A Great Woman

[moominmuppet]

An obituary for Octavia ButlerI realize this happened a few days ago, and this is the first I'm writing about it. Mostly, I was really puzzled by various conflicting reports of stroke vs fall, and was seeing it mentioned in enough places that I figured I'd wait 'til I had time to write something a bit more. And, although I'm very sad that we've

Comments

[cupcakecomplex]

Wow. She was a brilliant writer.

I had no idea she had left us. Thanks for posting this.

[moominmuppet]

My pleasure.

[recoiling]

wow- it's amazing that you got to spend time with her. that reminds me a bit of when dorothy allison did a benefit for the youth center i worked at and i got a kiss on the cheek. literary ladies give my belly the wiggles*

i've only read "Kindred", but it left a deep impression on me and i'm hoping to read more when i get a chance.
xxoo

[moominmuppet]

literary ladies give my belly the wiggles*

Hee! Me too.

[heron61]

She was a skilled author and her death is a tragedy. That said, her books were exceedingly well-written and the concepts were fascinating (how can you not like human-alien hybrids) so that I read quite a number and attempted to read more. However, I never actually enjoyed any of her work because she wrote some the most deeply misanthropic novels I've ever encountered. Her loathing for humanity very much put me off her work. I've never before or since attempted to read a book quite as unpleasant as Clay's Ark. I wish our world had not been sufficiently less screwed up that she could have found more to like about humanity.

[moominmuppet]

I wish our world had not been sufficiently less screwed up that she could have found more to like about humanity.

*nod* I struggle with that, in reading her stuff. And even Xenogenesis, which is probably some of the "lightest" of her work, has strong elements along those lines. And I haven't taken on a lot of the harder stuff yet, because it will be emotionally draining.

But I think, in the end, that's a lot of what made her work so powerful. The pain in it is very real, and hard to hear, and we do need to hear it sometimes.

[ajollypyruvate]

I read the Xenogenesis book(s) & I think one other but wasn't all that impressed. Some of her assumptions were really annoying.

[moominmuppet]

Which assumptions? It's been a while since I've read them, so I'm not thinking of what you're refering to off the top of my head.

[ajollypyruvate]

Mostly assumptions about the behaviour of women if all humans, except those agreeing to mate with aliens, were sterilised. That sort of thing. It irked me enough that I haven't read anything by her since.

[kat_chan]

You're the second person on my flist to post about their experiences with Ms. Butler. From what I've read, it sounds as though she was a nice, genuine and impressive individual. It's a shame that she is gone so young.

Though I've never read anything she has written (it's not really my niche of sci-fi), I think that the world needs more people like her, so losing one is a sad milestone. I am glad for all of the people that she touched, that they were able to know her, whether in person or through her writing.

[moominmuppet]

I think that the world needs more people like her, so losing one is a sad milestone.

*nod* Exactly.