The books that shaped me: Rebecca F. Kuang
Welcome to The books that shaped me - a Good Housekeeping series in which authors talk us through the reads that stand out for them. This week, we're hearing from Rebecca F. Kuang, whose book Babel is the winner of the Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.
She is also the author of The Poppy War trilogy and Yellowface which was published in May 2023. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge, an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford and is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.
What impact have books have had on you?
This is impossible to overstate – books are everything to me. Books have made me constantly curious, hungry to learn and just full of wonder. They’re just an endless source of delight that will never run out.
Which childhood book has stayed with you?
I loved Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book so much I actually copied out whole pages from the book and stapled them to my wall so I could read them over and over. It’s utterly transportive. When I was reading it I could really feel the chill of the graveyard and the whispers of the ghosts. It was one of the first books that made me really feel the sheer power of good storytelling. It takes you body and soul to a completely different world. I read it again earlier this year and it really holds up - it was just as magical to read as an adult.
What is your favourite book of all time?
This is an impossible question! I can tell you about a book that I really like at this moment which is Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. Firstly, because it’s hilarious and second, because it tackles all these incredible technical challenges and carries it off beautifully. You can tell it’s written by someone who respects and has so much fun with English.
Which book do you wish you’d written?
There are a couple of books I hope I can become a writer worthy of which are Remains Of The Day and An Artist Of The Floating World, both by Kazuo Ishiguro. I think of them as counterparts to each other, dealing with the legacy of the Second World War, and they are just gorgeous. I'm influenced by the craft, the patience, the subtle handling of the themes – it’s one of the best treatments of post-war guilt.
Which book do you wish everyone would read?
Kim Kelly’s Fight Like Hell which is a history of labor movements in the US. We’re in an interesting period where pro-union sentiment is at a high and I’d like to see this momentum grow, especially among younger people.
Which book got you through a hard time?
I was going through some serious writer’s block last year, feeling so burnt out and stressed, and writing didn’t feel magical any more. This probably had quite a lot to do with also being in a Phd programme and not having very much sleep! Then I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It's playful and has this constant note of optimism and wonder about the world which encouraged me to start writing again.
Which book lifts your spirits?
I loved Ted Chiang’s short story collections, Exhalation and Stories Of Your Life. My fiancé and I read these together during the pandemic. We would read a story a day, then we’d go on long walks and talk about it. It was like solving a puzzle together. Chiang's style is very clean and simple and the prose doesn’t get in the way of the incredibly cool ideas he’s playing around with.
Babel by RF Kuang is the winner of Fiction Book of the Year at The British Book Awards.
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