J.L. Sutton's review of Kindred (original) (raw)

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J.L. Sutton's Reviews > Kindred

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred
by

3675162

“Repressive societies always seemed to understand the danger of "wrong" ideas.”

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler | Book Analysis

I enjoyed Octavia Butler's Kindred, but it might disappoint those who are expecting what is billed as science fiction. Most of Butler's other work is both fantastic and unabashedly science fiction.

Despite writing a novel, Kindred, based on time travel, Butler never addresses the mechanics of this time travel or whether perhaps there is something about the protagonist, Dana Franklin, which triggers it. Instead, Butler relies on establishing a bond between Dana and the boy she rescues the first time she is thrust into the past. This does not detract at all from the emotional impact of the novel; Butler understands how to tell a compelling story. Subsequent trips back into the past reveal the bond between the two and why Dana needs to save and protect him.

“Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.”

“That educated didn’t mean smart. He had a point. Nothing in my education or knowledge of the future had helped me to escape. Yet in a few years an illiterate runaway named Harriet Tubman would make nineteen trips into this country and lead three hundred fugitives to freedom.”

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Reading Progress

April 25, 2015 –Started Reading

May 7, 2015 –Finished Reading

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