A review by wearysighs
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

5.0

i feel as though this is a book i'll need to read more than once in my life. i've been thinking a lot about the fact that i've read this novel for the first time in 2023, just a year before the novel begins in 2024. how has this affected my perspective? what would i have felt if i had been able to read this novel when it debuted in the 90's? would it have hit so close to home then?

this novel is so full of important ideas and observations about life and human nature that i think i'll need to sit and think on it for a while. our main character, lauren, has a condition called hyperempathy in which she feels every bit of pain of another she makes contact with. i can't help but relate to her as someone who has always been an empathetic person.
i'm also thinking a lot about how upset i am that i wasn't introduced to octavia butler while in public school - but of course, why would i have been taught about a black, female sci-fi author as a public school student in south carolina? she seemed like such a brilliant, relatable woman.

the copy i have has a foreword by n.k. jemisin that really sums up my feelings about it properly, and i loved reading the 1999 interview with octavia butler at the end.

a must-read for any science fiction fans.