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Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)

Octavia E. Butler

Start date: October 1, 2021

Finish date: October 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Reads

Discussion leader: Justine

Why we're reading this: Group Read SF - October 2021
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What Members Thought

Mar 14, 2020 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: auth-f, sf-f-h, bipoc-author, x2020-read, x2021-read, bipoc-actor

2021-10: 4.5 stars.
I'm not sure why this one hit so much harder on this second reading, but I was really hit by the horror and sadness of this all too plausible view of the US.
Lauren is a fantastic character, and I loved her good sense, resolve and strength. And Lauren's Earthseed philosiophy felt so full of possibility and hope.

2020-03: 4 stars.
A bit slow to get going, but the value of the slow start is a great build-up of tension during which we get a picture of Lauren Olamina’s home and fam ...more

36 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2021 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021-read

4.5 stars

Completely raw and engrossing picture of life in a near future America that seems all to possible. The nearness to reality is what makes this story of displacement and survival so chilling, yet ultimately hopeful.

Disaster uproots Lauren Olamina from a relatively safe life, that, while mostly free of luxury, provided food, shelter, and a kind of precarious security. She takes to the road, gathering companions along the way, bonding together as they face horror and hardship while seeking ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2021 DivaDiane SM rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sffbc-book-shelf, feminist-sffu, diane-s-meager-effort, audio, buddy-read-book-club-read

This took me longer than expected to read, but that is really because I’ve been super busy and is no reflection on the book.

I have read several books by Butler and have been moved by them all. This is no exception. There are bits that are really hard to listen to, but it is ultimately hopeful. There is a fair bit about the religion the MC has “received”. It is always in context also serves to bring the group of stragglers encountered together. The initial set up is slow and seems more like slic ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2021 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalypse, science-fiction, library, dystopia, classics, fantasy

I found this a compelling read. A cross between The Road and The Book of the Midwife, Lauren was an amazingly mature and profound character. I found II couldn’t settle to reading any of the other books I have on the go once I started this and suspect a book hangover is eminent. My first Octavia Butler. I’m planning to work my way through her other stories too. Recommended.

15 likes · Like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Denise rated it really liked it

Shelves: women-2021

A re-read for me. Such an intense atmospheric book. I read this slowly as it felt too real and depressing. So many of the issues in the book are current issues: racism, fires, lack of water. But there’s a hopefulness throughout that emphasizes acceptance of, not just change as is clearly stated, but the need for both self-responsibility and caring for others, if others are also making responsible choices. Consequences are not related to greed or caused by aggression, but logical. I love the Eart ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 13, 2020 Alexis rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-dystopia

I was perfectly comfortable sinking into this book, although at least part of that is because some aspects of the story now regularly appear in dystopian fiction.

Lauren Olamina lives in a society coming apart at the seams. Climate change has devastated the economy of the U.S.; the government is a barely there entity in the face of constant violence, theft and rape; basic social services might not even exist (if a building catches fire, calling the fire department is a serious question, because w I was perfectly comfortable sinking into this book, although at least part of that is because some aspects of the story now regularly appear in dystopian fiction.

Lauren Olamina lives in a society coming apart at the seams. Climate change has devastated the economy of the U.S.; the government is a barely there entity in the face of constant violence, theft and rape; basic social services might not even exist (if a building catches fire, calling the fire department is a serious question, because what if you can’t afford the fee?) or, in the case of the police, are more likely to make things worse.

The only remaining bits of civilization are inside walled off communities (if you’ve read the Terry Brooks Shannara prequels, you kind of get the vibe), where people just scrape enough to live and rarely venture outside, for fear of the pandemic of violence and squalor that exists just outside their walls. Added to that, corporate interests have started to recruit workers for their own walled factory towns, under conditions that will pretty obviously become exploitive, but that desperate and frightened people still grasp for.

The cost of survival is familiar literary territory for Butler, and she leans on it hard here. Unlike Xenogenesis, where those questions are largely psychological as the main character wrestles with dooming her species to a future as hybrids, survival in this case is much more literal.

Lauren is a sharer, and feels every bit of pain she sees others feel, including pain that she causes. This, understandably, makes defending herself a problem. Lauren is forced into positions where she has to hurt or even kill, knowing that it will cause her debilitating pain. Despite that, she doesn’t hesitate.

Like in Dawn, Butler raises the question, how much can we change in order to survive? Butler sets up change as the most fundamental driver of the world, and Lauren’s manifesto revolves around accepting, shaping and generally not fighting the change needed to survive and thrive.

Butler’s social commentary is on point (and a little scary because the remains of our world are all too visible in hers). You see the increasing schism of class divisions and the rise of a sort of neo-feudalism/debt slavery that would just be so much fun to pick apart in a book club. You see race tensions and communities turn inward as “us versus them” becomes the dominant philosophy. You also see Butler examine the role of religion in underpinning society--again, so much to pick apart.

What I didn’t like:
As much as I thought the concept of sharers fit Butler’s message, there were times I just completely forgot about it, and it was a little jarring when it suddenly came back into play.
The back end of the book also erred towards episodic as Lauren picks up a cast of misfits on her travels.
All in all, the book felt like set up for what comes next, so I’m excited to pick up Parable of the Talents. It did not, however, blow me the away like some of Butler’s work. ...more

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Sep 20, 2020 Cindy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, sci-fi

It’s 2025 and the world has gone to hell. Communities join together in walled neighborhoods to defend against the drug addled or hopeless souls “outside the wall” who are constantly trying to steal clothes, shoes, food, or anything they can sell. The future is bleak, but Lauren sees a way forward. She’ll need all her resources to survive.
While the world of the novel is depressingly familiar (climate migrants, modern-day company towns that are, in effect, modern slavers), there is also a streak o ...more

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