Kindred

Rating:
Summary: KINDRED
Review: Kindred, a novel written by Octivia E. Butler is a book that can actually hold the audience's attention throughout the whole story. I love this novel because it combines history with a specific story line. From the beginning Butler immediately gets to the story's purpose, making it hard for the reader to be distracted. It is filled with adventure and excitement, mixing a pinch of suspense. . I felt somewhat sad for the main character, mostly because she never had any real control of what she was going through. I recommend Kindred because the story is so consistent and easy to follow. Taking place in 1976 Los Angeles, California the main character Dana is African American and travels in time to the year 1815. She finds herself in Maryland where she meets a boy by the name Rufus, who Dana later happens to be her white ancestor. As she travels between 1976 and 1815, Dana learns more about slavery and her many ancestors who have to suffer with this life style daily. She too experiences slavery in order to survive. Facing death on several occasions she is beaten, whipped and even almost raped two times. She watches families get torn apart because of slave trades and also other slaves whipped half to death.

Rating:
Summary: Shelved as Fantasy, but it ain't
Review: Too bad this spectacular book is usually shelved in the Fantasy section. It doesn't belong there, as it's much more appropriate in the American History section. Yeah, the premise is fantasy: a young African American woman, Dana, is transported from present-day California into the brutal life of slave culture in Maryland, 1819. Forget trying to figure things out; that's not important. What's so valuable about this book is the suspense of Dana's situation, how she will deal with her new life on a southern plantation where she counts for almost nothing, and the generous and historically accurate sprinkling of details of plantation life that are strewn liberally throughout.
Excellent.

Rating:
Summary: A Time of Blacks, Whites, and Grays
Review: There are very few Afro-American science fiction writers, and even fewer of them are female writers, but they all have one thing in common: They write excellent fiction. Butler is not only no exception, she is one of the standard setters, and this work is a prime example.

This is a story of Dana, a modern Afro-American writer married to a white writer, who is drawn back in time to live with Rufus, plantation and slave owner in the period of 1815 - 1830, and also her distant ancestor. Though the mechanism by which she is forced back in time is never rationally explicated, this is almost immaterial, and Dana (and the reader) must simply deal with the transfer as a fact. But she is always drawn back at those times when Rufus is in danger of losing his life, from a near drowning to a contemplated suicide. When she helps him out of sheer humanitarianism, it leads to her having a rather strange position within his household, neither wholly slave nor anything close to being the equal of the whites. From this position, she can observe all the interactions between owner and slave, and at least initially be somewhat shielded from the worst of the living conditions of the slaves.

That shielding will not last, as Butler develops a powerful theme of how unbridled power leads to abuses that crush lives and hope, and just as much imposes character changes in the wielder and the recipient of such power. As a stark portrait of living conditions in that time, as a diatribe that exposes just how much has been conveniently forgotten about slavery and its demeaning, demoralizing effects, this work will evoke emotions of shame, rage, and empathy with all who are, through no fault of their own, caught in situations with very limited choices. This theme is just as much an indictment of male dominance as it is of slavery, just one more example of power wielded inappropriately.

The character of Dana is vividly portrayed, as she slowly changes from modern American to someone who accepts compromises of principal in the name of survival, till she is a person who can barely recognize who and what she was before these incidents. Rufus and his father are also very well delineated, and the personal interactions of Dana, Rufus, and several of the slaves drive much of the plot action. Somewhat less well shown is the character of Dana's husband, and his motivations and actions don't ever seem to gel into a full-bodied person, a pity as this could have been the third pole of her theme, the reaction of a modern, liberal white to these conditions.

Butler's prose is more than adequate to her task, often lean and starkly descriptive, but there are places where I felt she should have added additional detail, dwelt on some scenes in greater depth, in order to better bring out the true horror of the situation.

Butler does not have the recognition (or the sales numbers) of Toni Morrison, but with this book she shows that she belongs in the same company. Whether this book is read as obviously well researched historical fiction, as science fiction that meets the prime criteria of that field as a literature of ideas, or as a novel of character, it is prime fodder for thought, while engaging all of your emotions.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Rating:
Summary: Well Written!!!
Review: This book was extremely well written! It jumped right into the story line and you can tell the author did a lot of research by the way she describes the incidents related to slavery in the 1800's. I almost believed that maybe the story was true. I borrowed the book from a friend and I am purchasing it today to add to my collection. I would highly recommend this book!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction for the science fiction avoider
Review: I read this novel in a "Women of Color" graduate course and was impressed by the attention to detail and historical sentiment. At times, I actually saw myself in the two dimensions, going through their same actions.

Dana, a 'modern' 20th century black woman meets her 18th century ancestor, a white southerner named Rufus as a result of unexplained flashbacks she has. At one point, her fiancee is drug into the past with her, but the role is inconsequential to Dana's own self-journey and discovery.

Although Butler makes pains throughout the novel to dash Gone with the Wind for it's undeniabily romantic view of slavery and the accompanying racial subordination, she seems to engage in a little bit of this herself throughout the novel. Even if he is technically family, Dana appears to idolize Rufus a little too much throughout the texts, giving readers an impression his behavior is just a little more excusable than other whites on the plantation.

Certainly as her ancestor, Dana has interest in seeing Rufus live long enough to create the family tree that will eventually create her, but this necesity also gave way to a sentimental feeling that apparently tried to ignore the power discrepancies between their two characters in favor of a 'safe' story. Even with time shifts and quick aging, Rufus's willingness to attempt anti-racist work is a little too convient for the book's plot.

Rating:
Summary: Kinddred
Review: I am not a seasoned reader, however, I liked this book so much that I feel the need to write about it. I usually steer clear of science-fiction novels, but Kindred is different in that it has to do with history; it was real at one time. It is about a African-American writer, Dana, who is forced to go back in time to save an ancestor in the pre-civil war south. Twists occur when her white husband travels back with her. She is forced to live a house slave's life; she is forced to think of whites as better than herself. It is interesting to watch how she goes from "acting" her part to really being accustomed to living as a servant. She does, however, hold on to some of her exisiting convictions. She is compelled to stand up for beliefs and well as others' well beings. There are many challenges that she has to face, and she conquers many them. Because of it, she becomes a better person.

Rating:
Summary: Kindred ....to the whole human race
Review: Not so long ago I've read for the first time a book from Ms Butler. I was immediately captivated by her amazing imagination and quality of her prose and became instantly a fan of the author. This first impression was corroborated as I read more of her writings.
All her books showed a rich mixture of imagination, complex and interesting characters and conflictive situations to test their mettle.
In *Kindred* the story is presented in a sci-fi framework, in order to give an entry point to a world distant more than a hundred years from us, but the substance is about getting in touch with slavery. Unearthing the relationships between slaveowners and slaves, drawing a huge fresco of that society.
Dana, an Afro-American woman, is drawn time and again to the past with the specific mission of saving Rufus' life, the son of a slaveowner and his heir. Each time Dana is transported backward, the drama increases. Poignant and vivid scenes are shown, reaching deep into the reader's sensibility, but with an earnest and straightforward approach. You can't elude perceiving the *reality* of the world shown in this amazing book. After reading it, I keep wondering about what strange compulsion make a human being to despise another one based on racial, religious or even political or social differences, without perceiving that we are kindred to each other.

Rating:
Summary: Powerfully imaginative
Review: I just completed Kindred and I was amazed at the depth of imagination that Ms. Butler has to possess in order to create a work such as this. I am not a science fiction reader but in perusing the book at the bookstore I decided to take a chance on this one. I was definitely not disappointed and found Kindred to be extremely well written and organized. Ms. Butler tied an enormous amount of historical research into the storyline as the story takes place in the 19th and 20th centuries. The main character, Dana is pulled back in time to the 19th century by one of her ancestors, Rufus, when his life is in danger. Neither of them knows why this occurred or exactly how it occurred but Dana must now adjust to living during slavery times and manage to keep her ancestor alive (as well as herself) long enough to ensure that he fathers her relatives. Dana is beaten, abused and ultimately loses her arm interacting in this "second world" before Rufus dies and the reader is given a glimpse of what it was like to live during those times. Ms. Butler has an extremely mellifluous writing style that captures your mind and doesn't release it until you're turning the last page. Kindred proved to be an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: kindred
Review: With my eyes glued to every word, I did not want to put the book down. Every available opportunity, I tried to get in one last paragraph. Kindred was and still is one of the best books I have read. With constant badgering from my mother to "just read the book", I found myself intrigued by the genre and style of Octavia Butler. The book focused on a 20th century African-American woman by the name of Dana. Dana was caught in between two centuries, 19th and 20th. In the 19th century Dana was a slave who seemed to be the only savior to Rufus, the son of a slaveowner who later became the same himself. The irony was not just that he was a slaveowner, but would later become Dana's relative. Dana was caught in the world of being a slave, helping out the other slaves, and trying to protect her life as well. Octavia touched right to the heart of slavery, and if you never thought of how it felt to endure the hardships of slavery this book brought it to you. Every sentence seemed so real. As I read this book I felt I was going through it all with Dana. When the book ended I didn't want to put it down, I yearned for more. I passed it along to two friends of mine so that I could have someone to verbally review it with. This book is outstanding, Octavia should think about turning it into a movie.

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT book!
Review: I had to read this book for school and I really didn't want to because i thought it was going to be another boring summer book but as soon as I started it, it was like i couldn't put it down! It was really interesting and even at the end I was so sad i felt like crying. But it was really good. I recommend this book because i really enjoyed it. My friends that have to read this book aren't looking forward to it but know they are because i have told them so much about it!