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kindred
Monday, March 26, 2001
SciFi has put up an audio version of Octavia Butler's Kindred, a novel about time travel, about slavery, about the clash between modern and other sensibilities. Alfre Woodard plays Dana, the main character and Ruby Dee is the voice of the narrator, the woman for whose benefit everything takes place ... depending on how you look at things. It's essentially a radio play, although the presentation is somewhat simplified; the sound effects aren't always as developed as you would expect in something done for radio. At times, this is a positive mercy.
Even though it is historical (sort of), it is ... difficult to hear. Unexpected. Especially if it's been a year or two (or five) since you read the original novel.
The principal change is that the original story has been altered and updated to modern times. At times, if you're familiar with the original novel, the changes can jar a bit; for example, the lead character gets laid off of a business type that didn't even exist when the novel was first written. For the most part, however, the changes are handled unobtrusively enough that you they don't intrude.
Having listened to a couple of segments of this so far ... it is good. Very VERY good. Putting the novel into live voices, having people say things very naturally ... it gives the text a certain immediacy, a certain presence that a book can lack. That said ... reading a book can let you to distance yourself from text in ways that hearing words assault your ear doesn't allow. Parts of the story--listening to someone being whipped, listening to someone being threatened with rape, hearing the N-word tossed about with casual ease ... it is very hard to hear this story sometimes. It's worth the effort, but it is an effort.
(Note: this is a substantially revised version of a Grim Amusements entry)
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