What if language was a weapon instead of just being a medium? How about using language to bring annihilation on a galactic scale?
This novel explores that idea. Delany somehow adds in a lot of themes into the plot as well. There’s a war going on, espionage, linguistic exploration, self-exploration, psychiatric evaluations, societal structures and many more. All of this makes the book hard to comprehend on the first read.
The most interesting part of this novel to me is not the sci-fi narrative or linguistic warfare but the cultural richness that permeates through Delany’s universe. It’s an universe that puts emphasis on individuality, fluid sexuality and lifestyle, allowing its inhabitants myriads ways to express themselves, communicate, and basically live how they want. Babel-17 was written in 1966, but it contains many new ideas that are non-conformative and unconventional.
It’s written in a way that reminds me of Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler. A similar level of wordplay, that will either make you skip the whole page or imprint in your retinas.
Nonetheless, it’s a short book that you can finish in about 6 hours that will certainly make you think about how society, communication and identity might evolve in the future (and where it is now). It will give you a fresh perspective of how language and culture defines us.
I think reading Michel Foucoult’s works would be a nice addition to this. Maybe I’ll give it a shot
Confusing, chaotic, but worth reading.
3.5/5.