<timidly venturing out of lurkdom re: one of my favorite authors>
I've found that a common theme in her work is that the protagonists do
indeed get put through the ringer - something cataclysmic happens to
them and they can't overcome it. This is one thing that sets Butler
apart from many authors (in my experience) is that at the end of the
book, they don't magically find a cure, or defeat the nasty aliens, etc.
- instead they have to find a way to cope. I find it both intriguing
and disturbing - I like happy endings. But in this way her books are
very realistic - I often can't solve the problems in my life, I just
have to find a way to live with them that keeps me sane and healthy - as
her character try to do.
sheryl
> ----------
> From: DAVID CHRISTENSON[SMTP:LDQT79A@PRODIGY.COM]
> Reply To: For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian
> literature
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 1997 6:10 PM
> To: FEMINISTSF@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
> Subject: [*FSFFU*] Clay's Ark
>
> -- [ From: David Christenson * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] --
>
> Just finished reading Butler's Clay's Ark, the first Butler novel for
> me
> . I was quite surprised at how violent it was, and how badly she
> treated
> her protagonists. Am I being oversensitive? Is this characteristic of
> Butler?
>
> Anyway, I found the alien disease and its effects quite interesting,
> and
> I kept trying to fit it into some kind of feminist frame, but it
> wouldn't go. (Seemed like a sequel was possible - was there one?)
> --
> David Christenson - ldqt79a@prodigy.com
>
> "We live in Gothic times." - Angela Carter
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:26 PDT