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Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

Start date: December 13, 2018

Finish date: January 9, 2019

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Feb 04, 2016 aj rated it it was amazing

This was a quick read because I was loath to allow interruptions until I finished. Artful use of time travel as a device, rather than primary topic.

Ultimately this is a book about family and home, using powerful depictions of slavery and racism in the early 1800s. Butler puts particular emphasis on the dynamics between black field slaves, house slaves, and free people, and the way that hurt people hurt each other. A heartbreaking masterpiece.

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May 20, 2018 Geoffrey Nutting rated it really liked it

Shelves: genrebender, magic-realism, african-american

Octavia Butler is best known for her SF writing: so much so that I was expecting Kindred to be SF. It is a cleverly structured book that uses 'time travel' to reveal the lives of slaves on a plantation in Maryland c. 1820. The black protagonist(Dana) is 'called back' to help a plantation child/owner(Rufus) whenever he is at risk of dying (how this happens is not mentioned, & wouldn't help the story if it were). She manages to patch him back together each time, and in each incident understands mo ...more

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Dec 30, 2018 Teresa rated it liked it

I liked the book. It had some good points, but I felt like I was being preached at while reading. I understand it is hard to write a book about slavery and not be preachy. It also showed how far we have come as a nation, and people.

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