Ever been let down by a much-hyped book?
It's happened to me again 😭😭😭
It is a complete certainty that my one-week absence from Substack has gone unnoticed. Here’s an apology nonetheless: sorry, I simply did not feel like it, so I didn’t.
Your forgiveness is much appreciated.
I read R.F. Kuang’s Babel, an Arcane History last week. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but let’s just say I didn’t not dislike it. It bummed me out, to be honest.
What should have been an excellent premise (an alternative Victorian history in which the meanings behind translated words unlock magical powers inherent in silver, creating a demand for foreign language knowledge that is precipitated on colonialism) becomes just … silly … and annoying?
The novel is set in Oxford. This should always be a warning sign, because the author of any novel set at Oxford University always seems to feel obligated to include a lengthy foreword pointing out that they have 4 degrees from Oxford and 2 from Cambridge (for balance) and they’re sorry for any inconsistencies with the reader’s experience of Oxford (if you went to Oxford, which you almost certainly didn’t, you THICKO) but this is the Oxford they experienced and loved when they were getting their PhD, did they mention the PhD?
So Babel turned out to be one-third decent novel, sandwiched between a third of a novel just describing Oxford (with little footnotes explaining the specific culture at Oxford, which you could never possibly extrapolate from subtext otherwise, ya pleb), and a final third just … advocating for violent resistance? It was weird, IDK. I guess nuance and subtlety were on holiday when this novel was being edited.
I was left, once again, with the feeling that I’d read a completely different book to the one reviewers and GoodReaders described as “monumental”, “intelligently crafted” and “heart-shattering”. It wasn’t dreadful. But it wasn’t incredible either.
Turns out I’m not completely alone
Contrary to GoodReads, ask the people of r/reading and they will tell you it’s in the “it’s fine” category, or that they simply got tired of having Oxford supper clubs explained to them and DNF’d*.
And it wasn’t the only popular or much-hyped novel that baffled readers. Here’s a selection of the most popular titles I saw slammed in the thread.
Literally anything by Colleen Hoover - “I thought I was reading porn!” (😂)
Most Emily Henry books, but especially People We Meet On Vacation - “really bleh”
A Court of Thorns and Roses - “badly written, questionable at best”
A Little Life - “trauma porn”
Where The Crawdads Sing - “condescending af”
Song of Achilles - “ugh”
Daisy Jones & the Six - “hated character, the format, the twist” (everything then)
*Did not finish
I feel extremely vindicated. I hope you do, too.
Currently reading:
I Have Some Questions For You. The sophomore effort always disappoints in my experience, but I’m 60% into Makkai’s follow up to the superb The Great Believers and impressed so far. But a third of a book is plenty of space to disappoint me, so the jury remains out.
Until next time,
Beth x