I have a lot to say about this novel, which is to say that if someone ever engages me in a conversation about it, I might never shut up.

This book deserves the praise its gotten, and some of the criticism too. Throughout the story I was settled at 4 stars, but I started to gravitate towards a 5 late in the book.

I sometimes see people describe certain books as important, often due to the themes explored, which is at the same time an admission that this important book might not actually be good. This is not the case with Babel, in my opinion. It is important, for sure, but it's also skillfully constructed.

Sometimes I see books described as more than the sum of its parts. This is true for Babel, but not necessarily because these aforementioned parts were disjointed and unconnected. The sheer ambition of this book and how the writer pulled it off - that alone is amazing. This was such a well-rounded story, even with its imperfections, that it deserves 5 stars.

As an academic that studies revolutions I was probably reading the story a little too closely sometimes, and that's how I paid a little too much attention to some weak points. I can't help it though, and this was very interesting for me from that academic point of view as well. I wrote down one line because it is so true and bears repeating: ... revolution is, in fact, always unimaginable. It reminds me of another quote: All revolutions are impossible until they happen - then they become inevitable. I don't even remember who said it. All I know is that it's very true, and applies to Babel as well.

Although points about colonialism were hammered over repeatedly, the question on the necessity of violence was never settled, in my opinion. I like that. You can't provide a neat answer for it, and although the author seemed to choose a side, so to speak, it wasn't too blatantly served. The solution remains debatable and if you disagree, fight me, I would love it.

The criticism that I would give are on the pacing and the characters. I tried reading Poppy Wars before and dnf'ed it, partly because I was just not feeling it for whatever reason, but also because it felt so slow. Babel is also really slow at times, but the plot actually moves forward in great lurches between periods of stillness. Some of the characters also remained kind of one-dimensional, or at least I would have liked for them to have more depth. For better or for worse, the characters in this book existed for the sake of the story, not the other way around, so they did serve their purpose.

So, overall a truly great book and I'm happy to have finally read it.