From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

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2017 Read Harder Challenge

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What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2017 Jess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017, books-i-own

Deceptively simple prose, a wide and complicated spanning of human emotions, and time travel that feels almost natural. I can't believe this book was written in 1979. ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Melanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, suspense, weird, scifi, book-club

This book... I never would have read it on my own but I’m so glad it got picked for my postal book club. It was heartbreaking and crazy and devastatingly sad and so, so intense. It was hard to put down because I wanted to know what happened next, but at the same time hard to read because what was happening was so awful and what was coming was bound to be worse. It is an important book - such perspective on what we think of as normal and human and how quickly that can change when faced with somet ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2013 Cat rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

The magical realism of this book made the antebellum South seem more grotesque somehow. I loved how Butler didn't explain how Dana goes back and forth in time; she trusts her readers to suspend their disbelief and doesn't bore us with over technological heavy handed explaining. The characterization was complex. I loved it! ...more

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Jun 06, 2016 Mary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: format-audio, summer-bingo-2016

Summer 2016 Bingo - a slave narrative.

I first heard about this book on Bookriot's Get Booked podcast - time travel/sci-fi, slave narrative and an early book from Octavia E. Butler. I put it on my to-read list and was happy to find "A slave narrative" on my bingo card this year. The book did not disappoint. Butler crafted a great story; I love how she connected the two time periods (and I get why the connection had to be so violent, but I wish it hadn't had to be) and brought humanity into each ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2018 Adjrun rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy-and-sci-fi

Brilliant and brutal and heartbreaking and complex.

It’s not really science fiction - maybe there was nothing else to call it when it was published in 1979. It uses time travel to contrast a black woman from the 1970s with her ancestors in the South in 1815.

It’s astoundingly modern for being 40 years old. It asks questions about power and race and gender and privilege. And key to it’s themes are that everyone - both in the past and today - bear the scars and damage from America’s past slavery.

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Apr 28, 2011 Shannon rated it liked it

Kindred is a rare mix of a book - historical fiction and science fiction - and was also a mix when it came to results. Given the option, I would have rated this book 2 1/2 stars. While I was interested in the concept and even the plot (3 stars), the writing was flat and uninspiring (2 stars).

Kindred follows Dana, a young African American woman living in California in 1976. Early in the book - and throughout its course - Dana is transported back to early nineteenth century Maryland. After a coupl ...more

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Apr 19, 2017 Roman Colombo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Incredible

How do you even process something this powerful? The story is amazing itself, but Butler's characters are so intensely complex that the novel it is agonizing in the best way. The novel tears and rebuilds hope within moments.

The narrator of the Audio, Kim Staunton, was wonderful. She perfectly voiced Butler's writing. This was also my first whisper sync experience, which was actually pretty cool. ...more

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Jul 26, 2016 Julie rated it really liked it

The science fiction-ness of this book was not front and center, but that was OK. The historical fiction-ness was on point. Given the current climate of our nation, it was also extra meaningful to me. There were some pretty brutal scenes, but I'd think slave life was pretty brutal. I'm glad it wasn't too glossed-over. I also think the main character's psychological and emotional journey was pretty thought-provoking. I would almost say this should be a high-school book...maybe college...I think I ...more

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