Books 10-12, Octavia Butler
I read:
Fledgling, Parable of the Sower, and Parable of the Talents.
I had the library pull a bunch of Butler's stuff all at once; after reading Lilith's Brood, and reading other people's comments that the issues of consent there are pretty typical of Butler's work, I almost didn't read the rest of her books I had. I finally did go ahead and finish them, but I don't know that I'll look for or read any more of her work.
In general, what I find troubling about Butler's work is that it pairs very engaging writing and intriguing premises with squick-inducing issues of consent. She really seems to think that lack of consent is okay as long as whatever's happening is pleasurable -- and to some extent, I feel that carries over into her relationship with her reader.
That is, I find myself so drawn into certain elements of her work that I try to ignore the parts that bother me so I can finish the story -- my pleasure in the elements of her work that are truly GOOD is enough to make me try to ignore the things that are making me want to put the books down. I am uncomfortable with the idea that, by continuing to read, I am essentially saying, "yes, this is enjoyable," and tacitly going along with the idea that these deeply disturbing notions about sex, pleasure, power, and consent are a legitimate part of something I'm doing for entertainment.
That said, I found the Parable set much less troublesome than Lilith's Brood or Fledgling; there wasn't really much that was squick-worthy in it that the reader wasn't clearly supposed to find disturbing -- as someone else mentioned in another conversation about Butler's books (holyschist's review of Fledgling perhaps?), we're not supposed to LIKE the people who do the bad things, for a change. I didn't, however, find the characters and storyline as emotionally engaging as I'd have liked (particularly in Talents), so while I don't regret having read those two, I can't give them a wildly ecstatic endorsement, either.
Fledgling, Parable of the Sower, and Parable of the Talents.
I had the library pull a bunch of Butler's stuff all at once; after reading Lilith's Brood, and reading other people's comments that the issues of consent there are pretty typical of Butler's work, I almost didn't read the rest of her books I had. I finally did go ahead and finish them, but I don't know that I'll look for or read any more of her work.
In general, what I find troubling about Butler's work is that it pairs very engaging writing and intriguing premises with squick-inducing issues of consent. She really seems to think that lack of consent is okay as long as whatever's happening is pleasurable -- and to some extent, I feel that carries over into her relationship with her reader.
That is, I find myself so drawn into certain elements of her work that I try to ignore the parts that bother me so I can finish the story -- my pleasure in the elements of her work that are truly GOOD is enough to make me try to ignore the things that are making me want to put the books down. I am uncomfortable with the idea that, by continuing to read, I am essentially saying, "yes, this is enjoyable," and tacitly going along with the idea that these deeply disturbing notions about sex, pleasure, power, and consent are a legitimate part of something I'm doing for entertainment.
That said, I found the Parable set much less troublesome than Lilith's Brood or Fledgling; there wasn't really much that was squick-worthy in it that the reader wasn't clearly supposed to find disturbing -- as someone else mentioned in another conversation about Butler's books (holyschist's review of Fledgling perhaps?), we're not supposed to LIKE the people who do the bad things, for a change. I didn't, however, find the characters and storyline as emotionally engaging as I'd have liked (particularly in Talents), so while I don't regret having read those two, I can't give them a wildly ecstatic endorsement, either.