While Babel started out feeling like a gushing on how incredible Oxford and academic culture is, it turned into a heavy look at the truth for people of color displaced and racially used to the benefit of the growth of an empire by utilizing language. The cause for which the characters fight for is a very real and important one even today. every notion of racism, colonialism and politics causing impoverishment on the general populace to benefit the rich and powerful was told in a nuanced way and was incredibly important. I’m glad this book exists, despite the pacing being to slow for me. The magic system with silver match pairs was quite intriguing, and the focus of untranslatable worlds being able to create such an impact on daily life was a nice one to explore. I can relate to many of the experiences the characters go through in the book, from experiencing casual racism and biases to witnessing false translation and feeling a sense of betrayal in your very being whenever you give up cultural secrets and context in another language. But the guilt that comes with enjoying the labors in the colonist country is also a layer that runs deep and adds nuance. How can it be that in the face of oppression that seems so obvious to poc, the colonizers never seem to understand that personal happiness is not a measure for the injustice being done, and that morality and ethics should not be conditional to the benefits you recieve if one dances to the tune of the oppressor. A powerful book, one I hope stands for the past, because despite us having ways to go, I see hope for the future.