I was so intrigued when I first heard the broad premise of the book — that translation created physical value I. This world — that I couldn’t wait to dive in. What I hadn’t considered is all the clear themes and commentaries that such treatment of languages, particularly languages deemed exotic and different, would bring: the original sin of colonialism, the xenophobic implications, the imbalance of power, and the default language that war records are written in: the victors. 

So many of these ideas popped up in today’s world landscape as I bounced between reading news and this book that I couldn’t stop thinking about those connections. Even the basic idea of translation was something that left me thinking long after I had set the book down for the day— how all translation is inherently imperfect at best and a lie or a robbery at worst and what is gained or lost when moving from one language to another. Really makes you think about the need for those innate human qualities in interpreting language and its stories rather than relying on an automated/AI/google translate tool that will inherently treat language as a mathematical formula with suv equivalencies rather than something to be breathed, thought, and felt. 

Loved reading this book and only dropped it down to four stars because the pacing in the last 20% felt to slow in a jarring way after feeling so action packed out of the gate. But the end parts still left a lot to think about when it comes to acting on principles, political revolt, and self sacrifice.