Delaney, Samuel

• Babel-17 (7)

  • Fascinating short novel about a woman with extraordinary ability to understand and interpret languages. The idea is that a new language has been created (Babel-17) that is so elegantly and analytically constructed, that simply thinking and understanding this language enables the speaker to essentially read minds by translating the speech inflections and body movements that supplement normal spoken languages, albeit subconsciously. My only problem with this novel was that the plot was a bit jerky and a few too many characters and ideas were needlessly introduced. I had a little trouble following exactly what was going on. This is one book that would be greatly improved by re-editing and expansion.

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