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Title details for Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - Available

Kindred

by Octavia E. Butler
Kim Staunton
Audiobook
13 of 17 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
13 of 17 copies available
The first science fiction written by a Black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of Black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she's been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother. Author Octavia E. Butler skillfully juxtaposes the serious issues of slavery, human rights, and racial prejudice with an exciting science fiction, romance, and historical adventure. Kim Staunton's narrative talent magically transforms the listener's earphones into an audio time machine.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 27, 1998

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781449876814
      • File size: 314435 KB
      • Duration: 10:55:04

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 580
    • Text Difficulty: 2-3

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Being transported in time to the ante-bellum South would hardly be the first choice of a young black woman of the 1970's--even if it's to save the life of the slaveholder who otherwise might never grow up to be her ancestor. This may seem farfetched to some, but it provides the framework for a poignant and thought-provoking novel about slavery, survival and human nature. Kim Staunton removes any sense of strangeness for the reader and moves skillfully between the time periods as this unusual time-link continues. Her use of accents not only directs the listener through the changing settings, but also showcases the dynamic attitudes and emotions of the characters and their relationships with each other and the shifting social contexts in which they find themselves. J.E.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 7, 2016
      Dana, an African-American woman in the 1970s, is thrust backward in time to a 19th-century Maryland plantation. Over many visits to the past, she realizes that the spoiled son of the plantation owner is her ancestor, destined to father children with a slave, and she must protect his life to ensure her own existence. Butler’s celebrated 1979 novel, here adapted into a graphic novel, starts with a gripping idea and builds skillfully, as both Dana and her white husband in the present are warped by slavery and become complicit in its evil. This graphic novel recaps the classic source material faithfully without adding much to justify the adaptation, although it may find some new readers. The blocky artwork lacks the subtlety to evoke the complexity of the novel or the vividness of its historical settings (in addition to the antebellum South, the adaptation preserves the 1970s setting of the “present-day” sections). It’s an effective recap, clearly produced with great love and respect, but the book remains the gold standard.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:580
  • Text Difficulty:2-3

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