Bloodshed: the dark history of the Oxford translator revolution

“He buried his past, not because it was too sad, but because dumming it was the only way to survive.”

RF Kuang was born in Guangzhou, China, then immigrated to the United States when he was four years old. The presence of Kuang’s works is a breath of fresh air for literary lovers. Not only beautiful in every paragraph, but also feels very strong. A number of his works were inspired by his own background as a Chinese, also enriched by the broad knowledge of the Chinese study he poured in his book. Not escape from the Oriental touch, this time I wrote Babylon with the main character of Chinese -blooded, named Robin Swift.

Taking the background of the late 1820s, Robin, who at that time was infected with a cholera outbreak in Canton, was rescued by a foreign man with a slim silver rod which then changed his destiny. He also became the only one in his family who survived the plague that hit China from the trading route at that time.

Robin has no hope of staying in Cantonese, especially when he no longer has a family. Therefore, a foreign man who came unexpectedly saved himself, then brought Robin to a far country with the conditions he had to obey. After the child agreed to leave where he was born and raised by his mother who had been unlawful by the cholera, Robin agreed to the offer of the foreign man to go to England and start life there with the man as his guardian. Not only will it still be able to enjoy English-based books that have been sent to him for free, he also gets a decent life from his guardian.

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His journey to England really changed Robin’s life. He got a life that he had never even dreamed of for a lifetime, and had the opportunity to get into Babylon. Babylon here is a very prestigious royal translation institute from Oxford University. A tower that flows from her power, where scientists concoct spells that provide a magical effect and play an important role over the running of an empire. For this reason, his guardian brought Robin to England, providing very disciplined education and professors who were very competent in their fields. He only needs to follow his guardian commands to learn and get satisfying grades.

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When entering Oxford, that’s where he met with hemp, Victoire and the first white person who later became his close name named Letty. In his generation, only the four of them made it into part of Babylon. From there they rely on each other also love each other. However, their friendship is not installed sweetly. The four of them came from different backgrounds of languages, races and social status. This makes a fairly complicated friendship conflict. Moreover, when Robin found out who he really was, and the reason behind the foreign man who became his guardian brought him from Canton to England. He only found out everything when he met a brother he thought never existed.

That made Robin who was initially reliable and can make his guardians happy, turning against the luxury he has gotten. Robin faced a terrible inner upheaval when he made the biggest mistake in his life.

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This book not only discusses the discovery of identity, friendship and family and political intrigue, but also feels like peeling one language and its relation to other languages. Maybe that’s what underlies this book given the title Babel. A tower which is a symbol of human arrogance, which is then destroyed by the ego and greed of humans themselves.

The thickness of this book will not mean anything after the reader is enchanted by the beauty of the paragraph and emotions presented in the story. Maybe, on the first 400 pages will feel like you are reading a linguistic book in a fun way. Not impressed patronizing, but it will be felt for readers in the days of Robin and his friends to become Oxford’s students.

Book identity

Moving: Babylon
Author: RF Kuang
Publisher: Shira Media
Year of Publication: 2025
Number of pages: 640
RESECT: ABHEL