BABEL 17

When i picked up this book, i was seemingly bored and unimpressed with the first few pages, i almost put it down but decided to keep on reading just a bit more. The topic was interesting to me, and i did some research on the theory about the sapir-whorf hypothesis - which states that human thought is constrained by language, and therefore people who speak one language may be able to think thoughts that others who speak a different language - without words for those thoughts, simply cannot think. (And, not as strongly, that some things will come much more easily and readily for people who speak one language than for people who speak a different language.) I thought it was interesting that there were two sides to the interstellar war, both which had different languages. The one side, Babel 17, could be used as a weapon as those who learned the language could alter their perception and thought. The change allows dangerous abilities and enhancing of other abilities as well. This is discovered by the main character, a poet named Rydra, a starship captain and also a linguist telepath. She was recruited by her government to figure out how the enemy was working to sabotage strategic sites. Once she realizes it is a language, she teaches herself and finds herself becoming a traitor, but neutralizes its effects once rescued by her crew. The novel deals with several issues about the peculiarities of language and body language, thoughts, etc. I found it interesting that they never used the word "I" and how words themselves can shape the actions of people.