobook \ud83c\udfa7 R.F. Kuang From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes&nbsp;Babel,&nbsp;a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire. RECOMMENDED BY Alex \u201cBetrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"single-myreads","meta":{"_myreads_author":"R.F. Kuang","_myreads_format":"book","_myreads_rating":5,"_myreads_ratingStyle":"star","_myreads_isFavorite":false,"_myreads_currentlyReading":false,"_myreads_amazonLink":"","_myreads_image_sizes":[],"footnotes":""},"myreads_genre":[13],"myreads_year":[],"class_list":["post-584","myreads","type-myreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","myreads_genre-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/myreads\/584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/myreads"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/myreads"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=584"}],"version-history":[{"count":121,"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/myreads\/584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1046,"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/myreads\/584\/revisions\/1046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"myreads_genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmyreads_genre&post=584"},{"taxonomy":"myreads_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolf.campubl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmyreads_year&post=584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}