000			02149nam a22002057a 4500
005			20260202172146.0
008			260202b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a978-0-06-302143-3
040			_cHSLRC
050			_aFIC _bK83 2022
100			_aKuang, R.F _960248
245			_aBabel or the necessity of violence: _ban arcane history of the Oxford/ _cR.F. Kuang
260			_aNew York: _bHarper Voyager, _cc2022
300			_a542 pages; _c20 cm
520			_a"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?" _cProvided by publisher
650			_a Alternative histories (Fiction) _960249
650			_aAnti-imperialist movements Fiction _960250
655			_aHistorical fiction _960251
942			_2lcc _cBK
999			_c98644 _d98644