Lisa S. (phunction) reviewed on 2/28/2010 + 9 more book reviews

powerful and raw, this is a sci-fi book that even non-sci-fi lovers, like myself, can enjoy. my only complaint is that i didn't read it sooner!

Edana, or Dana as she is nicknamed, is a modern black woman married to a white man, both struggling writers. on her 26th birthday, Dana is inexplicably transported into the South of the early 1800's where slavery is still practiced in full force. she is "called" there by a red-headed boy named Rufus, who is drowning and she saves his life. ironically, he turns out to be one of her slave-owning ancestors and it becomes clear that it is her duty to protect him. this begins the series of time travels, as Dana is called back each time Rufus is in danger, 6 times over the years to save his nearly pathetic life. each time causes Dana to be stuck in the world that does not welcome her, until her own life is threatened and she is spirited back to her own time. in this way, she learns what it means to be a slave, a woman, a wife. as such, expect a tale with lots of life and lots of near-death, lots of fear and raw emotion.

"I hadn't known quite as well then what there was to fear. I had never seen a captured runaway like Alice. I had never felt the whip across my own back. I had never felt a man's fists."

with startling honesty and depth, Butler grabs you from the beginning and never really lets go, even after the book is over. there is so much strength and conflict that is nearly overwhelming, between characters, between and within the races, and between the times. on top of that, Kindred is well constructed AND well written, bringing together so many powerful themes into a profound tale of fiction: abuse, racial and sexual tensions, literacy, physical and emotional courage, which all serve to show us what it might have been like to be a slave.

"My back began to ache dully, and I felt dully ashamed. Slavery was a long slow process of dulling."

the relationship between Dana and Rufus is one that caused the most conflict for me as a reader. as much as i didn't want to, i found myself in the same position as Dana, having compassion for Rufus. his upbringing and surroundings pushed and pulled him into the expected behaviors of a white slave-holder - sometimes abusive, cruel and unpredictable. and yet, it was so obvious that he wanted to be good. in his own way, he loved his slaves, and this becomes pivotal in the outcome of the book. i kept thinking of the quote "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

the other struggle that i felt with overwhelming surprise was how easy it had become for Dana to fit in as a slave. she finds herself conflicted with how seemingly "real" the time there feels and she comes to even call it home. during one of her reminisces comparing her two lives, she explains that "(Slavery's) time was a sharper, stronger reality. The work was harder, the smells and tastes were stronger, the danger was greater, the pain was worse." and i felt that, too. it made my life in this century feel less significant, much like i imagine she felt when she returned to the 1970's apartment that she shared with her husband.

Kindred is not a feel good book, nor an easy read, but altogether, this was a stunning work, one that begs to be read and that i would recommend for everyone.

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