Readers United Books Reviews | Kindred and The Handmaid's Tale

In this installment, Ava Hathaway-Hacker '18 writes reviews about two provocative science fiction books.

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Part historical drama, part science fiction, and part slave memoir, Kindred by Octavia Butler is a story with a narrative that transcends time as much as its protagonist. The novel has a non-linear structure and begins at the very end of the story, with a first line full of the straightforward truthfulness that characterizes the novel as a whole: “I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.”

The story centers on Edana Franklin (Dana), a twenty-six year old black woman living in California in 1976 with her white husband, Kevin. She faints while moving into her new house and finds herself thrust back in time to the antebellum period where she saves a young boy, Rufus, from drowning. Rufus is, though she doesn’t know it yet, her ancestor. From there, she finds herself jumping back and forth in time, watching Rufus, a wealthy slave-owner’s son and heir, grow into a cruel and selfish man. Called back time and time again to save his life and preserve her own, she can only return to her former life when she herself is in danger. Though the story is full of time-travel and the characters and situation are, of course, fictional, the novel realistically depicts the numerous horrors and struggles of slavery in the antebellum period, as well as the racial prejudices that reach far beyond the past.

With a rich and gripping plot as well as a powerful historical narrative, Kindred delivers a thought-provoking message on race, control, identity, and human capacity for cruelty and selfish ignorance. Many of questions that arise at the beginning of the novel leave the reader in suspense until the very end. The strong first-person narration brings the reader with Dana on her many travels back and forth in time, and makes the horrible scenes of brutality all the more disturbing. With powerful prose and a suspenseful and artfully woven plot, Kindred is a novel well worth a read.

Verdict: Fans of historical fiction and sci-fi time travel, who enjoy novels that explore complex and important topics, will love this powerful novel. Even those who do not normally enjoy these genres should give this book a chance.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Set in the fictional Republic of Gilead in a New England of the relatively near future, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is a gripping and horrifying vision of a dystopian world where women have been stripped of all human rights. Atwood’s powerful writing and disturbing insights elevate and deepen the impact and strength of the novel. Especially in times when some question just how far we truly are from such a future, The Handmaid’s Tale provides a thought-provoking dive into a bleak world.

The premise of the novel centers around an overthrow of the previous government by a movement known as the “Sons of Jacob,” who destroy Congress, suspend the Constitution, and quickly move to remove women’s rights piece by piece. The conservative Christian movement reduces society to the strict hierarchy of the Old Testament and puts in place many other severe regulations that strip away power from women in all aspects, from reading to raising families. A group of women, known as the handmaids, are used as reproductive machines for the high-ranking men of the Republic. The novel focuses primarily on one of these women, Offred, whose name, like all of the other handmaids, refers to the man who controls her, known as “The Commander.” Offred remembers the time before the Republic began, her husband and daughter she has not seen since a failed escape attempt to Canada. Her assignment to the Commander brings a set of complications and put her in contact with a variety of characters, who are themselves mere pieces in the horrifying puzzle of this new world.

Atwood’s writing is detailed yet reserved, every word chosen deliberately and carefully as she paints a vivid and terrifying image of a society built on oppression. What would it feel like, she asks, to have everything you have ever known or ever had taken away from you? Full of meaningful, horrifying, symbolic, and disturbing images, events, and characters, The Handmaid’s Tale is a life-changing novel. Once you read it, you will find it near to impossible to look at the world as you once did.

Verdict: A gripping and disturbing tale of a dystopian future that feels far from impossible, The Handmaid's Tale will leave you restless and, like the best works for fiction, will cause you to see the world around you differently. Highly recommended for all, though be warned that the novel can be disturbing.