Building Babel
Every retelling of a myth is a reworking of it. Every hearing or reading of a myth is a recreation of it. It is only when we engage with a myth that it resonates, becomes charged and recharged with meaning. And so it is in Building Babel, a book that re-engages with myth through the cyberworld, where worlds intersect and are transformed.
1996 | ISBN 9781875559565 | Paperback | 200 x 130 mm | 192 pp
Reviews
‘... Namjoshi creates some wonderful moments in the course of her book.’
–John Burnside, Marvels and Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies
‘Building Babel has stories within stories. It can be likened to a game of chess; the moves the reader will make depend on the degree of sophistication they wish to lend to the reading.’
–Heather Nix, The Republican
‘Building Babel [is] an important development in Namjoshi’s writing and an interesting experiment for fiction in general.’
–Jenny Pausacker, The Age
‘Building Babel explores how you might go about developing a new culture out of the shards of another. This is a new innovation in fiction linking the novel with the Net, combining cutting edge technology with cutting edge literature, highlighting the interactive relationship between writer, reader and publisher and giving the reader an outlet to contribute to this traditionally one-sided relationship.’
–Nigel Horrocks, New Zealand Herald
‘[Suniti Namjoshi] has produced an interactive novel, inviting readers to determine the outcome of the fable via the net. Try it out.’
–Sylvia Martin, LOTL
‘She says the memories in people’s brains, or “memes” fight to preserve themselves in culture.’
–Jenny Sinclair, Computer Age
‘Suniti Namjoshi is an inspired fabulist.’
–Marina Warner