Scan barcode
genzea's review
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Violence, Gaslighting, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Self harm and Ableism
Worth reading. Very interesting and intense story. Deserves all the hypeeditoryalizing's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Racism
Minor: Forced institutionalization
rlgreen91's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm sure there are tons of literature out there about this novel and the idea of power, and what it means to have power over another person, and how that intersects with the racial hierarchies of the U.S. I'm also sure that there is a lot of literature about this novel and what it means to love someone, and how that works or doesn't in terms of power dynamics. I think the parallel Butler drew between Rufus and Kevin was an insightful critique of how our view of marriage is subject to the same feelings of love as possession and ownership, regardless of whether the characters believe they are equal.
I do want to say that I think this novel, along with Toni Morrison's A Mercy, does a great job of showing how a person is influenced by their culture, and that since a society is set up to incentivize certain behaviors, how difficult it is to get a single person to act in a different way. Rufus Weylin, like Morrison's Jacob Vaark, is a man of his time, who reconciles himself to the practices of his time, even if there's some initial resistance. But, we also see them take the occasional action that goes outside of what the society and culture of the time dictate. That doesn't necessarily mean that he should be absolved of his cruel actions - and is beside the point. Similarly, Weylin's departure from how other slaveowners act, including his own father, isn't enough on its own to dismantle the whole system of slavery. But those departures make a difference in someone's life - notably Hagar's, and Dana's, although for good or bad it's hard to say.
One other thing I liked about this novel was a bit of truth-telling, when Dana forced Rufus to confront that he was responsible for what happened to Alice. It reminds me of Butler's short story "Bloodchild", when Gan is honest about what it would mean to volunteer his sister for what has up to that point been his destiny. I noted this in my review of that collection, but it's refreshing to see characters be honest with themselves about what the choices they make say about what and who they value. It's something I wish we'd engage in more in real life, honestly, so I'll always appreciate a moment like that in a novel.
Overall, this was a solid 4.5 stars. On to the Parables.
Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death of parent, and Suicide
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Mental illness
joeyk06's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Slavery, and Violence
narbine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Rape, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gore, Death, Vomit, Alcoholism, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting
ekmook's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Vomit, Confinement, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Car accident, and Drug abuse
alexwuwho's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Self harm, Physical abuse, Racism, and Rape
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
mandi4886's review
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infertility, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, War, and Vomit
Minor: Body shaming, Colonisation, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Stalking, and Antisemitism
kylegarvey's review
- 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? Yes
3.0
It was announced in Mar 2021 that FX ordered a pilot of a TV adaptation of Butler's Kindred, so these types of stories are still somewhat en vogue, no? "Horror stories. / Except that they were true" Butler writes (117). A 1976 African American woman transported to a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation? That heroine, Dana, is the subject and protagonist; but in some ways the white husband, Kevin, gets an even more problematic fate: "if he survived here, it would be because he managed to tolerate the life here. He wouldn’t have to take part in it, but he would have to keep quiet about it. Free speech and press hadn’t done too well in the ante bellum South" (120). For all the white supremacist guilt stealing, there's as much blame stealing too?
Butler's original text seems good sometimes -- she describes the doctor with a quick "Just a stupid little man who may be one step up from spells and good luck charms" (216) -- but not so good other times -- "Wait. Let me tell it all to you at once. Then you can have all the time you need to digest it and ask questions" (213) (ok, ok, may be necessary practically, but we can skip it narratively?). But other times it's excellent and powerful, like when Dana has to tragically re-reveal the central tragedy to one of its sufferers:
"How could you not know what it’s like to be a slave. You are one" (247)…
"'I said am I a slave?' / 'Yes.' / 'She had risen half off the bench, her whole body demanding that I answer her. Now that I had, she sat down again heavily, her back and shoulders rounded, her arms crossed over her stomach hugging herself. 'But I’m supposed to be free. I was free. Born free!'" (249).
The central heroine's self-regard, even in spite of the epic brutality around her, is par for the course, one of the points of the whole story maybe: "But for drop-ins from another century, I thought we had had a remarkably easy time. And I was perverse enough to be bothered by the ease" (152); or "'You might be able to go through this whole experience as an observer,' I said. 'I can understand that because most of the time, I’m still an observer. It’s protection. It’s nineteen seventy-six shielding and cushioning eighteen nineteen for me'" (157).
Incisive as all get out still, though, too: "I had thought my feelings were complicated because he and I had such a strange relationship. But then, slavery of any kind fostered strange relationships" (365); and "my life was easier than hers. Maybe I tried to make up for that by taking her abuse. Everything had its limits, though" (375).
I trip up sometimes a little, though, on how un-PC we can be nevertheless. Weird for a 2021 white guy to bring up with a 1970s Black woman, but still: about a minor character, we hear bluntly "used to wonder whether she was a little retarded" (385).
Still, even though Kindred's wildly imperfect and Butler's never the ideal writer, it's a slim-enough book with a powerful-enough premise. Robert Crossley's critical essay about Kindred, included in my copy as an afterword, works as a nice way to enlarge that premise somewhat: Dana having to compromise feminist ideals (428) as well as Kindred as a whole being "no more rational, no more comfortably explicable than the history of slavery itself" (425).
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Self harm, Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Toxic friendship
kkulhannie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, and Colonisation