Kindred
By Octavia E. Butler
- Release Date: 1997-07-20
- Genre: Fiction & Literature
Description
NEW FOREWORD BY JANELLE MONÁE
Experience the time travel science fiction classic from the New York Times bestselling author of Parable of the Sower and winner of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Nebula, and Hugo Awards.
A modern Black woman is pulled through time to face the horrors of slavery in this “Great American Novel” about racism, sexism, and white supremacy—then and now (The Atlantic).
“I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.”
Dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from California, 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present.
Blazing the trail for neo-slavery narratives like Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer, Butler takes one of speculative fiction’s oldest tropes and infuses it with lasting depth and power. Dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present. “Where stories about American slavery are often gratuitous, reducing its horror to explicit violence and brutality, Kindred is controlled and precise” (New York Times).
“Reading Octavia Butler taught me to dream big, and I think it’s absolutely necessary that everybody have that freedom and that willingness to dream.”
—N. K. Jemisin
Reviews
No Words
5By KiPattsSuch a well-written, though-provoking story. This one is going to stay with me for a while.should be required reading
5By Janiece A.read this super late but still as relevant as ever.Loved it!!
5By shanelle0323This book was so good I finished it the same day I started reading. I love how the story builds up and is consistent.Thought Provocation at Its Best
5By MitokandreaI really thought deeply about the characters on my work commute when I couldn’t take the time to read what happened to them next. So well connected to a time so few of us can truly grasp.Captivating, but left me hanging at the end
4By mouthyalmightyI loved this book! It contained so many vocabulary gems, historical references, and suspenseful moments that often prompted outbursts of support and disparagement for many of the characters. While engaging, the book left me hanging at the end as the final chapter concluded abruptly, a choice I’m assuming Ms. Butler intended, and transitioned to a prologue of events that I’m struggling to comprehend without a bridge. So here I am with a mound of questions that I won’t disclose to avoid further spoiling the book, and cliffhanger discomfort that I have yet to assuage within novel realms of social media. In sum, the novel is def worth the read and I guess it did its job if it left me wanting more in the end lol.Captivating yet frustrating read.
4By MrsSanaiCapriIt took me a while to finish this book. (About a year) mostly because I would get so angry with the event of the book and have to put it down, calm myself and then return. But I enjoyed it over all.Amazing!!!
5By FuturebossCJThis book keeps you locked in at every moment, Engaged from start to finish…..Amazing book to read and possibly could’ve been lengthened with a lot more if wanted to…Historical Fiction at its Finest!!!
5By Born Gift3dAmazing!!!Kindred
3By marzbars19Great plot , needs more details to many gaps in the story …Yes
5By iwantsomemoney101What I didn’t like was the false advertising by other people saying Dana started to accept slavery, which she did not she just accepted her circumstances that she would be treated as one. She did not accept slavery itself. I loved the book though, the portraying of the relationship between house slaves and field slaves. The portraying of the stereotype called “The Mammy”. I also loved how the author portrayed how easily you become the time era you’re raised in. Rufus was not born racist, and I found the little boy hilarious in the beginning chapters and it was a journey to see him become just like his father in the end. The author portrayed so many dynamics of this time perfectly, and the fact that the center relationship was interracial and didn’t take a racist turn like expected was the cherry on top. 5/5Sci-Fi or documentary?
4By gizzie's dadSomewhat short of what I expected in style ala Toni Morrison, Kindred makes up for in historical narrative, unexplained teleportation, and page-turning intrigue.Kindred
4By Lexi'MarieI started watching 1 episode on Hulu. Something told me to search and see if there is a book . Now I’m reading alongside of the show &’ it’s amazing ! Def recommend if your into twist and turns ! I CAN wait to finish . It’s to good to complete 😩Unlimited Stars
5By LKJ813🖤🤎💛🤍Great read
5By Delois1Was about to watch the series on Hulu but remembered this was a book first. Decided to read the book and so glad I did. I couldn’t put it down and had me full of emotions.Simply amazing
5By 1YoungGodThis book has took control of me and brought me into its world, I couldn’t stop reading it as if it was a movie in front of me! Each chapter left me wondering and wanting more, definitely a book I would recommend! When I realized the book was written 47 years ago, it tripped me out more how much I related to the book. The series introduced me to the book but the book has made me not care much for the series. All in all I would say I definitely enjoyed this book.Great read
5By Chris2decI watched the tv adaptation of this book after the recommendation of a friend. It only has one season so far which I binged in a day and a half, and which left off on a total cliffhanger. When I learned that the show was based on the first few chapters of this book, I bought it immediately. I had to know what happened. The book did not disappoint at all. I couldn’t put it down and finished in 2 days. Highly recommend this read, very entertaining but also makes you think.Astonishingly Excellent!
5By Mr. StingUnexpectedly novel blending of American history, generational family, and supernatural fiction that illuminates what colonial slavery was like with all of its complexities and contradictions. Very original. Bravo!!!If I can give it 10 I would!!!!
5By TalizhaThis is literally the best book I’ve read in such a long time! Really made me think about my roots!Wonderful writing
5By Julieadams521Couldn’t put it down! Captivating!
