katabasis

so usually before bed i like to read fantasy, science fiction, basically anything sort of plot-driven and not too directly linked to our reality. it eases my mind and makes me sleep better.

i remember reading babel by r.f. kuang some time ago. it was a popular fantasy book and i think i read her 'poppy war' books as well. her books usually have some sort of academia setting, which i must admit, i seem to have a soft spot for. i guess going to university myself and having read harry potter as a kid has infected my brain in various ways..

usually my memory for the fiction i read at night isn't that good.. because it's mostly just to calm my mind. so when i started reading katabasis, my memory of her previous book was quite vague. i think i thought it was somewhat enjoyable, but i wasn't sure.

anyway, i started reading katabasis and after a few chapters i remembered.. maybe less with the 'poppy war' books, but with babel especially the tone and handling of colonial history felt at best clunky, but to be honest most times just irresponsible and bad.

for my night reading i don't really care too much about writing style, originality or even the characters.. but it's tough when a book contains so many harsh and out of tune notes. i can deal with flat, boring or even perfect hero characters.. but in katabasis all characters seemed unified in promoting endless tropes in the most boring and frustrating ways possible.

the book itself isn't necessarily a book about colonial history, but the way it promotes cambridge and oxford, the greek traditions... basically the empire, as the pinnacle of the world and humanity felt rough. at this point i can't even say this is a matter of ignorance or naivety..

it's a shame because the premise of going to hell, and even the academic setting were promising. but i guess me and the writer just have wildly different views on the world.. which i hope i will remember for next time.