Babel-17 - Kirjakasa

Paperback, 173 pages

English language

Published March 26, 1966 by Ace Books.

OCLC Number:: 617016

(2 reviews)

During an interstellar war one side develops a language, Babel-17, that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought. This is discovered by the starship captain Rydra Wong. She is recruited to discover how the enemy are infiltrating and sabotaging strategic sites.

16 editions

Milla H reviewed Babel-17 (Sphere science fiction) by Samuel R. Delany

Ruumiittomia kuolleita ja kielen voimaa

3 stars

Ihmiskunta on sodassa Valloittajien kanssa. Eri paikkoihin tehdään sabotaaseja ja hyökkäyksiä. Vieraalla kielellä, jota kutsutaan Babel-17:ksi, lähetetyt viestit liittyvät jotenkin hyökkäyksiin. Runoilija ja kapteeni Rydra Wong on opiskellut kieltä ja ymmärtää sen antavan puhujalleen erityisiä ajattelun voimia. Hän saa selville missä seuraavat hyökkäykset tulevat tapahtumaan ja lähtee pelastamaan mitä pelastettavissa on.

Taisin kuulla tästä kirjasta Embassytownin liittyen: ehkä, tai selvästikin, sen innoittajana. Kieli muovaa ajattelua, molemmat kirjat kuvaavat sitä (samoin kuin Arrival).

Kirjassa on hauskoja ideoita kuten että avaruusaluksen miehistöön täytyy kuulua aistijoita, jotka ovat ruumiittomia kuolleita. Normaalisti niiden kanssa täytyy puhua eräänlaisella puhelimella, koska ihminen ei pysty muistamaan mitä ruumiittomat sanovat. Rydra on opetellut toistamaan niiden sanat itselleen baskiksi ja muistaa ne lauseet.

Suomikin mainittu.

radio-appears reviewed Babel-17 (Sphere science fiction) by Samuel R. Delany

Part pulp, part high-brow

No rating

A confusing mix when it comes to tone, this story reads mostly as a pulpy space opera, except for those moments where it launches into complicated discussions of linguistics and grammar.

Rydra Wong is a poet with such a great knack for learning languages that it borders on telepathy (body language is a language too, after all), and she uses her talent to decode the messages of the Invaders who, as the name suggests, are at war with her society.

I'm not a linguist, but I believe that the scientific theories on which the premise of this book is based have been debunked , which didn't help my suspension of disbelief. Personally, I was much more interested in another idea Delany introduced: discorporate people. Basically, in the future we prove that ghosts do exist, we just haven't yet developed the technology needed to perceive them. Without technological intervention we simply …

A confusing mix when it comes to tone, this story reads mostly as a pulpy space opera, except for those moments where it launches into complicated discussions of linguistics and grammar.

Rydra Wong is a poet with such a great knack for learning languages that it borders on telepathy (body language is a language too, after all), and she uses her talent to decode the messages of the Invaders who, as the name suggests, are at war with her society.

I'm not a linguist, but I believe that the scientific theories on which the premise of this book is based have been debunked , which didn't help my suspension of disbelief. Personally, I was much more interested in another idea Delany introduced: discorporate people. Basically, in the future we prove that ghosts do exist, we just haven't yet developed the technology needed to perceive them. Without technological intervention we simply forget our interactions with the discorporate as soon as they happen, leaving us with nothing but the lingering feeling of being haunted. His vision of a future in which the dead are integrated into society is fascinating, and I would have preferred a book that focused on that idea.

Subjects

Linguistics
Alien language
Espionage

Lists

Nebula Award for Best Novel