Books with category 馃帗 Academia
Displaying 4 books

Babel : Or the Necessity of Violence

2022

by R. F. Kuang

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

Babel is a profound exploration of the complexities of language, power, and colonialism, set against the backdrop of the British Empire's expansion.

When orphan Robin Swift is brought from Canton to London by Professor Lovell, he embarks on an intense education in languages and translation, aiming for a bright future at Oxford University's Royal Institute of Translation, known as Babel. This institution stands at the heart of the Empire's superiority, harnessing the mystical power of silver working to manifest the elusive meanings lost in translation.

As Robin becomes entrenched in the scholastic utopia of Babel, his ties to his heritage pull him into an inner conflict. When an aggressive war threatens China over silver and opium, Robin is torn between the comfort of academia and the call for justice. He must confront a crucial question: Can change come from within, or is violence an inevitable part of revolution?

We Keep the Dead Close

2020

by Becky Cooper

We Keep the Dead Close is a true crime narrative that delves into the unsolved murder of Jane Britton, a Harvard graduate student, in 1969. This book is not only a meticulous work of investigative journalism but also a reflection on the pervasive violence and misogyny within prestigious institutions. Becky Cooper, once a curious undergrad, unravels a complex tale of gender inequality, institutional power dynamics, and the haunting legacy of a story that refused to be forgotten.

Harvard's history is interwoven with the narrative, as the institution's legacy looms over the events that transpired. The initial rumors of a scandalous affair with a professor and a subsequent murder are debunked, but the truth that emerges is no less compelling. Cooper's decade-long investigation sheds light on the cowboy culture among male elites and the silencing effect of institutions, leading to a broader conversation about our collective narrative of female victims.

We Keep the Dead Close is a memoir that acts as a mirror to society's misogyny and murder, a ghost story that connects past and present, and a love story dedicated to a girl whose life was tragically cut short and lost to history.

The Tea Master and the Detective

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, with the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow's Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow's Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The Shadow's Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim's past, The Shadow's Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau's own murky past--and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars...

Una habitaci贸n propia

1929

by Virginia Woolf

En 1928 a Virginia Woolf le propusieron dar una serie de charlas sobre el tema de la mujer y la novela. Lejos de cualquier dogmatismo o presunci贸n, plante贸 la cuesti贸n desde un punto de vista realista, valiente y muy particular. Una pregunta: 驴qu茅 necesitan las mujeres para escribir buenas novelas? Una sola respuesta: independencia econ贸mica y personal, es decir, Una habitaci贸n propia. S贸lo hac铆a nueve a帽os que se le hab铆a concedido el voto a la mujer y a煤n quedaba mucho camino por recorrer.

Son muchos los repliegues psicol贸gicos y sociales implicados en este ensayo de tan inteligente exposici贸n; fascinantes los matices hist贸ricos que hacen que el tema de la condici贸n femenina y la enajenaci贸n de la mujer en la sociedad no haya perdido ni un 谩pice de actualidad.

Partiendo de un tratamiento directo y empleando un lenguaje afilado, ir贸nico e incisivo, Virginia Woolf narra una par谩bola cautivadora para ilustrar sus opiniones. Un relato de lectura apasionante, la contribuci贸n de una exquisita narradora al siempre pol茅mico asunto del feminismo desde una perspectiva inevitablemente literaria.

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