September | 2020 | Book Chatter

Kindred
By Octavia Butler
Beacon Press, 9780807083697, 2004, 264pp.

The Short of It:

Not your typical science fiction read.

The Rest of It:

Dana and her husband Kevin find themselves in a unique situation. While celebrating her 26th birthday at their home in California, Dana becomes dizzy and then disappears before Kevin’s eyes. In an instant, Dana is transported to a Southern plantation. Her mission is apparently to save the white child who is drowning in front of her but this simple act of kindness earns her a shotgun pointed at her face when the plantation owner believes her to be the cause of his boy’s condition, not the other way around. As a black woman, Dana quickly realizes that if she doesn’t watch herself, she could end up enslaved along with the other slaves on the plantation.

This novel uses time travel to tell its story. Each time Dana goes back, Rufus, the young boy she saved is a little bit older and more like his father every day. Although Rufus makes disappointing choices which often result in a beating for Dana, she somehow feels a connection to him. And then when Dana’s husband Kevin enters this strange world along with Dana, things become much more complicated as Kevin is white, and the people of this time period don’t believe in a marriage between a white man and a black woman.

This is a strange story. I was immediately pulled in by the premise but it continually felt wrong to me and no explanation is given regarding the events in this story. We never learn why Dana has been called to return to this time. There is a short mention of ancestors and it is implied that Rufus is family. I suppose you don’t really need an explanation for the story to work but I was looking for one.

Butler does a good job of depicting plantation life and expressing the horrors through Dana’s eyes. If you’ve maxed out on slavery books this one might be one for you to try because it’s very different and hey, it’s science fiction.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters

By now, you’ve heard that the entire West coast is burning. It started here with a Gender Reveal gone wrong, and then continued Northwest and I can’t even tell you how many fires there are or how many structures lost. The skies here are yellow and it feels like the end of the world. I keep thinking about Chicken Little and “the sky is falling!”

This is the Bay area which is much worse than where we are:

Right Now:

This week was hard for a number of reasons so I plan to focus on self-care today. I am at the point in this pandemic where I am “done” with it but of course, you can’t be done with a pandemic until it’s done with you!

Halloween was cancelled for LA County and then later that day they walked it back and said it was not banned but not recommended. My neighborhood is always packed with van loads of kids and parents strolling around with wine. I want to join in but I don’t want to die so if we hand out candy I will probably do some sort of table setup and just supervise from afar.

This Week:

We are deep into the college application process and will continue to be this week and probably all of September and part of October. We visited a couple of schools this past weekend but most of the schools my daughter is interested in are out of state.

I just realized I need to read a book for a discussion this week. It’s Kindred by Octavia Butler. I better get on that.

It was announced on Thursday that the Cal State Universities will be virtual for Spring 2021. I expected it but at the same time it was like a punch in the gut. This decision affects my campus as well as my son’s. He is fine with it. I don’t know if that means I will remain at home though.

Reading:

As I mentioned above, I will be reading Kindred here pretty soon for a discussion but I just finished Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill and should have the review up soon. Wowie! That book gave me all the Halloween vibes.

I think I may also read Wendy Walker’s new one, Don’t Look For Me.

Watching:

Ratched comes out on Netflix this week (9/18)! Yes, that’s NURSE Ratched to you. I cannot wait! I need something to pull me away from the news.

Grateful for:

We got our flu shots on Friday. Grateful to have gotten them early.
Instagram cooking Reels. I’ve been browsing some simple meal ideas and it’s giving me hope. SO tired of planning what to cook but lately these short videos have been helpful.
Like-minded friends who get where I am coming from politically. I am not at ALL into politics but for this election, how can you not be? I am voting for decency this term. Period.

Tell me something that is going on in your life. Something I can pray for or something great that has happened recently. I’ve felt very disconnected from everyone this week even though I try so hard to connect with others.

To be honest, I believe I am sick of myself.

Chatting with friends about books and life…