Reviews

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

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weisstars's review against another edition

5.0

it's notable that the author often points out things through the way that dana narrates to herself. somewhere in the beginning half of the book, dana was of the realization she was allowed to be an 'observer', and that her time in the 1970s, which we can equate to being any time after that as well, gives us this "cushioning" as it's described, that allows us to not feel too attached to the pain that people in that history felt. we are separate from it, in this comfort of it not happening to us, and only in the past. but when you're living in that past, then it's not something you're "safe" from, and there's a part where dana points out how she is hypocritical in a way for this, that it's 'so easy to tell someone to just live through it' because she, herself, was still using things from her modern life that allowed her to survive in ways others could not.

it was fascinating how it was presented that there was never fully any 'good' people in that time period, demonstrated in this novel. even the people who are slaves who are kind to dana, for example, still have something about them that is immorally 'tainted,' because as dana talks about, it is "easy to accept" slavery, when that is your life. humans are so adaptable that when we're in these moments of horror, we still find a way to accept it and live in it, and that can lead to a never-ending exhaustion, a tiredness that prohibits anyone from being able to stand up or speak against it. this is a theme that's heavily present in the book, showcased like in alice, who becomes pregnant, and tells dana that the moment she's 'better,' she needs to leave. but then she was still tired, still healing, but there was never a time when she'd ever be rested, in the circumstances that she was in. but at the same time, while it's easy to "accept" it, there's still a line drawn for people. this is seen in how dana describes how she'd rather die than be under rufus' thumb, or how alice killed herself after being told her children were sold.

i also LOVED that dana came back with her arm gone. it's such a good symbol of how the past meets the present, how that type of life would not leave you feeling 'whole.' of course she wouldn't come back 'intact,' some part of her is forever changed by that experience.

moreover, rufus was such an interesting character and metaphor. from a human perspective, it's incredibly good writing, because you can see how he was not only raised into that type of position he is because of the time period, but also because of dana's influence directly. you can see both of these in action with how he is unpredictable and dangerous, but also with how he treats both dana and those around him BECAUSE of dana. but at the same time, just like the slaves, he is never going to be 'good,' even when dana is actively looking for it, even when dana tries to find ways to forgive him. he, like everyone else, is tainted by history. which i think, for most people, might look at and be inspired a sense of bleakness. but i think it's quite human.

to continue on the point of rufus, there's also so much to unpack with his desire for control over those he loves. it's obvious in some ways that rufus never really had friends in any actual genuine sense of it. the people around him were always there because he was the 'master,' or because he was the 'son.' he was never a person. but likewise, he was never given the ability to be a person from his family, or had friends with people who he didn't have a power dynamic with, and thus, he never learned how to love anyone properly, or how to be loved in return. he didn't know how to let others have agency or control over themselves, because he had grown so used to having a say in everything. even with dana's influence over him, his love would always be, as dana described, "Dangerous." he would love you until you wound his ego.

but it's also incredibly interesting how his desire for possession was a reflection of not only his experiences as a person (which is a demonstration of remarkable writing), but also because of what he represents as a symbol in the story. in the first half of the book, dana talks about her ancestry, and she mentions rufus and alice on her family tree. no one knew he was white, so she found that to be weird when she met him. in the beginning, when rufus and alice are children, it felt and seemed so innocent. and as a reader, i think i succumbed to that feeling. it was easy to feel that dana would have influenced history, and that he'd be kind to alice, to grow up to be a 'good one,' that he'll take care of alice and that's how dana's family line came to be, because of love. but it was a naive, blind view of a reader. rufus may have loved alice, but it was never love, never innocence, never goodness.

he is a reflection of how dana's ancestry is ruined by the way white people took advantage of black people. he is an active smudge in her family tree, and it makes me think that's why dana returned to the modern world without an arm. she was not 'whole,' because her relationship with her ancestry, in a literal AND metaphorical sense, was never whole either. her very existence as a descendant is a reflection of a horrible tragedy in the past, a tragedy that rufus was still ultimately the cause of. even when dana, or the reader, tries to find a way to forgive him, in a way that one might romanticize the past, there is no way to ever let it go, because of how he had ruined alice's life. dana missing her arm is an indication of how she's never really free, even when she is, even when she lives in a modern world where slavery is abolished and she has rights that can be enforced. because even when she's 'free,' alice never was. and because alice never was, neither was dana.

and this is important, because alice and dana are always compared to each other in the book. they look alike, and seem to be "sisters." even rufus compares them, especially at the end. rufus trying to possess dana was just another parallel of how he, as a person in 'history,' has so much power over not only people in his present, but in Our present. it reminds me of how so many surnames that black americans have are often derived from the slave owners that used to own their ancestors. even when you try to escape this history, even when you are "cushioned" by it, you are always tied to it. you can't run from it. it's there. it's smudged your ancestry, it's smudged your existence. a part of you is always lost, because a world behind you had long been stolen.

i think it's ultimately tragic, too. that there's people like rufus who have the capability for goodness, and yet at the same time, could never be good.

stathis_markopoulos's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

3.5

soniajordan266's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

such a fascinating concept and I loved the world-building. I was so gripped for the majority but as the book progressed the plot weakened and it started to drag. otherwise a great book with really good writing and Octavia Butler always hits

laynemandros's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

amkimbro's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

allisonwhite167's review against another edition

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4.0

The plot had me HOOKED from the start, and I continued to become more and more enthralled as the story progressed. I haven’t read much science fiction, and I feel like this is probably a great introduction to the genre. Butler uses science fiction as means to carry the story, but it stays in the background - the themes are so incredibly real and the characters very complex. The novel seems to turn on its head the question of how history and ancestral ties influence the present, by exploring how instead the present influences the past. Parts of the story, like when Dana catches the slave children acting out slave trade as a game, and when she tries to teach young Rufus the harms of using the n word, drive home the message that these ancient racist ideals might not be as dead and gone as we think, and it requires interference to stop these practices from carrying on to future generations.

There is so much to take away from this book, and I look forward to reading her other work. My only hang up with the book is that the prose didn’t move me that much - at times it read like a YA novel, but for me it didn’t take away much since the plot was so strong. Definitely recommend, will be thinking about this one for a while.