Kindred - General/no spoilers (Jan 2018)

[Caroline]

Welcome to our first ever Wild(est) Card pick discussion! At the end of last year, we decided to open nominations up to any book of any genre from any time period and landed on Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. This thread is for discussing first impressions, overall thoughts on the book (general only, please! Spoilers are allowed in the other threads), Octavia Butler, etc.

Is this your first time reading Butler? If not, are there any works of hers that you'd recommend?

What are your thoughts on the book so far? One comment I've seen about the book is that it doesn't fit nicely into any one genre or category (which I think makes it especially great). Do you agree?

Does this book feel dated (it was first published in 1979)?

I didn't know much about Butler until I began reading reviews and articles about her after finishing Kindred. I'm certainly glad that I've now read one of her books and have gotten to learn about her and what she did (and continues to do) for science fiction. Below are links to a few articles about her, which I'd definitely recommend checking out if you're unfamiliar with her.

The Joy (And Fear) of Making 'Kindred' Into a Graphic Novel - from the NPR Code Switch blog about how two artists turned the novel into a graphic novel.

VISIONS: IDENTITY; 'We Tend to Do the Right Thing When We Get Scared' - NYT featuring excerpts from a 2000 interview with Butler. My favorite except (and perhaps the most quoted):

Q. Why do you place black women at the heart of so much of your work?

A. When I began writing science fiction, when I began reading, heck, I wasn't in any of this stuff I read.

I certainly wasn't in the science fiction. The only black people you found were occasional characters or characters who were so feeble-witted that they couldn't manage anything, anyway. I wrote myself in, since I'm me and I'm here and I'm writing. I can write my own stories and I can write myself in.

NYT Obituary for Octavia Butler

Writing Herself Into the Story - from NPR Code Switch

Octavia Butler's Legacy, Impact, and Afrofuturism Celebrated

[Marc]

'Bout to crack this open tonight, but won't be my first Butler. Not sure I've read anything by her I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. Probably, Parable of the Sower and Fledgling have been my favorites thus far out of 4 or 5 of her books. I'm excited to finally get to this one!

[Kathleen]

I have this on hold at the library and hope to get it soon. It will be my first Butler, and I also very much want to read Parable of the Sower soon.

In the meantime, I'll check out the links above--thanks, Caroline!

[Caroline]

I look forward to your comments, Marc and Kathleen!

I am pretty eager to read Parable of the Sower as well. Many of the articles/reviews I read commented on how relevant Parable feels today, particularly in light of Trump and MAGA.

[Whitney]

I've loved everything I've read by Butler. I read Kindred several years ago, so this will be one of those discussions where I mostly lurk, but look forward to reading the discussion.

[Franky]

I started it. Currently only up to page 30, but, right now I'd say that it definitely feels like a book where it is hard to place the genre or category. I'm enjoying it so far. It feels odd that Dana is suddenly jumping to a former time so and we are hit right away with a conflict.

I'll have to check out some of those articles about Butler and some background on the novel. This is my first Butler read, so glad I'm getting to read it.

[Suzy]

I just finished this and am pondering what to say in my review. I really liked it and am left with so many things to think about. Thanks for including the links - I'll check these out.

[Beverly]

I look forward to reading the discussion for Kindred.
I have read it a number of times so will not be re-reading.

But wanted to make a comment about the appeal of this books to a diverse group of people. Years ago (before Goodreads & such) when people would find out I was an avid reader, they would often ask for a book recommendation which is always hard to to do when you do not really know a person and/or your reading tastes, I would recommend Kindred. And in all those years only two people after reading said it was not their cup of tea but all the others made a point of thanking me for the recommendation as they each had found something they enjoyed about the book.

[Franky]

I'll keep up with the nonspoiler posts, but I'm a little backed up on another read, but should make some progress on this one this weekend. Enjoying all the posts and comments so far.

[Suzy]

Beverly wrote: "I look forward to reading the discussion for Kindred.
I have read it a number of times so will not be re-reading.

But wanted to make a comment about the appeal of this books to a diverse group of ..."

thanks for sharing that Beverly - I will take this to heart when I recommend books to others. I can see how it would have wide appeal.

[Caroline]

I agree that this book seems to defy genre - it's really great in that way, I think. I think this will likely become a book that I will recommend to multiple people as well - it's the type of book I wish I'd had as required reading back in school.

[Franky]

Caroline wrote: "I agree that this book seems to defy genre - it's really great in that way, I think. I think this will likely become a book that I will recommend to multiple people as well - it's the type of book ..."

Yeah, the further I get into this the more I believe that. I don't consider this really sci-fi, even though there are elements of it.

[LindaJ^]

Beverly wrote: "Years ago (before Goodreads & such) when people would find out I was an avid reader, they would often ask for a book recommendation which is always hard to to do when you do not really know a person and/or your reading tastes, I would recommend Kindred. And in all those years only two people after reading said it was not their cup of tea but all the others made a point of thanking me for the recommendation as they each had found something they enjoyed about the book. "

I had that experience also. I was introduced to Butler by a recommendation to read Kindred and it led me to her other work, which I liked even better. I have recommended it to others and received favorable responses.

[Nutmegger]

This is my first Butler read. I'm enjoying the book. I often find it difficult to suspend my disbelief in this type of book, but Butler is so engaging that I'm just going with it. Looking forward to see what happens next.

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks]

I actually started reading this with you guys, but then I had no time to tune into the conversation, read about half the book and got stuck (not because it's bad, but because it's just a little bit too tough/scary/stressful... you know what I'm talking about!)

Is the discussion still going, or are you all done with the book already? I am afraid to look into the further topics for fear of spoilers :D

[Franky]

Evelina | AvalinahsBooks wrote: "I actually started reading this with you guys, but then I had no time to tune into the conversation, read about half the book and got stuck (not because it's bad, but because it's just a little bit..."

I just finished, but you could leave comments whenever you finish (I think the discussion is sort of ongoing). I was a little late to the read but was checking comments and just kind of keeping up with them. I agree that it is a book with a lot of heavy themes and some uncomfortable scenes, especially with Dana.

[Pam]

This was my first book by Butler. I had selected it as part of a personal Sci-fi challenge I’m doing this year. I didn’t expect to love it but I did! Finished it in a 24 hour time period. I’m definitely going to try some of her other books.