Babel - R.F. Kuang

Virtual Book Club Event - May 2025

Come join us to discuss this month's poll selection, Babel by R.F. Kuang!

Here is a short synopsis from Goodreads:

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 he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's 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 decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57945316-babel

As usual, our evening will include a discussion of the current selection as well as suggestions for our next book choice! If you couldn't make it to our last gathering, never fret; just grab a copy and catch up with us! If you aren't able to finish the book this time around, come anyway! You can help us with suggestions for our next read!