valid! I think as a metaphor for deconstruction of and reformation from colonization and systemic bias (especially in academia) it works but having the added piece of erasure isn’t great

that makes sense, I felt it was necessary but I get what you mean. I think in general more “dark academia” fiction needs to center decolonization and her method worked for me

Cats under my window at 3 in the morning:

I really loved it! I do a lot of translation work and am a sucker for magical historical fiction so I’m biased. I found her prose really lovely too. I’m not a fan of some of her other work but Babel did it for me.