A tale which is ultimately about how language shapes our thoughts. That's not by any means a new concept in literary fiction or in sociolinguistics, but SF allows it to be explored in way that stretches its boundaries and makes the reader wonder just how true it is.

The plot begins as a poet and ex-codebreaker is brought in to decode a mysterious noise-like transmission related to war-like incidents. It proves to be a language so different it alters how you think. Well-written and plotted although with a vaguely disappointing end, it also makes many points about different types of relationships and social values. Delany handles all the concepts he's dealing with deftly and engagingly. A good read when I encountered it in the early 2000s; it must have been stunning at the time it appeared almost 40 years earlier. ( )

Delany almost certainly read Alfred Korzybski--several concepts in this novel come straight from general semantics.

The prose is poetic, even elegiac at times. I definitely recommend this--very impressive, when one considers its context in the history of SF. ( )

Although "Babel-17" is set in a future with starships, reanimated consciousnesses, extreme body modifications, advanced weapons, and interstellar conflict with alien cultures, it is not so much a story about any of these things as it is a story about language and understanding.

Rydra Wong, the main character, is a genius at understanding spoken languages. She can also read attitudes and at times entire trains of thought from body language. She is enlisted to decipher a new language (Babel-17), and her journey to understand the language and the mindset it implies takes her far in both space and understanding.

It's a short book, and has a nice focus to it. Delany gives a lot of detail about the characters and their communication to give the book a nice depth, but goes light enough on the details about the technology and environments that the reader's imagination can fill in the details. With very few exceptions, the low level of tecnnical detail helps avoid dating the book, which stands the test of time quite well.

Very enjoyable and a quick read, highly recommended. ( )

This book was formative for me. I read it in elementary school, and the powerful message it conveyed about how the language you know shapes the way you are able to think affects me to this day. It's science fiction, won a Nebula Award, reads more like poetry than prose at various points, and isn't for everyone - but if it's for you, it's powerful. ( )

Linguistic heroine saves the day.

One of those books where the author comes up with something a bit strange and different, especially as far as the crewing of Rydar's ship goes.

A brilliant young woman's help is needed to deal with communicate with aliens, otherwise much bloodshed.

Along with this she has to deal with military politics into the bargain.

A very cool book.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/10/babel-17-samuel-r-delany.html ( )

Linguistic heroine saves the day.

One of those books where the author comes up with something a bit strange and different, especially as far as the crewing of Rydar's ship goes.

A brilliant young woman's help is needed to deal with communicate with aliens, otherwise much bloodshed.

Along with this she has to deal with military politics into the bargain.

A very cool book.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/10/babel-17-samuel-r-delany.html ( )

Language as a virus in the brain. ( )

The most striking aspect of Babel-17 was not the stylistic fireworks - I came to the book expecting no less from Delany - nor the colourful and vibrant 'underground' life of the various pilots, drifters, pilots and poets that populate the peripheries of the society Delany creates, but quiet simply, just how 'modern' the feel of the novel of is, both in its ideas and execution. Most space opera from the 60s feels hopelessly antiquated, but not Babel-17. A fine read. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/512828.htm...

I've read only one Delany novel before, one of his minor ones (either The Towers of Toron or The Fall of the Towers, not sure which) and wasn't wildly impressed. This is miles better, and helps me understand why he developed the early reputation that he did. I had been expecting something like a half-way point between Zelazny and Dick; in fact, Delany comes across as more disciplined than either. A lot of Babel-17 is about sensing the universe in a different way - Delany's spaceships require three navigators, an Eye, an Ear and a Nose, who experience space by visual, auditory and olfactory means; and the language Babel-17 itself, the centre of the whole mystery, is also about a new way of understanding the universe. Where a Dick novel would leave you wondering if it all made sense, Delany leaves you in no doubt that there is a real universe out there and it's just a matter of how you choose to interact with it. As for the Zelazny comparison, Zelazny would sometimes let his joy of writing get in the way of having a sensible plot; but Delany's plot is actually rather simple, and as it turns out almost cliched. There's also an aspect all Delany's own, which is the polyamory of several key characters - indeed, one former lover of our heroine is the rather transparently anagrammatic writer Muels Aranlyde. ( )

This is certainly in my top five, all-time best SF stories. This is one of Delany's earliest novels, when he was a lean, mean, writing machine. More ideas jammed into 193 pages than anything I've ever read.

Possibly a little too much of a space opera for the snooty bastards nowadays, but... Nebula winner in 1966 for best novel, in a very tough year. ( )

Greatly enjoyed it, loved the characters, and there are some very interesting thoughts on the relationship between thought and language. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, right up to the last 20 pages or so which I felt didn't really do justice to the rest of the story. The characters, universe, plot and science were all introduced and developed so flawlessly that they felt completely natural. Compared with modern works there is are so many ideas crammed into just 150 pages that you'd expect it to feel chaotic and complicated, but at no point did I feel overwhelmed with information, it all made perfect sense. My only complaint is that the end felt a little too rushed and it really needed a little more time to resolve the plot without feeling rushed. ( )

Babel-17 is about the power of language to shape the way people perceive reality. Language is a filter through which speakers look at their world. ...Delaney uses the world of Babel-17 to ...investigate what it would mean if humans could actually make advantageous use of the possibilities it offered. -- Stephen H. Goldman

Rydra Wong was the original Mary-Sue.

An interesting book that made me think about how the words we use define the world we live in. ( )

Been a while since I last read this, but I've always enjoyed it. An excellent vivid setting with some nice light touches and a fun central idea. The heroine is probably a bit cute and perfect, but many other (genre SF) books are more saccharine and few are written half as well.