Samuel R. Delany - Babel-17

Following several highly disruptive alien attacks on human military infrastructure, poet, spaceship captain, code-breaker and linguist Rydra Wong is asked by the government to crack a code that has been identified simultaneously with the attacks. Wong quickly realises that this is no code, but a language. She identifies the next site of an attack and hurries there after recruiting a crew at least one of whom proves themselves through a wrestling match and others are, well, dead.

As Rydra learns how to speak Babel-17 she begins to understand that the language has power. Failing to prevent an attack, she and her crew are captured by privateers who prey on alien (and sometimes Earth) vessels one of whom is known as the Butcher. The Butcher already speaks Babel-17 and Rydra notices he never uses the word "I". Teaching the Butcher this is part of Wong's strategy to identify a spy in their midst, but doing so allows the language to full break through. It turns out that Babel-17 is a language that shapes the speakers own mind, transforming their perception of events, time and themselves. Wong herself has been the spy, and was ever since she began to learn the language.

Babel-17 is an intriguing book. Delany uses the novel to explore various concepts of language, in particular the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - the idea that a language shapes the users perception and thought. The problem is that the book is quite complex, the story sparse and large chunks given over the exploring the linguistic aspects of the story. Those more knowledgeable than me about language might find some of this interesting, and the concept shaped several other writers' work. But I found it a drag at times and found myself pausing to wonder "what was going on"! 

At times the book veers toward the surreal, as with the dead crew. In other places it felt almost like Star Trek, with an episodic feel. I was left feeling that the book was very much of its time, when the author and readers were more willing to experiment with form over content. In the final section, Rydra leaves a note "the war will end in six months", hoping it will encourage pacifist tendencies among the military authorities. I wondered if this was a reaction to the Vietnam War, and perhaps Delany himself was hoping that this use of language might influence readers. Whatever the truth of that, Babel-17 is part of classic SF literature, but it may not appeal to the modern readers' taste.