Kindred
Books | Fiction / General
4.2
(220)
Octavia E. Butler
**MAJOR TV SERIES COMING SOON TO DISNEY+** Octavia E. Butler's ground-breaking masterpiece, with an original foreword by Ayòbámi Adébáyò. 'A marvel of imagination, empathy and detail' NEW YORK TIMES 'The marker you should judge all other time-travelling narratives by' GUARDIAN 'One of the most significant literary artists of the twentieth century. One cannot exaggerate the impact she has had' JUNOT DIAZ -- In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave. When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again. Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them. And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun. This is the extraordinary story of two people bound by blood, separated by so much more than time. 'No novel I've read this year has felt as relevant, as gut-wrenching or as essential' CAROLINE O'DONOGHUE -- PRAISE FOR OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'Unnervingly prescient and wise' YAA GYASI 'Butler's evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human' NEW YORK TIMES 'Butler's prose, always pared back to the bone, delineates the painful paradoxes of metamorphosis with compelling precision' GUARDIAN 'Octavia Butler was a visionary' VIOLA DAVIS 'An icon of the Afrofuturism world, envisioning literary realms that placed black characters front and center' VANITY FAIR 'Butler writes with such a familiarity that the alien is welcome and intriguing. She really artfully exposes our human impulse to self-destruct' LUPITA NYONG'O
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Octavia E. Butler
Pages
295
Publisher
Headline Publishing Group
Published Date
2018
ISBN
1472258223 9781472258229
Community ReviewsSee all
"This is why Octavia Butler is one of the all time greats in writing science fiction. Kindred is so real even in a world where time-travel exists. I LOVE how Butler is able to write compelling sci-fi that makes me interrogate our own society."
Reading into the Void
"I was blown away by this book, so much so that I don't know how to describe how I feel about it. It's so masterfully written, the story is riveting, and it manages to speak about very important and grave subjects, but in an incredibly nuanced and intelligent way. The fact that we still don't fully recognize Octavia E. Butler as the literary master that she is makes her work even more impactful. "
Nadia
"This book is labeled as a science fiction due to the time travel even though there is no science explained or shown. The author saids that it’s fantasy because of the time travel never being explained. Except for the time travel element nothing else about the book matches with it being a fantasy. <br/><br/>The time travel is never explained exactly why or how it happens. Which i don’t mind because the story didn’t really need it. The time travel element was just used to take a present day black women into the past. <br/><br/>The black representation was good. The main character is easy to relate to while also being strong and not afraid to speak up.<br/><br/>The book also doesn’t shy away from the difficulty of the timezone. Nothing is sugar coated. All the characters including the slave owner and slave’s themselves are complex. There is also discussion of how easy it is to accept slavery when you around you that believes in it. <br/><br/>The only reason that it is rated lower is because it is not my taste. The story does move in a slow pace and allows you to get to know the time period and characters. Also historic fiction, even though i like reading them, i don’t get attached to the stories that often. I’m not a history person."
Niffty
"Something totally different than my normal reads. Great recommendation"
A J
Andrea Jaffray
"I read this one a while back and I have to say it was a amazing book it was filled with action and kept me on my toes I will suggest a read "
G A
Giovanny Alonzo
"I love Octavia Butler, so I don’t know why it too me so long to get to this book. This is a science fiction book with basically no science. Its more of a fantasy book, but the fantastical elements are time travel. Dana is celebrating her 26th birthday in 1976 when she is transported back in time to a Maryland Plantation in the early 19th century. It is here that she meets her ancestors and is forced to try to conform to the antebellum structured society while still having a bicentennial mindset. As she travels back in forth in time, she becomes entangled in the lives of her ancestors and other slaves on the plantation. She begins to believe that she is most likely traveling in time to ensure the existence of her family in the present but finds herself at odds with what is morally correct and what NEEDS to happen. In true Butler form we have social commentary on the effects of gender, power and race and it is offered in the form of two interracial couples that are the heart of the story. She offers a frank dissection of what life was like for African Americans on plantations while still acknowledging that things were worse in other locations. She paints a vivid picture of life in the slave community by giving each of the characters their own distinct and personal narratives that the reader becomes invested in. Butler has written an amazing book that should serve as a reminder that even the most difficult periods of history need to be accurately remembered to preserve humanity’s present and future. Denying and erasing the past will only harm society in the long run."
Nicole Falche
"Every time I would pick this up to read I got sucked in and wondered why I hadn't been consistently reading it. I found it written simply, which is something I prefer; no long paragraphs of exposition. Yet, she still created these complex characters that you felt a range of emotions for. I understood Dana's conflicted feelings for Rufus; wanting to save him but also being disappointed in who he becomes. However, the ending felt rushed and a letdown to me. <spoiler>I do think the symbolism of her losing her arm felt right--a part of her will always be in the past. I just felt more of their thoughts about it all could've been explored. It felt abrupt and I was a bit ticked Kevin had the final word, but that's just me. </spoiler>"
Liesl Prentice
"Okay, I just saw the trailer for the show and I instantly knew what it was in the first five seconds and got so excited. I feel like I definitely will be coming back to this soon because of that."
A W
Allykay Willims
"This should have been part of every high school curriculum the moment it was published. I'm grateful to have been led to it now at 38 but wow! Cannot recommend this enough. Ms. Butler brought history to life in some incredible and painful ways that sticks with me in ways history class never even attempted to approach. We need this book to be required reading."
Katherine R
"This book deserves its place as a modern classic, and I highly recommend for everyone to read it.<br/><br/>That being said, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had thought I would, given that I love time travel narratives. The book felt extremely long and ultimately I was bothered to my core reading about the horrors of slavery, even in a fictional setting. I struggled to enjoy the story, and while I felt connected to Dana, that made it all the more difficult to read.<br/><br/>I still think it’s important to read novels such as this, but for myself as a reader, I read to escape, and this was not that."
A P
Allie Peduto
