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A review by rynstagram
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
3.75
I can't believe it took me this long to pick up an Octavia Butler book. I've been missing out!
The social/environmental/political/etc. issues dealt with in this book hit super close to home, especially since it takes place in the late 2020s... This is like the opposite of what happens when you watch Back to the Future now--it's funny to see what we've done and what's different and what we're still trying to do. But Parable of the Sower is almost like a worst-case scenario situation.
Sometimes the pacing was a little weird, especially when they got on the road. And the Earthseed stuff, while I understand its intrinsic value to Lauren's character and the plot, was sometimes too much for me. I kind of feel like Harry--it's interesting to learn about the belief system and some of it I can see being true, but it's also not quite right. I'm interested to see how the Earthseed community grows in the next book.
Kind of like reading The Poppy War, this is an emotionally difficult book to get through. There's a sense of urgency that runs through both books, except by the end of Parable of the Sower, the urgency seems to have slowly dwindled even though the actual characters must still feel that urgency. This is probably due to the pacing.
The diary entry format lent itself really well to this story, especially because it affects the story instead of just being a medium for the story. That was really clever.
(Also, though I really love how diverse the characters are ethnically, racially, religiously, etc., there's a dearth of queer characters so far. I think they mention gay people only once or twice, and even then only in passing. It's hard for me to believe that no one they've come across or seen of the thousands of strangers would be queer. And Lauren is perceptive enough to notice things like that--how people act when they're a couple, etc.)
The social/environmental/political/etc. issues dealt with in this book hit super close to home, especially since it takes place in the late 2020s... This is like the opposite of what happens when you watch Back to the Future now--it's funny to see what we've done and what's different and what we're still trying to do. But Parable of the Sower is almost like a worst-case scenario situation.
Sometimes the pacing was a little weird, especially when they got on the road. And the Earthseed stuff, while I understand its intrinsic value to Lauren's character and the plot, was sometimes too much for me. I kind of feel like Harry--it's interesting to learn about the belief system and some of it I can see being true, but it's also not quite right. I'm interested to see how the Earthseed community grows in the next book.
Kind of like reading The Poppy War, this is an emotionally difficult book to get through. There's a sense of urgency that runs through both books, except by the end of Parable of the Sower, the urgency seems to have slowly dwindled even though the actual characters must still feel that urgency. This is probably due to the pacing.
The diary entry format lent itself really well to this story, especially because it affects the story instead of just being a medium for the story. That was really clever.
(Also, though I really love how diverse the characters are ethnically, racially, religiously, etc., there's a dearth of queer characters so far. I think they mention gay people only once or twice, and even then only in passing. It's hard for me to believe that no one they've come across or seen of the thousands of strangers would be queer. And Lauren is perceptive enough to notice things like that--how people act when they're a couple, etc.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Addiction, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence