The Kin Of Ata Are Waiting For You

by Dorothy Bryant

Paperback, 1971

Status

Available

Publication

Moon Books, Random House (1971), Edition: First Edition, 220 pages

Description

A major backlist sleeper! 130,000 sold-to-date! A feminist sci-fi novel. The kin of Ata live only for "the dream". Into their midst comes a desperate man who is first subdued and then led on a spiritual journey that, sooner or later, all of us make.

Rating

½ (100 ratings; 3.7)

User reviews

LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Well, much like the last two reviews, I can ignore a lot of the unfortunateness in this New-Age hippie explosion, even though in this case many of them are linguistic which gets on my nerves even more, like when he's like "Why don't you write it down?" and the dude doesn't understand because there
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is no word in their language for "write," but like, the first guy was SPEAKING their language! I can ıgnore ıt because she dares to imagine something lovely and put it out there with a touching, and I don't mean that to be patronizing, unconcern for whether it's "art" or whatever. The book just goes ahead and says love, and listen to your dreams, and be well, and a couple of the subsidiary lessons are good ones too. I mean shit, as allegory, it's a better concept than "Erewhon."
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LibraryThing member Kyniska
I find this book very hard to explain to anyone. I read it, liked it but didn't get it. I read it again, loved it and understood it in a mind-blowing, profound way it, but now have totally forgotten what it was I understood. I fully intend to read it again, though I suspect this is one of those
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right-place-right-time reads that will never affect you in the same way twice. A risk of a read with a potentially life-changing reward.
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LibraryThing member roydknight
A very strange read! But one that pushes one to consider life as more than just what is seen. It has an almost MATRIX-like quality to it. I read this book for the first time some thirty years ago in a seminary class on "Nurture and Conversion."
LibraryThing member Dreamtime
This incredibly powerful novel shows what it might be like to live in a culture what honors their dreams, for whom dreams are in the center of their lives. Even though it is not based on one particular culture and their traditions, it does show how an entire culture can have an entirely different
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focus to living in balance, and this is in fact true to many indigenous cultures. If I could make up ideal tags for this book, perhaps it would be visionary, alternative, anthropological fiction. But it would be fairly unique. We can call it feminist science fiction, since it is an alternative to most traditional science fiction and written by a woman. But many people are still discovering this one.
The main character, a materially successful writer, expresses a typically impoverished modern rational attitude toward life and dreams. As he hits bottom in crisis, he suddenly finds himself transported into another culture where the primary focus is to live for and by the dream in a simple life of work, ritual and community. An intense struggle (internal and external) ensues, almost destroying the people and ways of Ata. But the Kin and their dreams hold true, and now it is up the the main character to return to the other world and bring what he has learned in Ata back to the out-of-balance world. Indeed, the Kin of Ata are waiting for us all, even those furthest from their dreams.
Excerpt: "The people believed that ill health began with donagdeo—acts which would disturb or decrease their ability to dream, and resulted in accompanying states of imbalance. That was why they immediately went to a holka, at the first sign of such imbalance."
"... assuming all the people truely believed in their dreams, and lived with only one ambition, to be "strong dreamers," the ordering of work in this little society was assured without compulsion. No one would exhaust himself in compulsive work, lest he be restricted to dreaming only of "trees falling on his aching back." But more important, no one would want to exist entirely on the labor of others, lest he dream "mean" dreams."
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LibraryThing member sturlington
I picked this book up because I thought it was science fiction. While it does depict a utopian society, I would consider it more fantasy than sci fi, since its premise depends so much on supernatural elements that are never adequately explained. It is also fantasy in its expressed wish for a
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simpler, happier society doing its best to bring the rest of the human race back to that ideal. But it is an endearing fantasy nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member JudyCroome
A book of hope and inspiration, THE KIN OF ATA ARE WAITING FOR YOU carries the reader along as gently and as inexorably as a mountain stream.

The anti-hero we meet in the first pages is unlikeable in many ways; despite this (or perhaps because of it) one has a stake in the outcome of his spiritual
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journey on the island of Ata and his final test back in the material world.

Life on Ata is what one imagines pre-lapserian Eden was like. As he experiences more of the community of Ata; as he learns to understand more than just the spoken language of the Kin, and as he bonds emotionally with the stately Augustine, a woman like none other he has known, his soul evolves and blossoms like a desert flower after the first drops of life giving rain.

There are many insights and thought-provoking scenes throughout this story, all the more remarkable when one remembers that this story was written in 1971! It’s all too easy to miss the far-sighted vision of Bryant when one reads this book in the second decade of the 21st century, when the search for individual spiritual enlightenment has been mainstream for the last twenty years or more. When it was first published, THE KIN OF ATA must surely have been both ground-breaking and deeply illuminating.

THE KIN OF ATA is a story that must be read with an open mind and patience, for its message is subtle, layered and important.

However, I had personal issue with the projection of a universal human condition (racial prejudice) onto the convenient scapegoat that is South Africa. In addition, there were times when the narrative was too lengthy. Mostly, the writing was so lyrical and so dream-like it only added to the otherworldly ambience of the anti-hero’s soul journey. There were occasions, though, when some dialogue, or shorter descriptions may have been more effective in holding the reader. The current title, too, is obscure; I prefer the original title “The Comforter.”

The final strength of this story lies in the lingering effect it has on a reader. Ultimately, this is a book for all ages and all seasons: the truths it contains are truths of an ancient wisdom spoken in the language of our time. We may, as the anti-hero did when he first arrived on Ata, take some time to fully understand what we’ve experienced but, when we reach that moment of enlightenment, we’ll find ourselves forever changed.
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LibraryThing member JWarren42
The concept was really incredible. I think that sometimes the prose just wasn't up to the task of carrying such a great concept. As with so many utopian/dystopian novels, the characterization suffered for the idea. The place where the novel really did shine, though, was whenever the protagonist was
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describing his difficulties with language. The way Bryant understands the disconnect between sign and signifier was powerful to me.
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LibraryThing member ritaer
Owned this for years and finally decided I am never going to get around to reading it. I suspect that its time has past--the notion that women will create a better society, one that can salvage the most damaged of men, is a fantasy that could not endure the reality of women in power.
LibraryThing member cmarie423
I honestly did not like this book at all. It was different, and I found the concept neat, but I just could not get into it. It was a required read for my witchcraft study course but I don't feel it helped me at all in any way. I wasn't badly written, just odd to me.
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Don't get me started. This was a good book until I read the woman who wrote it.
LibraryThing member PJSwanwick
This is the book I’ve been longing to find: A gem of a story that’s been waiting for rediscovery as new age fiction. Dorothy Bryant’s 1971 novel, originally promoted as science fiction, is described as “part love story, part science fiction, and at once Jungian myth and utopian allegory.”
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But by today’s standards, it’s a straightforward exploration of connecting to the highest and best parts of ourselves and living according to that guidance.Story: The kin of Ata live only for the dream. Their work, their art, their love are designed in and by their dreams, and their only aim is to dream higher dreams. Into the world of Ata comes a desparate man, who is first subdued and then led on the spiritual journey that, sooner or later, all of us must make (back cover).Spiritual/metaphysical content: Very high. Berkley Monthly called the novel “a beautiful, symbolic journey of the soul,” but there’s very little about it that’s symbolic when read as new age fiction. Here’s my description of the story: When a famous writer hits bottom, he wakes up in what appears to be a simple commune from the Sixties that practices all the fundamental truths of most religious, spiritual, and self-help philosophies: Life in the moment. Connect with your higher self/guide/God for guidance. You cannot judge good or bad, right or wrong, true or false; truth is relative. You cannot heal the mind without also addressing the body and spirit, and much more. In addition, the book is compatible with Christian beliefs (at least the more modern interpretations of the Bible). As the man learns more about the kin of Ata, he realizes what a complex, spiritually advanced group they are despite–or perhaps because of–their seeming simplicity. The people of Ata live in a way that is free of sin, guilt, exclusion, worry, and pain, and yet is joyful, productive, and satisfying both in body and spirit.My take: This is a well-written, lyrical novel that exemplifies new age fiction at perhaps its finest. Although the book is quite short, the plot is strong and compelling, and we come to love the characters and yearn for their success. Although clearly utopian, the story proposes an integrated vision of a future that is both functional and inspirational.I loved this book. Part of its allure is its depth; it can be read at multiple levels: as an intriguing trifle of sci-fi/fantasy, an introduction to broader spiritual principles, or an insightful analysis of some of modern society’s ills and how new age/metaphysical thought can not only ease the many sufferings of our world but also provide a model of sustainable growth and development. Please don’t get me wrong–at heart, this is a relatively simple book, but it contains profound insights for spiritual growth. And best of all, it’s an easy, entertaining read. Entertain and educate–the perfect combination for new age fiction.The title confounds me a bit because it sheds very little light on what the book is actually about; the back cover description suffers from this shortcoming as well. I suspect that it was a marketing decision in 1971 to promote a book that so clearly had literary value but fell into no recognizable genre (again, a case for the genre for new age fiction). In today’s market, the title does the reader a disservice by not indicating the spiritual depth of the novel. As with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, that may have been the price for getting published nearly forty years ago. Interestingly, the book was originally published in 1971 under the title The Comforter, which again seems unrelated to what the book is actually about. I am researching Dorothy Bryant’s other novels for similar themes; Confessions of Madame Psyche looks interesting. Can anyone recommend her other works?For more reviews of new age novels, see Fiction For A New Age.
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LibraryThing member dianeham
A truly tedious book. The transformation of a murdering misogynist into a dreaming murdering misogynist.

Language

Original publication date

1971

ISBN

0394732928 / 9780394732923
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