'Parable of the Sower' by Octavia E. Butler
'How long does a thief stay content? And what's it like to starve?'—Review #246
We’ve come to it, my friends. Here’s the last Books on GIF review of 2024. ‘Parable of the Sower’ by Octavia E. Butler is a novel I had long wanted to read, but I had almost no idea what it was about when I picked it up. I knew many people rave about it, and that it’s sorta sci-fi adjacent. But I didn’t realize that it’s also darkly dystopian, eerily prescient and downright frightening. You wouldn’t necessarily gather this from the book’s cover. Looking at it again, its warm colors and inviting design seem almost intentionally misleading. Brace yourself. This book is intense!
Here’s the book’s cover:
The novel (originally published in 1993) opens in what’s left of suburban Los Angeles on Sat., July 20, 2024, which, fun fact, was a real date earlier this year. Society and the climate have all but collapsed. Rape, murder, and other crimes and depraved violence are out of control, fueled by poverty, desperation and a powerful drug that causes people to set fires. Government services like police and fire departments are virtually nonexistent—what survives is corrupt and ineffective. Wild dogs roam the streets. And it almost never rains. These and other horrors have forced some people to try to flee north to Oregon or Canada, and others to band together to turn their neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs into fortresses by surrounding them with:
In one of these communities, we meet Lauren Olamina, a 15-year-old girl who’s wise beyond her years. Lauren is the daughter of a minister who’s a respected leader of their enclave. She has a stepmother and several half-brothers, and neither she nor her siblings are old enough to remember the ‘good times’ before the walls went up. As Lauren narrates, we learn she has a condition called ‘hyperempathy’ that causes her to feel the physical pleasure and pain of those around her. For example, if she strikes someone, she, too, feels the blow. Lauren also is developing a religious philosophy she calls ‘Earthseed’ (more on this later). And she is the only one in her community with a clear-eyed understanding that one day the violence outside their walls will:
Her community is in deep denial about their wall and its illusion of safety, so much so they refuse to tolerate any discussion about it. Instead, they carry on as if the doom isn’t real, going about whatever jobs they may have, paying pointless taxes and yearning to go back to the way things used to be. Lauren is frustrated by the inability of her family and community to accept that there’s no going back and at their reluctance to adequately prepare for calamities to come. This frustration forms the basis of Earthseed, the basic tenet of which is that ‘God is change’ and that people can ‘shape God’ by embracing change and adapting. It reminds me of a spiritual amalgam of the old Boy Scout motto ‘Be prepared’ and the maxim ‘You make your own luck.’ The ultimate aspiration of Earthseed is to advance humanity far enough to leave Earth behind and take to the stars. But, until then, Lauren keeps a journal (which forms the narrative) and secretly gathers supplies for a go bag ahead of the inevitable breach. I don’t want to spoil things, but Lauren eventually is forced to go on a harrowing journey where she sees humanity at its absolute worst, and yet catches glimpses of it at its best. It leads one to consider that even when things seem the most bleak:
‘Parable of the Sower’ is a brilliant book; it’s fascinating and relevant. Butler’s writing is vivid and precise, and the story, while chilling, is riveting. I couldn’t put the novel down, even though it didn’t pair well with my seasonal depression, and it gave me nightmares. It’s not for every reader—I’ve had as many folks reach out to tell me they loved it as those who couldn’t get through it—particularly right now with dark months ahead. But if you liked ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy or ‘The Last of Us’ on HBO, or if you’re up for an intense read, you should definitely check it out.
An opening excerpt:
All that you touch
You Change.All that you Change
Changes you.The only lasting truth
Is Change.God
Is Change.EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING
Saturday, July 20, 2024
I had my recurring dream last night. I guess I should have expected it. It comes to me when I struggle—when I twist on my own personal hook and try to pretend that nothing unusual is happening. It comes to me when I try to be my father’s daughter.
Today is our birthday—my fifteenth and my father’s fifty-fifth. Tomorrow, I’ll try to please him—him and the community and God. So last night, I dreamed a reminder that it’s all a lie. I think I need to write about the dream because this particular lie bothers me so much.
My rating:
‘Parable of the Sower’ by Octavia E. Butler was originally published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1993 and by Grand Central Publishing in 2023. 375 pages, including foreword by LeVar Burton, afterword by N.K. Jemison, a reading group guide and an excerpt of the sequel, ‘Parable of the Talents.’ $18.59 at Bookshop.org.
What’s next:
Next week, you’ll receive Books on GIF’s annual year-end roundup/gift guide featuring the best books we read in 2024. Then, we’re taking a three-week break before kicking off 2025 with the book you selected in our poll:
Before you go:
ICYMI: Review #245
Read this: ‘Unraveling the 50-Year Mystery of the Body in the Basement’ by Sarah Weinman in Rolling Stone is a fascinating story of how forensic evidence led to the identity of a victim in a long-cold murder case involving a once-famous New York nightclub.
Thanks for the shoutout: It was great to see Books on GIF make cameo appearances in some wonderful newsletters: A Reading Life and The Literaria Letter. (Thank you Petya and Nicole!) You should subscribe to their newsletters, my friends!
If you enjoyed this review:
Thanks for reading, and thanks especially to Donna for editing this newsletter!
Until next time,
MPV
thank you for the review and head’s up. hope you’ll enjoy your much deserved holiday break, MVP. another great year of reviews in the books! congrats! 🥳
Thanks for your review! I'll put it on my list 😄