Babel
R. F. Kuang, Michel Pagel · 2022
How long does it take to read Babel?
About 11 hours 32 minutes
577 pages at 50 pages an hour. 24 days at 30 minutes a day. Work out your own time.
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. 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. Babel is 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 its knowledge 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?
How long does it take to read Babel?
Babel is 577 pages, so it takes about 11 hours 32 minutes to read at an average pace of 50 pages an hour. A relaxed reader at 35 pages an hour needs about 16 hours 29 minutes; a fast reader at 70 pages an hour, about 8 hours 15 minutes.
How many days to read Babel at 20 minutes a day?
About 35 days, reading 20 minutes a day at 50 pages an hour.
Track your sessions of Babel on Readimo and see your own pace and how long the rest will take you.
