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Nora- In my opinion (which really only matters if you stay in the Abby/Weezie camp), Book of Salt was incredible. I got overexcited and read ahead...

So, I know we did this in class, but I thought it would be interesting to take a quick peek at Kindred from the point of view of Stryker, since I got to be Judith Butler on Tuesday. However, while I think that the queerness of the characters in the novel is valid and definitely exists, it is in such a way that it makes it hard to isolate and recognize on any level I find valuable. As I may have said, the flatness of the characters really caused me grief. I feel like any discussion of the novel is really limited by the strange and (on my part) unanticipated lack of character development. I don't really read much science fiction, so I am not sure if this is a characteristic that is univeral in the genre, in Octavia Butler's work, or in only this novel, but I was frustrated with the idea of choosing this novel to explore through the feminist lens.

The novel hinted at a lot of interesting events that were sadly underdeveloped. As sarahcollins brought up, Alice escaping with Isaac could have completely altered the course of Dana's life, and yet I didn't really grasp the importance of keeping Alice and Rufus alive and together to produce Hagar. The issue arose at different times, but always seemed to fall by the wayside. I just didn't grasp the desperation that I feel the novel needed and was trying to communicate, in any way. Flat, flat, flat. Here's hoping I can tackle Book of Salt from Stryker's point of view, since I find it much more worthwhile.