📖 Babel

Babel was one of the most intriguing, most relatable, and most heartbreaking stories I've ever read. It's also well-researched, written with clear passion, and also really long. No, seriously. It's really long. Hang on, lemme check. What's a non-problematic author whose book I can compare with this? Yeah, sure. We can do the Hunger Games. The first hardcover edition of Suzanne Collin's debut was about 374 pages. Babel has about 560. Even its full title is long. You know how we all just call Pablo Picasso "Picasso" when his full name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso? Babel is kinda like that. Everyone calls it Babel, when we really mean is Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. It's like R.F. Kuang couldn't figure out what to call it so she just threw a bunch of different ideas and important plot points in one sentence. Which is fair, half the time I don't know what to name my stories. I just pick an important setting or whatever and slap it on the top of the manuscript. The stories about dragons in Brooklyn? Then it's called Dragons in Brooklyn. …That's pretty good, actually. No one take that title while I talk about Babel. Anyway, Babel. What's it about, and why is it good? Worry not, dear reader. I read this monster of a story so you didn't have to, and boy, I've a lot to tell you. Babel starts in Canton (which is just 1800s Guangzhou in this story), a Cantonese speaking city in China. Currently, asiatic cholera has torn through the city, murdering families in days or weeks. It's a type of bacterial infection that originated in Asia (if you couldn't tell) due to poor sanitary conditions. It's extremely deadly, and as we zoom in on our protagonist, a Chinese boy who's rotting in bed due to the sickness, we learn that the disease has killed everyone else in his house. Not only that, but he's the only living person left on the street. His mother died that morning next to him on the bed, and he's preparing for death himself when he's saved by a mysterious Englishman who refers to himself as Professor Lovell. Lovell doesn't use medicine or curatives to save him, instead, all he does is place a silver bar inscribed with words onto the boy's chest, utters some incantations, and he's saved. Well, not completely. The boy still feels miserable, but he's not in direct danger of death anymore. He's taken to somewhere unfamiliar, a room of sorts, where he's nursed back to health over the course of many days by the professor's assistant, Ms. Piper. This is the first point in the story in which we're introduced to the concept of silver bars, which is the closest thing we have to magic. Specifically, they run off a type of magic called "translation magic," which requires someone fluent in different languages for it to work. They don't just have to be able to speak or understand such a language, however. Take English, for instance. It's our native tongue (it's more complicated for me, but we'll just say it is for simplicity sake). We speak in it. We listen to it. We dream about it. It's our life. That's the level of fluency that is required with a language if you want to use translation magic. As it turns out, the boy from Canton does have that level of fluency with Chinese, which he grew up speaking. This is perfect and directly in the interest of Professor Lovell, who needs a Chinese pupil. Lovell hails from Babel, the most prestigious linguistics university in the world and currently leading producer of silver bars and translation magic. Professor Lovell informs the boy (who also speaks English due to his old housekeeper, Ms. Betty, educating him in the language) that they will be moving to London so Lovell can put the boy through the tortuous education regime that Babel offers. Before they do so, however, the boy has to pick an "English name" for himself. The boy picks "Robin Swift," naming himself after Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels. They make their way to London, and the newly christened Robin begins his arduous studies in the way of Latin and Greek, both entry requirements to Babel. Babel is a work of madness and passion. It's pretty clear that blood, sweat, tears, and more than a few languages were poured into this book. Babel bears themes of the importance of the perseverance of languages and culture, the discriminatory tactics of 18th century London, and also colonization, specifically the boons and banes around it. Those last two themes won't make sense with the current synopsis, but read the book and it'll make sense. I promise you, the 500 page read is worth it.

《Babel》是我读过的最引人入胜、最容易让人产生共鸣、同时也是最令人心碎的故事之一。它不仅资料考据非常扎实,写作中也能明显感受到作者强烈的热情——而且真的很长。 不,我是认真的。真的很长。 等一下,我得查一下。有哪位没有争议的作者,可以拿她的书来跟这本比较?嗯,可以。《饥饿游戏》吧。 苏珊娜·柯林斯的处女作《饥饿游戏》第一版精装本大约有374页。而《Babel》大约有560页。 甚至它的完整书名都很长。 你知道我们平时都只叫巴勃罗·毕加索"毕加索",尽管他的全名是 Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso吗? 《Babel》有点像这样。 大家都叫它《Babel》,但严格来说,我们真正说的是: **《Babel,或暴力的必要性:牛津译者革命秘史》**。 感觉R.F. Kuang(R.F.匡)根本不知道到底该给这本书取什么名字,所以干脆把一堆不同的想法和几个重要的剧情要素全塞进了同一个句子里。 不过这也完全可以理解。毕竟,我自己有一半时间都不知道该给故事取什么名字。我通常就是随便挑一个重要的地点之类的,然后把它直接拍在手稿最上面。 "一个关于布鲁克林的龙的故事?" 那就叫《布鲁克林的龙》。 …… 其实这个名字还挺不错的。 在我继续聊《Babel》之前,谁都不许抢这个书名。 好了,回到《Babel》。 它到底讲了什么?为什么这么好? 别担心,亲爱的读者。我已经替你读完了这头庞然大物般的故事,所以你不用亲自读——而且,天哪,我可有太多东西要告诉你了。 《Babel》的故事从广州(在这本书中称为Canton)开始。 这里是19世纪的广州,一座以粤语为主要语言的中国城市。 当时,亚洲霍乱(asiatic cholera)席卷了这座城市,一个个家庭在短短几天或几周之内便被疾病夺去生命。 这是一种细菌感染,由于恶劣的卫生条件而在亚洲传播开来——如果你还没从名字里看出来的话。 这种疾病极其致命。 故事将镜头聚焦到我们的主人公身上:一个因为疾病而躺在床上、身体日渐衰弱的中国男孩。 我们很快得知,他家里的其他人已经全部死于这场疾病。 不仅如此,他还是整条街上唯一还活着的人。 就在那天早晨,他的母亲死在了他身旁的床上。而男孩自己也已经做好了迎接死亡的准备。 就在这时,一个神秘的英国人救了他。 这个男人自称洛弗尔教授(Professor Lovell)。 但洛弗尔并没有使用药物或者所谓的治疗方法来救他。 他只是把一根刻有文字的银条放在男孩胸口,念出一些咒语—— 然后,男孩得救了。 嗯,也不能说完全好了。 男孩依然感觉非常痛苦,但至少已经不再处于直接的死亡危险之中。 随后,他被带到了一个完全陌生的地方,一个类似房间的地方。在那里,洛弗尔教授的助手派珀小姐(Ms. Piper)照顾他,让他经过许多天的休养后逐渐恢复健康。 这也是故事第一次向我们介绍银条(silver bars)这一概念。 它们是这个世界里最接近"魔法"的东西。 更具体地说,银条依靠一种叫做"翻译魔法"(translation magic)的魔法运作,而这种魔法要求使用者必须对不同语言拥有极高程度的熟练度。 但这并不只是意味着你会说或者能听懂一种语言。 拿英语来说吧。 英语是我们的母语——对我来说情况稍微复杂一点,但为了简单起见,就这么说吧。 我们用英语说话。 我们用英语听别人说话。 我们甚至用英语做梦。 英语就是我们生活的一部分。 而如果你想使用翻译魔法,你对一门语言所需要达到的,就是这种程度的熟练度。 事实证明,那个来自广州的男孩确实拥有这样的能力。 他从小就讲中文。 这对洛弗尔教授来说简直再完美不过了,因为他正好需要一个会中文的学生。 洛弗尔来自Babel——世界上最负盛名的语言学大学,也是+M71目前世界上生产银条、发展翻译魔法最重要的机构。 洛弗尔教授告诉这个男孩,他们将前往伦敦。 在那里,洛弗尔会让他接受Babel所提供的、近乎残酷的教育训练。 不过在他们出发之前,男孩必须先给自己取一个"英文名字"。 男孩选择了"Robin Swift(罗宾·斯威夫特)"这个名字,以《格列佛游记》的作者乔纳森·斯威夫特(Jonathan Swift)为自己的名字来源。 于是,他们启程前往伦敦。 而刚刚获得新名字的罗宾,也开始了自己艰苦卓绝的学习生涯——首先是拉丁语和希腊语,因为这两门语言都是进入Babel的必修入门条件。 《Babel》是一部充满疯狂与热情的作品。 你很明显能感觉到,作者把自己的鲜血、汗水、眼泪,以及不止几门语言全都倾注进了这本书里。 《Babel》探讨了许多主题,包括: 语言与文化得以延续的重要性 19世纪伦敦所存在的歧视性制度与手段 殖民主义,以及殖民化所带来的利益与灾难 最后两个主题可能从我目前介绍的剧情中还看不太出来。 但相信我—— 你读完这本书之后,一切都会说得通。 我保证。 这本500多页的长篇小说,绝对值得你花时间读完。