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Jan 2021
9:10am, 10 Jan 2021
44,279 posts
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LindsD
Have you seen 12 years a slave, NSC? It's a difficult watch but really brings home the conditions and is based on a real story.
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Jan 2021
10:53am, 10 Jan 2021
48,067 posts
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McGoohan
Short review: 12 Years A Slave meets Back to the Future.
Next! 
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Jan 2021
12:24pm, 10 Jan 2021
44,281 posts
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LindsD
Indeed
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Jan 2021
8:08am, 11 Jan 2021
First-time poster!!
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petersmith98
slavery is very miserable. Then there were revolts that created heroes
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Jan 2021
11:28am, 11 Jan 2021
48,076 posts
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McGoohan
Full review time.
Once I started reading Kindred, it was difficult to stop. It's a fast-paced story and there was no big, slow build-up. You are straight into the action. The story itself is intriguing. She manages to leave you on a cliff-hanger each chapter so you want to know what will happen to Dana and Kevin. I read the second half of the book in a single sitting on Saturday evening. So, on the one hand, Kindred is an easy, gallops-along read that really keeps the pages turning.
On the other hand... despite the allegation on the cover that it's a literary classic, I didn't feel that it was literary at all. The writing is too 'meat and potatoes'. It's functional and gets the job done, but it's not particularly interesting writing. I was also quite annoyed by the resolution. There was no explanation at all for what was going on. Now that would be fine in we were down a Salman Rushdie style magic realism route. But we weren't: this was a straightforward story. And then the ending lost the book for me quite a bit. Dana and Kevin wander around and decide they can't tell anyone what happened as no-one would think they were sane. The last sentence is Kevin saying, 'now that the boy's dead, we have some chance of staying that way.' Not exactly up there with 'so we beat on, boats against the current' or 'Reader, I married him'. It just sort of ...ends.
In the end, I did enjoy it but the writing fell a bit short of what I'd been hoping for. I'd been thinking it would get a 7 but the poor ending knocked me down to a 6.
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Jan 2021
12:16pm, 11 Jan 2021
44,296 posts
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LindsD
I've been thinking more about it, and I would agree to a certain extent, McG, though it wouldn't change my rating. I thought the last part of the book was a little rushed. We know from the prologue that she's going to lose her arm, but it's not really explained or focused on in any detail. Contrast that with *spoiler alert* when the hero in The Time Traveler's wife (spelling is as book title) gets stuck in the cage at his workplace or loses his feet due to frostbite (can't remember if they are the same incident). I thought the build up to her killing him could have done with more detail and been a bit slower, iyswim.
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Jan 2021
9:58am, 15 Jan 2021
11,717 posts
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Little Nemo
I was very impressed with this book. The subject matter is difficult with racist language and harrowing scenes but the author doesn't overdwell on these. So although it's a hard book for these reasons it's a good and worthwhile read.
Firstly it's a great story told in a spare way that doesn't worry about the mechanics of how or why the time-travelling happens. I know this can be annoying for some people when things aren't explained but I'd rather have no explanation than a laboured one. I liked the practical way Dana prepared herself. Getting a bag ready near at hand so she was ready to go, working out how to get herself back to her own time. I liked the relationship between Dana and Kevin. It seemed natural that he would want to go with her and also that he would have reservations about what happened when he wasn't there. I was happy that they were still together at the end.
Secondly it's one of the best books about the effects of slavery that I've read. Although it was written 40+ years ago sadly it still feels relevant, especially against the recent BLM movement. The contrast between Dana's and Kevin's treatment was a great way to highlight this. I also thought the dilemma of how much she could do to fight against slavery was well done. The gradual way it beat her down and she found herself accepting things, the mistrust between slaves in different positions, the fact that things for everyone could be be so much worse if Rufus died and slaves were sold meant there was no simple fix.
It's a common trope in time-travel books about going back in time to change things and make them better. This shows how impossible this would be. Apart from keeping her forefather alive there is very little that Dana can do even with her 20th century knowledge. She can't make Rufus a better person or make him renounce slavery. She can't rescue anyone, the best she can do is teach people to read so maybe they can improve their lot in the future.
My only minor quibble would be that she didn't investigate info about Rufus when she was between jumps. Maybe she was guarding herself from too much knowledge but it seemed an obvious thing to do, although this could just be my 21st Century attitude of googling everything.
I gave this book a 9.
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Jan 2021
10:05am, 15 Jan 2021
48,140 posts
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McGoohan
One of the strengths of the book is the portrayal of Rufus. At the start, he and Dana are friends but as the book progresses, he becomes more and more like his father until it becomes clear there's no saving him. Bit bleak, but that's the nature of the times.
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Jan 2021
10:11am, 15 Jan 2021
11,718 posts
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Little Nemo
Yes, there's no saving of Rufus. It's almost as though he's also a victim of his times even though he's in a much better position.
I can see your point of view about the end, McG. It does feel a bit abrupt but I thought it just about worked as the book only really covered the time-travelling part.
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Jan 2021
10:15am, 15 Jan 2021
48,141 posts
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McGoohan
We need to prod Night-owl BTW - she's a transgressor! Reviewing the book in a blog rather than here! Outrageous!
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