Kindred

For much of the time I spent reading Kindred, I completely forgot that this novel was written in the 1970s - some 45 years ago now. Octavia Butler's ideas and prose style still feel fresh and I was glad that this important novel hasn't suffered from being 'of its time'. Other 1970s novels I've read have seemed dated but, in fact, Kindred came across as just as relevant now as it must have been to its first readers. On a personal level that was a good thing because it meant I could fully appreciate the story and everything it wanted to impart to me. I was also very aware though that this also illustrates how little progress has been achieved in terms of racial and gender equality over the past four decades. Slavery such as Dana experiences on the plantation may no longer be legal, but the attitudes it fostered are still very much with us as can be seen by the necessity for movements such as BLM.

Dana and Rufus are complicated, nuanced characters who find themselves tethered to each other by an inexplicable bond. I was surprised at how easily I could accept and believe in the time travel premise and think that this was achieved due to the authenticity of the main characters. I often felt that Dana could do more to help the slaves with whom she lived, but she isn't a 'superhero' movie character, rather a confused and frightened woman who struggles to adapt to the cold callousness of the Weylin family. To realise that she shares ancestry from both Rufus and Alice must have been so difficult to come to terms with, yet I loved seeing how Butler gives Dana hints of each of those characters within her own makeup.

Other than its scenes of extreme violence, Kindred was an easier read than I had expected. I think I was influenced by its reputation to expect a philosophical literary novel, but it is actually a compelling story that keeps up an exciting pace throughout. Butler was an accomplished storyteller who manages to impart what she wants to say without breaking the stride of her tale so, while I was left with plenty to think about after finishing Kindred, I never felt hectored or lectured whilst reading. A deserved classic.

I keep trying to read books by Octavia Butler, and yet somehow never manage to find one that really captivates me. This in parts dark and brutal story of a WoC from 1976 traveling back in time to live on the antebellum estate of her ancestor just didn't grab me.

Dana somehow has a connection to a boy called Rufus who turns out to be her ancestor. Whenever his life is in danger, she is transported to his time, to witness how brutally slaves were treated at the time. As she is black, she is also considered a slave. She keeps traveling back repeatedly, and things get worse each trip. Only when her own life is in danger as well, does she get back to her own time.

I can acknowledge that it's a masterpiece for its time, published in 1979, and I am glad to have read it, but at the same time I can say it was not my cup of tea.