A review by calissa
Octavia E. Butler by Gerry Canavan
3.0
As with Letters to Tiptree, I went into this without having read any of Octavia Butler's work (don't worry, it's on my list) and without even knowing a whole lot about her. I feel that approach didn't work for me quite as well this time around.
I'd been expecting a biography. And Octavia E. Butler is a biography to some extent. However, it is equally concerned with analysing her work. Throughout the book, the author puts forward a theory unifying her work, looking in depth at her significant published and unpublished works and examining how they fit together. This necessarily reflects on her as a person--and in particular her views on humanity--but may not be satisfying for people looking for more details of her daily life. As someone who hasn't read the stories being examined, I found it reasonably accessible, though I have no doubt it will hold much more meaning for those who have.
Despite the heavy focus on her stories, I still learned a lot about the person. I found the examination of her writing process particularly interesting. Learning about the way she would almost compulsively write many different variations of the same story was intriguing. Her preoccupation with the business side of writing was also something I think many writers will be able to related to, even if it was amplified by her poverty. This drive to make sales is also shown as being in conflict with what she felt was her artistic integrity; she needed to sell her stories but resented making changes in order to make them more palatable to publishers or the public. Unsurprisingly, she is portrayed as a deeply unhappy person, never satisfied.
The tone tends towards academic and may be considered dry by some. Indeed, the book started to drag a little after a while.
Nevertheless, I found it an interesting read. This will probably appeal to fans already familiar with Butler's work.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
I'd been expecting a biography. And Octavia E. Butler is a biography to some extent. However, it is equally concerned with analysing her work. Throughout the book, the author puts forward a theory unifying her work, looking in depth at her significant published and unpublished works and examining how they fit together. This necessarily reflects on her as a person--and in particular her views on humanity--but may not be satisfying for people looking for more details of her daily life. As someone who hasn't read the stories being examined, I found it reasonably accessible, though I have no doubt it will hold much more meaning for those who have.
Despite the heavy focus on her stories, I still learned a lot about the person. I found the examination of her writing process particularly interesting. Learning about the way she would almost compulsively write many different variations of the same story was intriguing. Her preoccupation with the business side of writing was also something I think many writers will be able to related to, even if it was amplified by her poverty. This drive to make sales is also shown as being in conflict with what she felt was her artistic integrity; she needed to sell her stories but resented making changes in order to make them more palatable to publishers or the public. Unsurprisingly, she is portrayed as a deeply unhappy person, never satisfied.
The tone tends towards academic and may be considered dry by some. Indeed, the book started to drag a little after a while.
Nevertheless, I found it an interesting read. This will probably appeal to fans already familiar with Butler's work.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.