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Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1)

by Octavia E. Butler

4.09 · rating details · 6,152 ratings · 713 reviews

In a time of urban squalor, rampant violence, and deadly decay, anarchy rules in the war between the "haves" and the "have-nots." But for Lauren Olamina, a new hope is dawning when she leaves behind the environmental and economic chaos of Los Angeles and flees north with a tiny band of followers across a thousand miles of urban hell. There, in the still...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published January 1st 2000 by Warner Books (first published 1993)

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Jun 23, 2010

Jennifer (aka EM) rated it

Recommended to Jennifer (aka EM) by: jo

Shelves: read-only-coz-of-gr

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I've started and stopped this review several times--as I did the book itself--and I wasn't sure why I was having such a hard time putting my thoughts into words until I read reviews of The Road. That's the problem. I'm comparing this novel to The Road, perhaps naturally enough: both are journeys through dystopian landscapes, with evidence of the degradation of environment and humanity all around, central characters who represent 'goodness' and 'morality' and 'hope' in the midst of nothing but ...more

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Jul 19, 2011

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of dystopian literature

Shelves: black-african-or-aa-heroine, african-american-experience, science-fiction, audiobook, library-checkout, very-dark-read, not-for-the-faint-of-heart, apocalyptic-postapocalyptic-dystopi, heroine-i-loved, kickbutt-heroine, character-diversity, leadership, family, on-the-road, hero-or-heroine-mentally-ill, older-hero-younger-heroine, futuristic, coming-of-age, all-things-summer-challenge, 2011-reading, epistolary-narrative

For this pleasure reader, there wasn't much pleasure in reading this book. Even still, I was compelled and drawn in. Octavia Butler was a very good writer, and I am glad I did get a chance to finally read one of her books. The narrator, the actress Lynne Thigpen, did an incredible job. Now, when I think of Lauren, I will picture her voice, feminine but strong and rich. I also liked the way she varied her voice to reflect the different characters speaking.

Lauren was a protagonist ...moreFor this pleasure reader, there wasn't much pleasure in reading this book. Even still, I was compelled and drawn in. Octavia Butler was a very good writer, and I am glad I did get a chance to finally read one of her books. The narrator, the actress Lynne Thigpen, did an incredible job. Now, when I think of Lauren, I will picture her voice, feminine but strong and rich. I also liked the way she varied her voice to reflect the different characters speaking.

Lauren was a protagonist that rubbed me the wrong way at times (as she did those who knew her in this book). And yet, her strength and the powerful humanity of her won me over. I love reading about strong women, and that is definitely Lauren. For her young age, what she accomplished, despite the odds, must be recognized. She is a true leader, and she is the kind you want to follow, because they ask no more of you than they demand of themselves. I loved the way she brought a small group of survivors together, empowering them, and encouraging them to protect each other and themselves.

The world was bleak, depressing, disturbing, disheartening. Any joy was fleeting, any laughs and 'happy' moments as I listened were greatly appreciated. Hearing of the atrocities that were normal in this post-apocalyptic California setting was not an easy thing for me. At times, I had to remind myself that it wasn't truly the reality (although the way thing are going, this story seems like prophecy). When I got out of my car, I had to pull back out of this book and get back to my normal reality. And I am grateful that this was just a book, even though my senses didn't seem to accept that at times. This book has a powerful message in it that is very timely. The society that we know and love is on the brink, and if we don't stand up, we might find ourselves working as wage slaves, having police and government who hurt us more than they protect us. Politics are not something I go on about in reviews, but this is something that struck me as real about this story, so I have to talk about that in this review. This scary message definitely gets me thinking, and hoping that the United States doesn't end up like this. Not destroyed by some catastrophic event that you might usually find precipitating societal collapse, but chipped away and slowly eroded into a horrible future like a nightmarish dream. More scary because it is so very plausible.

I have to say that I liked that Lauren founded a spiritual movement that kept her small band of compadres together. But, on the other hand, I deeply disagreed with the mantra that "God is change." I was taught (and believe) that God is the same today, yesterday, and forever. My mind and heart won't accept that God is malleable and that we shape God. I can understand that Lauren is about empowering and allowing oneself to be shaped, and to shape back by the forces around them; to survive no matter what, to grow stronger. I just don't think that we have to make God into some concept that is far from the truth to feel strong. In my mind, what I believe is that God is our rock--although we are buffeted by the harsh things we suffer, we can stand on His never-changing promises. Anyway, I don't mean to preach in this review, I am just saying what I feel about the Earthseed religion that Lauren founded. If I was in this story, I would be on board with her mission of creating a home and a community, but I could never accept her concept of God as change. I am glad that she found strength in it and was able to inspire her friends and companions though.

One other thing that I liked about this story is that more than half of the main characters are non-Causcasian. Not that I don't like reading about white characters. I am totally fine reading about any character of any ethnicity. However, it is good to see a main character who is black, who embodies many traits that I love and respect in a protagonist. To see people of color finding their way through some horrible circumstances, seeing the strength from within that compels them forward. Diversity is important to me, and I loved that Lauren's band was diverse, ethnically. And for all their diversity, they were a found family, helping, standing for and with each other, protecting their unit against all threats.

This is not the kind of book I will read often, because I like to read stories that take my mind off the ugliness of life, and that empower me by giving me hope and enjoyment. There is both empowerment, and a tentative hope in this story. But it's a long, hard journey to reap the harvest of those kernels, those small seeds, in my consciousness. Ms. Butler did such a good job of sowing that seed in the tough, unfertile ground of this story, and for that I commend her.

When I eat my Wheaties, I will try more of her stories.(less)

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Nov 08, 2007

Ken rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: own

Parable of the Sower isn't the easiest book to read. The prose is clear and uncomplicated, but the content can be hard to take. This is a close-to-home dystopia, one which I found hard to dismiss as improbable. And the world that it depicts is cruel and ugly. Even the well-meaning must do ugly things to survive.

This is science fiction only in the most technical sense. Sure, it's set in a hypothetical future, and the main character, Lauren, has an uncanny/(super)natural ability to fee...moreParable of the Sower isn't the easiest book to read. The prose is clear and uncomplicated, but the content can be hard to take. This is a close-to-home dystopia, one which I found hard to dismiss as improbable. And the world that it depicts is cruel and ugly. Even the well-meaning must do ugly things to survive.

This is science fiction only in the most technical sense. Sure, it's set in a hypothetical future, and the main character, Lauren, has an uncanny/(super)natural ability to feel the pain of others. But there is no reliance upon imagined technologies, alien races or superhuman heroics to move the plot along. The framework of this fictional universe is our own, moved forward in time to a barren future.

Lauren is intent upon founding her own religion. Her ideas are represented by excerpts from her poetry at the beginning of each chapter. As the story progresses, Lauren explains her ideas to many (initially skeptical) people. I was a little bit unhappy with this (central) aspect of the book: the ideas, and Lauren's writing, felt to me a lot less deep and meaningful than Lauren intended.

But what was Octavia Butler's intention? Did she intend these ideas, and Lauren's writings, to be full of meaning, resonance and depth? Was it supposed to be a bit naive and simple, but with potential (which is how I felt)? The answer isn't to be found in this book.

When I finished the book, satisfied at its refusal to come to a pat conclusion or judgment about Lauren's ideology, I found out that there is a sequel. I look forward to it and to finding out whether Lauren's ideas mature once put to the test. Apparently, Butler had begun to work on a third book in this series, but sadly she never completed it.

Oh, one warning: don't read the back cover. At least for the edition I have, the description on the back gives away a crucial, major turning point in the plot that occurs midway through the book. I hate knowing too much in advance, and I would have been really irritated had I seen that beforehand.(less)

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Jan 14, 2012

Regina rated it

Shelves: favorite-authors, dystopia, post-apocalyptic, african-american, favorites, gender-studies

I am going to start this review off by asking a theoretical question. There is a huge wave coming, it will wash you and everyone you love out to see. What do you do? Do you back up away from the water? Move to higher ground? Build a boat to ride it out? Or do you turn your back on it, play on the beach and pretend that it isn’t coming? Now imagine that it isn’t a wave of water, but a wave of violence, crime and people that will be unstoppable. No wall will hold them back. You may have now...moreI am going to start this review off by asking a theoretical question. There is a huge wave coming, it will wash you and everyone you love out to see. What do you do? Do you back up away from the water? Move to higher ground? Build a boat to ride it out? Or do you turn your back on it, play on the beach and pretend that it isn’t coming? Now imagine that it isn’t a wave of water, but a wave of violence, crime and people that will be unstoppable. No wall will hold them back. You may have nowhere ideal to go. But you have access to books, learning materials and you have time to prepare, pack. Octavia Butler speculates that most people would ignore the coming onslaught and attempt to go about their daily business, not prepare and not learn. It is scary to move forward and change behavior and scary to imagine the world as we know it is ending. But change is necessary to survival, according to Butler. This is what Parable is about – change, adaptation and working together in a community to accomplish the change in order to survive.

The main character in Parable, a teenage girl named Lauren, is an agent of change. Lauren is unwilling to turn her back on the huge wave she knows is coming; instead she teaches herself through books everything she can learn and she prepares for what she knows and fears is coming. Lauren is inspired from inside herself and is somewhat of a prophet of a new religion and philosophy. Her belief is “God is Change.” And she goes out to preach it. The creation of the religion is a vehicle for Lauren’s story to be told and for hope to be seeded among her followers.

Octavia Butler published her book in 1995, so many apocalyptic novels have come after hers have incorporated elements that are present in this book. It is interesting for me that Butler appears to have less acclaim but she is the predecessor of so many well-known novels.

There are books that tell the story of the world ending by an apocalyptic event and then there are books that show you what the world would be like during an apocalyptic even – without holding back. Parable of the Sower is the latter. The images of lives being destroyed and violence being wrought on people just for living and just for having something, anything that is wanted by those who do not have anything – these images are described in details. They are not described, I think, for the delight of reading gore, but to serve as a marker of how far society has fallen. And it is a scary world that Butler describes; scary and realistic. Despite that I have absolutely no point of reference for the scenes described in this book, while reading I felt as though it could have been happening right outside my door. There is nothing about this apocalyptic world that is romantic.

In Parable, much of society’s downfall appears to have been caused by environmental devastation, which has in turn caused economic and political devastation. Polluted water, toxic chemicals, failed pharmaceutical and science experiments resulting in dangerous addictive drugs. Butler’s book is a scary warning of pushing consumer and corporate demands to the extreme.

Reading this book created questions in my mind. Is this book really about an apocalyptic event? It does take place in the US (California) and the society that is disintegrating is American society, but is this an apocalyptic event or the failure of one society? So many apocalyptic books describe world changing events; but in Parable, it is shortages – gas, water, food, governmental collapse (or increasing ineffectualness) but some infrastructure remains. There are police, but they investigate and then charge user fees; there are property taxes and there are colleges; there is electricity and there are entertainment outlets (like televisions, etc.); there are insurance companies and resources --- but everything for an elevated price and most people do not have the ability to pay for these items and services. What happens is that these institutions are not efficient, they are not accessible to most individuals and there is a heavy cost to purchase their services. There are still jobs and corporations and apparently very successful corporations. People without education and without jobs, crowd in to smaller housing and share space. Corporations dominate certain sectors of society and provide protection and infrastructure to those who can afford it. Punitive debt policies and employment policies are in place that hurt individuals but benefit corporations. Isn’t this describing the current state of some countries in this world right now – maybe even in this hemisphere? Where there is no protection for the individual beyond what they can obtain from people in their community and families? Don’t people already go on migrations to new places (bordering countries, mega cities, factory rich regions) with nothing but a small savings and a hope for anything different? I see this book as an envisioning of what if these situations happened in the United States. The scenarios described in Parable, the extreme violence, the extreme fear and the absolute lack of choices are just so out of the realm of anything most people in the US experience while living in the US that it is hard to imagine, understand and relate to images like written in this book that we may read about in the news, blogs or in non-fiction books. Butler brings it home; she recreates it here and it is absolutely terrifying.

At one point in the novel, Lauren travels disguised as a man but she travels along side a woman who is described as highly desirable, Zahra. Zahra encounters problem after problem because men will just not leave her alone – and in a threatening way. There is no government, no structure – and no laws to protect the weak. Butler describes horrible crimes that happen to females of all ages and most of them sexual. What point is Butler making about the physicality of being a woman? Is she saying that in the absence of the protection of a societal framework a woman is more at risk, simply because she is a woman? Does this mean Butler believes this threat is inherent? I have a hard time accepting this concept, but I also know I approach this concept of equality and physical integrity from an extremely privileged position. The mass rapes that happen in war torn countries, the use of rape as a weapon of wars, and the kidnapping and use of children soldiers – these horrors that take place and demonstrate this fragile place in society that women and children can occupy.

But again, from my extremely privileged position, I have a hard time grasping that in the absence of government and infrastructure, human beings will turn violent and devoid of empathy. The mass chaos Butler describes is only kept out by walls, guns and guards. However, I have mentioned this and been told by some people, very intelligently, that it does not take a majority to create chaos. A minority of criminals and desparados are enough to create the chaos that endangers people, the forces them to withdraw from society and that puts women and children at risk. If the natural condition in a situation devoid of an effective government is chaos and danger, how could society have evolved? Why would we be here? I do think the answer is that people would join together, form a community, work as a group and attempt to protect the community members. And that, is what I think this book is about – community, bonds, joint action and moving forward as a group. The acceptance of change and the trusting of each other.
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Jan 05, 2010

Ron rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, apochalypse

3.5 stars, but I expected better.

This should have been the must-read dystopia of the 90s. Perhaps it wasn't because Butler tried too hard. Or readers couldn't see past the obvious shortcomings.

Dystopias have been with us since 1948 and Brave New World, and Utopia's since Mores and even Plato's Timaeus. But Parable of the Sower may well have been this generation's dystopia. A really engaging, challenging story of believable, empathetic characters. Great social commentary. ...more

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Mar 17, 2011

David rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, dystopian, female-protagonist, audiobook, nebula-nominee, female-author, feminist, american-literature, series-earthseed

Octavia Butler's vision of an American state on the brink of economic and social collapse seems all too near and plausible. Lauren Olamina, the young minister's daughter, lives in a gated community that falls prey to the violence and anarchy that's been eating away at the edges of civilization for years. It's a brutal novel, as everyone Lauren loves dies, and the deaths are often described in gruesome detail. Lauren herself suffers from a condition called hyper-empathy, which causes her to feel ...moreOctavia Butler's vision of an American state on the brink of economic and social collapse seems all too near and plausible. Lauren Olamina, the young minister's daughter, lives in a gated community that falls prey to the violence and anarchy that's been eating away at the edges of civilization for years. It's a brutal novel, as everyone Lauren loves dies, and the deaths are often described in gruesome detail. Lauren herself suffers from a condition called hyper-empathy, which causes her to feel what people around her feel... a very bad thing when people around her are being attacked, raped, and killed.

But Lauren is anything but a fragile helpless character. She carries the seeds of a new religion, and she's been planning for the collapse since she was a child. This novel has a lot in common with similarly-themed sci-fi where the protagonist is a "chosen one" destined to lead his or her people out of chaos and barbarism, except that no one has "chosen" Lauren. She's decided for herself that this is something she has to do.

The story takes us on Lauren's journey up the coast of California, as its highways are flooded with refugees and its cities burn (thanks in large part to a drug called "pyro" which turns people into psychotic pyromaniacs). What is most interesting is not Lauren's "adventures" (which are mostly just a series of tense encounters fraught with dangers, as she constantly has to weigh the need for allies against the hazards of trusting unknown people on the road) but the brutal laying bare of certain truths beneath our capitalist society. Lauren's father foresaw the coming collapse and tried to keep his family from being lured into company towns that were economic traps, but even he didn't foresee how bad things would really become. Lauren discovers that slavery is real, and has been real and common, right here in the U.S., for quite some time.

You might think it's a cynical and overly pessimistic view of the future, but if you're not among the privileged classes, it's not far from how many people live today. Ultimately, the book gives some hope for the future, but there is certainly going to be more blood and tears along the way.

This was actually my first time reading Octavia Butler, whom I really should read more of, and I'm definitely going to pick up the next book in the series.(less)

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Sep 15, 2009

Bettina rated it

this is my first Octavia E. Butler book.

i kept contrasting Parable of the Sower with Cormac McCarthy's The Road and to a lesser extent with McCarthy's Blood Meridian. where McCarthy's The Road failed Butler succeeds extraordinarily--feminist perspective, social commentary that doesn't fly in your face but is also not completely opaque and mysterious. I felt that much of the social commentary (re: the process of social decay) took root in the front half of the book and then was flesh...more

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Aug 09, 2009

Parvoneh rated it

I just skimmed a few other Goodreads reviews of Parable of the Sower and felt confused about why difficult subject matter seems to be a weakness to many readers. If anything, I wish Octavia Butler were around so I could thank her for that. She wrote about survival, change, and power with incredible insight; she grapples with some Big Stuff but her novel, ideas, and genre also manage to be accessible. Butler's clarity is a strength and perhaps a stylistic weakness, but mostly I think there's some...more

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Jul 09, 2009

Beth A. rated it

Recommended to Beth A. by: Laura Dotson

Shelves: sci-fi, audio-book, apocalyptic

What if Global Warming truly devastated our environment, and that destroyed the economy and made government useless, and homelessness the norm? What if water was a rare, expensive commodity? Add in a drug that makes people set fires for pleasure.

Octavia Butler creates all of this in her book Parable of the Sower.

This isn’t my usual book. I normally try to avoid the kind of violence and language that occurs within. It was –barely- within my tolerance levels but confirms th...moreWhat if Global Warming truly devastated our environment, and that destroyed the economy and made government useless, and homelessness the norm? What if water was a rare, expensive commodity? Add in a drug that makes people set fires for pleasure.

Octavia Butler creates all of this in her book Parable of the Sower.

This isn’t my usual book. I normally try to avoid the kind of violence and language that occurs within. It was –barely- within my tolerance levels but confirms that I still don’t enjoy reading graphic writing.

One thing that bugged me about this book was Lauren’s arrogant attitude. She was able to predict the coming chaos and was impatient with the denial of the others in the community. She had a strong urge to prepare for impending disaster, but others around her shut down when she tried to talk about it. I became frustrated with her complaining. I also felt I didn’t get to know the characters other than Lauren on any more than a superficial level.

Midway through the story the plot got moving and flowed quickly. For the most part, I followed it as one might stare when passing a car accident; a morbid fascination rather than true enjoyment of the story.

The whole Earthseed Religion aspect was hard for me to follow. I think this is because my own ideas about God are so firmly entrenched, and important to me, that I was unable to put them aside. I usually am able to put aside my own beliefs to understand another POV, but I really had to work at it this time. It helped if I substituted the word change for the word God.

Some of the themes in book include...

Global warming
The importance of water
Change: The idea that it’s unavoidable, and being aware and prepared can help you “shape” the change in ways that will be beneficial to you.
Importance of a group- watching out for each other
How quickly society can break down into violence.
The reoccurrence of slavery, due to “the company store” and the elimination of labor laws.
Destruction (fire), poverty, and homelessness
The idea that the survivors of this society are the seeds for the next generation, for what society will be like in the future.
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Mar 25, 2008

nimrodiel rated it

Recommended to nimrodiel by: LovemyLife

Shelves: 2008-books-read, bookcrossing-books, controlled-release, 2012-books-read, audiobooks

Wow, I have been having people tell me for years, that I should read this author's writing. When she past away a year or two back I intended to read something she had written, but somehow managed not to, until now. I was blown away by the lyricalness of the included Earthseed poetry and drawn in by the starkness ond richness of this imagined futeure of the US.

I love these post appocolyptic future type books best out of the sci-fi genre. I love seeing how the different authors immagin...more

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Sep 06, 2007

Aberjhani rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fans of thought-provoking sci fi.

Shelves: speculative, literature

A TERRIFYING YET INSPIRING VISION OF DAYS TO COME

Octavia E. Butler's PARABLE OF THE SOWER is one of those rare, dangerous novels that succeeds as both fascinating fantasy and uncompromising social commentary. Within its first dozen pages, we encounter members of a typical family, armed with guns, on their way to church, a headless corpse, a naked homeless woman, a community walled in by terror, and a young woman dreaming of stars.

The dreamer is 16-year-old Lauren Oya Ola...more

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Oct 22, 2007

Shane rated it

Shelves: readin2007

Actually closer to 3.5 stars. I liked this one a lot but I didn't like the whole sharer idea. It just seemed like a random sort of fantastic element that was thrown in. It was interesting but there didn't seem to be a purpose to it. Maybe that will all come out in the next book? I also thought the ending was too short. It could have been a complete book all by itself if the ending had been drawn out a bit more. Instead it kind of came off to me as a stepping stone to the next book.
...more

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Jun 22, 2009

Melody rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: heard, dystopia

Revisiting an old favorite via audio. This is a tale of a near-future dystopia which seemed much less likely when it came out than it does now. It's also an exploration of religion, and how an ordinary young girl can become the head of a new religion called Earthseed. Parts of this seem a bit fuzzy to me now, which is why I'm knocking it down one star from my original review. It's still an edge-of-your-seat ride, with an engrossing plot and interesting characters. Butler was a good writer who di...more

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Aug 23, 2007

Vaughn rated it

Recommends it for: 15+

This was an interesting book in terms of dystopian fiction. I really liked how realistic it was, and how the U.S. in the book could very well be our U.S. in the future.
What really appealed to me was the interesting disease called "sharing". It's a lot like being an empath, except you actually, literally, feel the pain a person is experiencing. The writing is to the point, and is conversational-style; the book is mostly from journal entries...
There's another part, about reli...more

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Mar 29, 2009

Coquille Fleur rated it

Shelves: post-apocalypse

Although I am not that into the Earhtseed religion idea of this book, it was an excellent apocalyptic tale with all the elements you'd expect from a book in this genre. While it starts out slow, the community is falling apart in a larger nation and world that has already fallen apart. This book follows an intelligent heroine from a fragile community in Southern California barely able to to survive, to the greater community of survivors hiking up the 101 in a mass of refugees. With Lauren's hy...more

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Mar 07, 2009

CuriousLibrarian rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

This book was very uneven. The first 130ish pages dragged on interminably. Lauren is desperately wishing to be 18 so she can set out on her own. And I swear as the reader you are feeling all of those years actually slog by. I felt like the world, character, and world view could have been set forth well in about 20-50 pages, 130 was just painful.

But, I knew that these books are highly regarded, so I kept at it. And once Lauren is forced to leave home, the book really picks up and become...more

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Mar 02, 2009

Natasha Oliver rated it

Shelves: scifi-dystopian

If you're fanatical about Christianity (or as my mother would say 'simply a good Christian'), then this book is not for you.

Octavia challenges the contemporary thinking of what/who God is and even goes one step further to create her own religion. One of the reviewers (luckily only 5 of the 100 reviewers didn't like this novel), called the author and this story "heresy"... which I think should warn those who would use such a term in 2008, to stay away from this award winning...more

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Jan 27, 2012

Jeff rated it

This book is "Hunger Games" on steroids. It is clearly a dystopian novel and by my measure very violent. It was recommended by an acquaintance on our 2010 Christmas cruise. I promised I would read the book and I wasn't disappointed by her appraisal. I had never heard of Octavia Butler before and I am glad I discovered her work. She is a very good writer, but probably not a great writer of science fiction.

The story really mirrors the present political and social situati...more

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Dec 19, 2011

Sarah Pi rated it

Shelves: speculative-fiction

I read this book in its entirety on the bus from New York back to Baltimore. It's a strange thing reading a dystopian novel on public transportation. After every chapter I paused and looked around: at the cars traveling in both directions, obeying commonly accepted rules of the road; and at the forty five strangers sitting around me, all adopting a social contract in which we sit quietly for three hours, keep our own personal space, and leave others to their seats, their money, their food, their...more

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Sep 13, 2011

Korynn rated it

Shelves: sci-fifantasy

I'm not sure why this book is such a disappointment to me. I've read a great deal of Octavia Butler's work until I reached this volume. It's not the vision of her characters' future California, as disturbing as that is to someone who lives in California and knows exactly the area and roads she describes in her story. Like all of her work, her worlds are meticulously reasonable and all the scarier for it. Her characters are always intensely committed to a basic truth, and then forced to confront ...more

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Sep 07, 2011

Levi rated it

Shelves: lit-lit, sci-fi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 03, 2011

Ian rated it

Shelves: sci-fi, dystopia

I've been told by just about everyone that I have to read this novel and it's such a masterpiece and so on, but in the end I couldn't quite get into it. There is a good premise and several good ideas, and it's interesting to see a dystopia where the world is still tumbling down and non a straight-out post-apocalyptic world, but most of the characters felt flat or rushed, and the story itself has an odd pacing, with the set-up for the "hero"'s journey taking up literally half of the boo...more

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Mar 28, 2011

Ariel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, speculative-fiction

This book had some nice elements but also some problematic ones. One of the issues I had with this book was the rampant rape culture... which I have gotten tired of as a nonsensical shorthand for loss of civilization. Another thing I was uncomfortable with was the super glossed over cross-generational relationship that the book didn't seem to think was skeevy or needed to be justified at all. Also the whole going to space aspect of the narrator's thoughts seemed weird and out of line with ever...more

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Mar 29, 2011

Pikachu rated it

Shelves: 1990s, _if-we-build-it-they-will-come, _reviewed, _ahh-were-all-gonna-die, _help-help-im-being-oppressed

Sometimes my love for apocalyptic, dystopian science-fiction makes me feel a little morbid. But no other genre quite explores mankind's seemingly infinite capacities for both good and evil the way that this sub-genre does. I loved seeing the dark future of a society torn apart by drugs and corruption. The main character, a girl of eighteen who is above and beyond her years in terms of wisdom, predicts the destruction of their neighborhood long before it actually happens. Like Cassandra, nobody r...more

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Feb 11, 2011

Nerine Dorman rated it

Go read this book. No. Really. There isn't a huge revelation at the end. Much like life, this tale is full of misery, pain and succeeding against great odds. Butler examines interpersonal relationships in the face of the disintegration of contemporary America.

What frightens me is that I see so much of her vision in contemporary South Africa.

Lauren, the protagonist, is hyperempathic. She feels other people's pain as if it's her own. She also lives in the crumbling remains...more

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Dec 05, 2010

Brian rated it

I'd forgotten what I like about good sci fi (although this would be considered "soft" sci fi, still it fits because...): the writing style and the storytelling in good sci fi usually tends to be solid but also relatively straightforward compared to more literary stuff, which allows for a "page turner" kind of reading experience, but the ideas about human-ness and society in the best of sci fi can at least give high literature a run for its money. And they dispense with much ...more

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Nov 14, 2010

tope rated it

Shelves: science-fiction

Butler's vision of a future American dystopia is terrifying - not least because it seems so possible in many ways. What makes Parable of the Sower so compelling, and bearable despite its unending string of horrors and tragedies, is the formidable intelligence, charisma, tenacity, and sheer will to live of Lauren Olamina, the main character. Butler manages to get you deeply invested in her survival - to get you believing that not only the will to survive, but also the hope of a better future, ca...more

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Sep 19, 2010

Rowland Bismark rated it

THE EDGE OF DESIRE

A dystopia is an unpleasant, sometimes frightening, imaginary future world. Dystopias usually take undesirable aspects of present-day society and depict a world in which those aspects have become dominant. In Parable of the Sower, Butler creates a dystopia by magnifying some disturbing social trends that occurred in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These trends included the widespread use of designer drugs (custom-made, mind-altering drugs such a...moreTHE EDGE OF DESIRE

A dystopia is an unpleasant, sometimes frightening, imaginary future world. Dystopias usually take undesirable aspects of present-day society and depict a world in which those aspects have become dominant. In Parable of the Sower, Butler creates a dystopia by magnifying some disturbing social trends that occurred in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These trends included the widespread use of designer drugs (custom-made, mind-altering drugs such as Ecstasy). In the novel, use of the drug pyro reaches epidemic proportions. It makes people commit arson because doing so feels better than sex. Another trend in the 1990s was the increasing popularity, particularly in California, of gated communities protected by security fences. These become the walled communities in 2024 California. In both cases, the walls go up because of fear of crime. Homelessness, illiteracy, and global warming were other issues in the 1990s that appear in larger form in the novel.

The novel takes its title from the parable of the sower in the gospel of Luke. The sower is like the spiritual teacher who spreads the word of truth. Some people listen; others do not—just as seeds take root in some places but not in others. In the New Testament, the sower is Jesus; in the novel, it is Lauren. The metaphor of the seed occurs again in the name Lauren gives to her new religion, Earthseed. It is also reflected in the name of the first Earthseed community: Acorn. The acorn image occurs earlier in the novel, too. Lauren loves to eat bread made with acorns rather than wheat or rye. Her father tells her that he had a difficult time persuading his neighbors to eat acorns. They wanted to cut down the oak trees and plant something else they considered more useful. Lauren learns from a book how to make a corn bread, and this helps to sustain their group as they travel north. The acorn image conveys the idea that the seeds of new life are always available, not only in nature but in humans, too.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is set in California and covers a period of three years, from 2024 to 2027. It is a grim near-future novel that exaggerates trends in American life that were apparent in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as fear of crime, the rise of gated communities, illiteracy, designer drugs and drug addiction, and a growing gap between rich and poor. Climate changes brought about by global warming are also central to the novel.

The protagonist is Lauren Olamina, an African American girl who is fifteen years old when the novel begins. She lives in Robledo, about twenty miles from Los Angeles, which has become a walled enclave only partially protected from the rampant lawlessness and desperate poverty that exists beyond the walls of the neighborhood. When the enclave is completely destroyed by bands of arsonists and thieves, Lauren is one of the few survivors. She heads north, on foot, with a couple of companions in a perilous search for a better life.

Butler's disturbing dystopia, written in the form of Lauren's diary entries, is at once an adventure story, a coming-of-age story, and a thought-provoking exploration of some negative trends in American society that have become more pronounced in the decade that has elapsed since the novel was written. In this apocalyptic tale, Lauren Oya Olamina, the daughter of a Baptist minister, leads a diverse group north to establish Earthseed. The story Lauren records in her diary begins in 2024 and describes the destruction of the walled community in Robledo, California. It describes the three-year journey north on Route 101 toward the freedom represented by the land owned by Taylor Franklin Bankole on the coastal hills of Humbolt County. Lauren describes her group as the "crew of the modern underground railroad." She figures as a Sojourner Truth leading the way north, persevering because of her own stubborn refusal to live "as some kind of twenty-first century slave"

The title of the novel announces its fictionality: it is a parable, a story with a religious or moral slant, but unlike the original biblical tale, it suggests hope for the future. The sower's seed doesn't bear harvest, but Lauren's Earthseed "falls on good ground," bearing "fruit a hundredfold."

Suddenly, I heard the books itself mumbling & mocking saying this word in shadow of wind,

"... God is Pliable
Trickster,
Teacher,
Chaos,
Clay.
God exists to be shaped.
God is Change."

(less)

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Aug 10, 2010

Jon rated it

The book is set in a dystopian near-future in the US where climate change and...er, something or other...fuel shortages, I think...have plunged the United States into something approaching Third World status. I found the whole scenario fairly implausible, but then I noticed the word "parable" in the title. Well, why was I taking things so literally? But then, after finishing the book, I read the author interview that was included with the "reading group" edition. Apparently, ...more

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Mar 01, 2010

Tim rated it

I saw the Book of Eli and it put me in the mood to read some end-of-the-world stories, so I got a list of the highest rated post-apocalyptic books from Goodreads and grabbed a bunch at the the library. I read a few pages of each till I came to Parable of the Sower and knew immediately I wouldn't be able to put it down.

I finished reading it that day and slept good; scary books have that effect for me. Its like, its a RELIEF to know there are lots of other pessimists out there like th...more

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About Octavia E. Butler

Octavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

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“There is no end
To what a living world
Will demand of you.” — 5 people liked it

“God is Change.

Earthseed: The Books of the Living
Lauren Oya Olamina” — 4 people liked it

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