Kindred

Incredibly written for a book. It is amazing to think it was written in the 1970s. The story is just captivating, characters so realistic, and the time travel elements very well done. I learned about slavery growing up but never in this way and in so much detail. Dana describes it well when she witnessed the past vs watching it in media, or reading about it in a history textbook. While the story is fictionalized the events described are very real and you find how insidious slavery was and how it not only became normalized in the 1800s. It did not shy away from black bodies being a human currency and the words and treatment alike slaves and "freed slaves" were subjected to. No one is safe. It is a systemic issue that still exists today and while we have made great strides, the effects have still rippled through time. Very powerful book and well worth the read. Looking forward to later reading more of Octavia Butler's books! Just amazing writing.

For much of the time I spent reading Kindred, I completely forgot that this novel was written in the 1970s - some 45 years ago now. Octavia Butler's ideas and prose style still feel fresh and I was glad that this important novel hasn't suffered from being 'of its time'. Other 1970s novels I've read have seemed dated but, in fact, Kindred came across as just as relevant now as it must have been to its first readers. On a personal level that was a good thing because it meant I could fully appreciate the story and everything it wanted to impart to me. I was also very aware though that this also illustrates how little progress has been achieved in terms of racial and gender equality over the past four decades. Slavery such as Dana experiences on the plantation may no longer be legal, but the attitudes it fostered are still very much with us as can be seen by the necessity for movements such as BLM.

Dana and Rufus are complicated, nuanced characters who find themselves tethered to each other by an inexplicable bond. I was surprised at how easily I could accept and believe in the time travel premise and think that this was achieved due to the authenticity of the main characters. I often felt that Dana could do more to help the slaves with whom she lived, but she isn't a 'superhero' movie character, rather a confused and frightened woman who struggles to adapt to the cold callousness of the Weylin family. To realise that she shares ancestry from both Rufus and Alice must have been so difficult to come to terms with, yet I loved seeing how Butler gives Dana hints of each of those characters within her own makeup.

Other than its scenes of extreme violence, Kindred was an easier read than I had expected. I think I was influenced by its reputation to expect a philosophical literary novel, but it is actually a compelling story that keeps up an exciting pace throughout. Butler was an accomplished storyteller who manages to impart what she wants to say without breaking the stride of her tale so, while I was left with plenty to think about after finishing Kindred, I never felt hectored or lectured whilst reading. A deserved classic.

Great read; great author. Never read any of Butlers books before. Heard good stuff so I read this one. Wow.

It made me think of things like mass hypnosis of a population, like the Nazi era, the Salem witch trials, reports of dancing for days, and here in the USA before the civil war: slavery.
How could so many people have ethics and morality so blinded from themselves on something as ruthless as slavery. The attitudes of people just didn't see blacks as human; they were sub human. How can they be so blind? What causes this? All I can think of is mass hypnosis, like what happened to the people of Germany during WWII.

The attitude of the people which demanded submissiveness and ultimate respect is unbelievable. I mean it did happen so I believe it. Did they think they were kings? Or gods? I just don't get it. Was America SO HARD to eek out a profit they had to blind themselves to the wrongness of slavery? Or did just plain greed blind (or remove their humanity?)

It is a very thought provoking book and am now a fan of Octavia Butler. Thank you author for your effort in writing and publishing this book.

What a page-turner! A time-traveling Black woman from the 1970s is repeatedly thrown into a life in slavery in the early 1800s. Why? We find out. Well, sort of.

"Kindred" is one of the best-balanced novels I have ever read. It touches 1970s racism and 1800s slavery, grueling events of physical and emotional cruelty next to heartwarming episodes of love and friendship; and there's juuust a touch of romance.
The highlight for me was the exceptionally intriguing relationship between the protagonist and her counterpart, the young man whom she meets in the past. The interactions between these two and the protagonist's thoughts on their connection will stay with me for a long time.

A captivating mix between an exciting fantasy adventure (what is happening, what will happen next?!) and a truly touching narrative of slavery in pre-Civil War Maryland, very well written, and certainly not the last book by Octavia E. Butler I will read.

‘I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.’

Kindred drew me in and refused to let me go, much like Dana is snatched from the comforts of her modern ‘home’ and taken back to the 1800s, serving as witness and savior to a white plantation owner who turns out to be quite important for her ancestry. I’ve read some of Butler’s Patternmaster series before this, but this book has a different style and a different vibe to it. The themes and philosophy are much stronger, the characters and plot mainly vehicles for the former. The characterization is decent though, and even though the plot remains slightly stagnant—we see the ending in the beginning, and then work from the beginning towards the dreaded conclusion—it was nevertheless quite enthralling. Read for a book club in December 2022—and to think I was almost afraid I wouldn’t finish it in time! I read nearly half the book in just one sitting.Our protagonist, Dana, is a modern black woman who aspires to be a writer while working at a temp agency. She is just about ready to start a new chapter in her life—moving together with her husband, Kevin, into a brand new home. Yet, on her 26th birthday, something unreal happens—she is transported suddenly to save the life of a certain white boy, and eventually realizes that not only is she transplanted in space, but also in time. Dana’s tenacity and strong sense of what is just were admirable qualities and I respected her, and admired her attempts to deal with the repressive nature of the time she was forced into. Her husband, Kevin, initially seems like a character of convenience to add context into Dana’s situation, but I was pleasantly surprised at how Butler weaves his actions and values into the narrative as well.The plot is not the focus of the story here, and yet the book manages to be a page-turner even so. That is partly due to the wildly unpredictable nature of how and when Dana is sent back in time, but even more to what she can’t control—the actions that happen when she is living out her days on the plantation. For Dana, the gaps in her modern life are small, but in the meanwhile she is spending perhaps months at a time living in the 1800s. It would be a challenge for anyone, but especially for a young black woman in the era of slavery. The book deals with a lot of heavy topics and cruel treatment and discrimination is not shied away from on the page. The ending did seem abrupt, but upon reflection, it makes sense—it mirrors the sense of abruptness and lack of closure that our characters find at the end themselves. At times, the plot could feel a bit sluggish, especially when we are given repeat encounters regarding the brutalities of slavery—it is tempting to want to look away, but like Dana, we must persevere through the nightmarish scenes.The themes are by far the best feature of this novel; it is a book of ideas, not just a ‘time travel adventure to preserve one’s genealogy’, but a question of family relationships, what the present owes to the past, how one’s identity is shaped by their ancestors, and whether knowing about one’s history can help one move forward. I enjoyed some commentary I read about Kindred, which discussed the notion of Dana being like a ghost—but contrary to popular convention, she is a ghost of the present haunting the past, rather than the inverse. Her modern sensibilities—and righteous indignation and rejection of the norms and attitudes concerning slavery of the 1800s—are what drive her actions and subtly influence the people she meets. I also appreciated the depth Butler provides to the relationship dynamic between Dana and Kevin. You can tell that they mutually support each other, and that their relationship is a strong one, forged by shared values and common understanding. Dana also has a complex relationship with her ancestors—a line that is founded by deceit and violence, yet one that Dana must nonetheless uphold if she is to secure her own personhood. Butler certainly does not make things easy for her characters, and we know from the start that Dana has a strong price to pay for her goal, even in spite of the suffering it takes to get there.I would recommend this book to all, but especially those who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy books that are really philosophical discussions in disguise, with the main concern being an in-depth examination into a particular idea or situation. In this case, I felt quite called out when the novel hints at the degree to which people can remain comfortably ignorant about contemporary issues, much as the people of the 1800s are to slavery—for instance, we refuse to acknowledge social ills to save face or to ease our own discomfort, like the ever-increasing tragedies of homelessness, human trafficking, etc. This is far from a perfect novel in the traditional realms of character and narration, but given that it is a novel that stays with you—and makes you think about it long after you’ve put it down—it is well worth it.