I mean racism is going on here, obviously. But I think what is going on is due to an absolutely unignorable flood of attention, this book got on the radars of people who were ABSOLUTELY not ready for it. If this is someone's first book by an Asian author, it's gonna stand out as a bad time. - ThreadSky

karidru.bsky.social • 28 days ago

I mean racism is going on here, obviously.

But I think what is going on is due to an absolutely unignorable flood of attention, this book got on the radars of people who were ABSOLUTELY not ready for it. If this is someone's first book by an Asian author, it's gonna stand out as a bad time.

Comments

danikasper.me•28 days ago

The thing that gets me about this is, did they bother to find out anything about the book beforehand except that it was getting hype? I feel like I’d have had to actively work to not have a sense of its politics going in

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

I have no idea. Absent the colonization element, its politics don't stand out as unique to me among dark academia media either, particularly? Sudden essay in my head doing a blow by blow comparison with Real Genius.

kionasmith07.bsky.social•28 days ago

Yesssss. I would read the heck out of that. (Also I'd never thought of Real Genius as dark academia, but it's definitely dark academia with an '80s pop aesthetic, and I can't unsee it.)

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

Yeah it wasn't a term yet, but its elements were definitely around. That one stands out to me as the most obvious example. It simultaneously portrays an esteemed school as a desirable and exciting place to be, and somewhere that will destroy you.

sosomanysarahs.bsky.social•28 days ago

Shaking my head at how someone is well into adulthood without having read a book by an Asian author.

(It can't possibly be teenagers. A teen who likes fantasy has definitely read some YA books by Asian writers.)

sosomanysarahs.bsky.social•28 days ago

Are you getting a Brandon Sanderson Fan vibe from the reviewers, or...?

I can certainly see how Babel doesn't speak to every reader, but it's an odd one to single out as overrated.

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

It varies. Some of those but mostly modern lit readers whose bag is not usually spec fic at all so that may be playing in but if that were all they'd just be like "that was weird," and move on.

whetstone.bsky.social•28 days ago

I thought it was very interesting and also a bit... idk, clearly a young person's novel? Like, if I'd been an early reader I would have made it so the betrayal was not so clearly telegraphed. It felt like when the betrayal *happens* it would have hit harder if it were less expected.

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

I was zero percent surprised, but I also suspect that her mostly young people audience at the time might have missed it otherwise.

Another popular booktube subject is "do authors think we're stupid?" When sorry to say the answer is "they can see your reactions on the socials so they have concerns."

clpolk.com•28 days ago

*surprised, sharp bark of laughter*

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

I've certainly read with half a brain myself. Just now everyone can see us when we do it.

afiregender.bsky.social•27 days ago

I think it might also have to do - especially with younger people - with whether you've Known people like the betrayer or, perhaps, you are in the same category as them. I read a LOT of reviews that were like "THEY'RE A CARICATURE" and god I fucking WISH they were a caricature

karidru.bsky.social•27 days ago

I went to high school with about 400 of them.

whetstone.bsky.social•28 days ago

Right, that's what I meant by feeling like it was a young person's book — both the author and the likely intended audience are younger than I, so the "obviousness" was really just about having read a lot more stories. For me it would have been improved by different choices, but it ain't about me!

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

Ah I thought you meant that she was young, which is also true!

whetstone.bsky.social•28 days ago

But the *ideas* were fascinating and I loved the other characters and the world-building. And my criticism might mostly come from the fact that I'm an older reader than was targeted, and more a fan of subtle-and-devastating than clear-and-unmistakable.

sosomanysarahs.bsky.social•28 days ago

That seems like a perfectly reasonable criticism of the book!

whetstone.bsky.social•28 days ago

It's the thing that stopped it from perfection for me. I've still recommended it to other people!

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

These days yeah. The book industry definitely didn't mind if you didn't until about a decade ago tho.

sosomanysarahs.bsky.social•28 days ago

Oh, yeah, for sure.

karidru.bsky.social•28 days ago

And I'm not saying it has to be your favorite book, or that you had to like it. It's absolutely not going to work for everybody for assorted reasons. But to single it out to the degree that I'm seeing feels like it made them feel icky and they're not examining that, AND it's a safe target.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply