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I've read a fair number of Octavia Butler's books, but I picked up Kindred for the first time last week, and found out there's a reason why it's her most famous. I've been impressed by everything I've read by her, but this one has just shot to the top of my list.
In Kindred, twentieth-century Dana finds herself time-traveling back to a nineteenth-century plantation again and again to save the life of her white slave-owning ancestor so that she can, someday, be born. The strength of this book is in the characters, and the exploration of the twisted relations and dynamics that the slave-owning system brings about. Dana is an extremely active character, and though she is by necessity forced to pose as a slave when she is in the past, she's never just a victim. She is in her ancestor's power due to the plantation dynamics, but he is also in hers, because his life is continually in her hands (because he's an idiot with a death-wish, as she has no qualms about pointing out). The dynamic that makes between them is completely fascinating. Alice, Dana's ancestress, is another character who could be very easily portrayed as a victim and nothing more, but is instead strong and three-dimensional, with an equally strained and complex relationship with Dana. The fourth central character is Dana's white husband, Kevin, and the depth and difficulty of that relationship is never glossed over. All the other characters are individuals in their own right, too; not one of them easily falls into a stereotype.
Dana is a very strong character, and I think she's stronger for the fact that, unlike some of Butler's other protagonists (I am thinking especially of Lauren in Parable of the Sower) she is not always completely sure of herself or confident directing the lives of others. Some dilemmas don't have any right answers. (I also really liked the frank description of how the chance of being whisked off to another time at any moment would really, seriously disrupt and constrain your life. Time-Traveller's Wife fans, take notice; Butler did it first.)
Obviously, this is not a cheerful book or an easy read - I would probably not, for example, tell you to take it to the beach - but it's incredibly well done, and I think worthwhile for just about anyone.
In Kindred, twentieth-century Dana finds herself time-traveling back to a nineteenth-century plantation again and again to save the life of her white slave-owning ancestor so that she can, someday, be born. The strength of this book is in the characters, and the exploration of the twisted relations and dynamics that the slave-owning system brings about. Dana is an extremely active character, and though she is by necessity forced to pose as a slave when she is in the past, she's never just a victim. She is in her ancestor's power due to the plantation dynamics, but he is also in hers, because his life is continually in her hands (because he's an idiot with a death-wish, as she has no qualms about pointing out). The dynamic that makes between them is completely fascinating. Alice, Dana's ancestress, is another character who could be very easily portrayed as a victim and nothing more, but is instead strong and three-dimensional, with an equally strained and complex relationship with Dana. The fourth central character is Dana's white husband, Kevin, and the depth and difficulty of that relationship is never glossed over. All the other characters are individuals in their own right, too; not one of them easily falls into a stereotype.
Dana is a very strong character, and I think she's stronger for the fact that, unlike some of Butler's other protagonists (I am thinking especially of Lauren in Parable of the Sower) she is not always completely sure of herself or confident directing the lives of others. Some dilemmas don't have any right answers. (I also really liked the frank description of how the chance of being whisked off to another time at any moment would really, seriously disrupt and constrain your life. Time-Traveller's Wife fans, take notice; Butler did it first.)
Obviously, this is not a cheerful book or an easy read - I would probably not, for example, tell you to take it to the beach - but it's incredibly well done, and I think worthwhile for just about anyone.
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