/~bencollver/log/2019-02-25-the-kin-of-ata-are-waiting-for-you-by-dorothy-bryant on tilde.pink

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	# 2019-02-25 - The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You by Dorothy Bryant

	The unnamed protagonist is an antihero who reminds me a little of
	Thomas Covenant. Both are antiheroes who are transported to a dream
	world during a crisis. Both are redeemed by the generous people in a
	dream world.

	Ata is an island on Earth but it may as well be a separate world.
	The setting is Utopian and i enjoyed the radical simplicity. They
	made all their own clothing, food, shelter, containers, mats, etc.
	Everyone had one piece of clothing. Dishes were communal and made
	out of simple materials such as sea shell bowls. Once used, dishes
	were placed in an open area to be cleaned naturally by the rain, sun,
	and ocean winds. A big portion of the winter was spent fasting. The
	lifestyle was more than adequate for survival but not comfortable by
	our standards. The remarkable part to me was how this simple
	lifestyle eliminated a lot of labor, thus enabling a slower pace of
	life. The people place great emphasis on dreams, and they try to
	live so that they can dream higher dreams. Ironically, just after i
	finished reading this book, my dream life exploded into action after
	a long period of dormancy. I guess it was a powerful experience for
	me.

	I thought the author did a fairly good job of writing the story using
	the voice of a male protagonist.

	I heard once that women can generally write from a male perspective
	more convincingly than men can write from a female perspective. I
	read that this same thing generally holds true for minority groups.
	Because of social pressure to fit in, minority groups are generally
	more conscious of majority perspective, and majority groups are
	generally less conscious of minority perspectives.

	There is a scene in the book where the kin are performing dances in
	the evening and sharing dream visions in front of everyone at once.
	The protagonist sees gems and jewels. Asking about those, he is told
	that he sees them because that is how he understands something of
	great value. The gems and jewels are subjectively true expressions
	or representations of higher principles.

	I felt a little disappointed how the story ended. The book implies
	that the greatest spiritual teachers were frequently people who had
	spent some time in Ata and then transported to the normal parts of
	Earth to help guide the human race away from complete depravity and
	destruction. The protagonist returns to Earth, goes to court on
	charges of murder, pleads guilty, and is given the death sentence.
	At this point everything becomes blissful for him as though he had
	passed some test. I find it challenging to equate a guilty plea to
	the works of great spiritual leaders.

	author: Bryant, Dorothy, 1930-
	detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/The_Kin_of_Ata_Are_Waiting_for_You
	LOC: PZ4.B91477 Ki3 PS3552.R878
	tags: book,counterculture,fantasy
	title: The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You

	# Tags

	book
	counterculture
	fantasy