Reviw of Kindred

"A shatering work of art with much to say about love, hate, slavery, and racial dilemmas, then and now." -Los Angeles Herald Examiner

Originally I had to read this book because my teacher assigned it to our class and all I can say is that it was amazing. I fail to see why some people thought that it was slow. There is NOTHING slow about it! From the beginning it pulls you into the story and there is a perfect balance of dialogue and description. Nothing is ever boring in this story.

This story is about a modern day african american woman named Dana. She and, eventually, her husband Kevin, a white American, are transported to time to the Anatebellum South. The story begins with Dana at the hospital waking up groggy and unsure of where she is. She looks to her side and sees that her arm is missing and she starts to remember everything that happens. Her husband Kevin is there with her and they start talking. From there on it goes to chapter one. The details of them moving into a new house start to show up and then one day Dana gets dizzy and has a sick motion and faints. When she wakes up she's on the forest floor. She wakes up not knowing where she is. She walks and sees a little boy drowing in a lake. She jumps in and saves him. She gives him CPR while a concerned and frantic mother thinks that she's hurting the child and tries to beat her. The boy wakes up and the mother smuthers him. Then a man comes running towards them and points a gun to Dana's head but before he gets a chance to shoot she gets the same sensation and faints. When she wakes up she's in her home again and Kevin is speechless. She then learns that she has been gone only a few seconds although it was clear to her that she was gone for more than a few minutes.

Then throughout the story Dana starts learning about her ancestors and that she's ment to protect a white slave holders son, Rufus, who is going to father a daughter who will become Dana's ancestor. Throughout this all she becomes a slave herself and faces the trials that her ancestors faced. She goes through brutal trials that exploit the racial problems in the old south.

This book was, as I mentioned before, amazing. Riveting. Other synonyms for the word great. Octavia E. Butler did an amazing job with this book. It had such a humane feel to it that you start to believe that a person really can get transported to the past. That's how good it is. It opens your eyes and makes you see that everyone, even the cruelest of people, can be human. It also shows how even people are racist even though they are the same color. I felt the emotions in this book. I felt the anger, the relief, the sadness, and the desperation. Beautiful work of literature.