Kindred
I had never read anything by Butler before. I was
recommended the Parable of the Sower at one point several years back, bought it
and after reading a couple of pages I put it down for something else.
Saying that, I’m not sure how accurate this adaptation is,
and I give credit to Duffy and Jennings but this is her book in a way but they
just walked in.
What this is is a very powerful book about the evils of
slavery. Now, you don’t have to dig very deep to know that slavery was an evil institution,
but something about the sci-fi / magical realism aspect of the time travelling
protagonists makes the juxtaposition stronger because they are not of the world
and thus have not accepted it as part of the unchangeable reality.
Brief History of Everyday Objects
This would have been perfect a decade ago.
It was fun to read and not too deep.
It would have been perfect as a bathroom book. I loved those
things, short attention span theatre for the time you just need something in
front of you. I think 2008 and the release of the iPhone must have killed that.
It would have been horrible going all-in on bathroom books in 2007. The Uncle John’s
stock must have tanked.
But alas, it is 2017, so I read it straight through, which
might not have been the best way. The stories are brief, and pass quickly from
the mind as you move onto the next one.