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Parable of the Sower (Parable, 1)
This acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale" and includes a foreword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York Times). When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions. Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.
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Community Reviews
4.5 stars. Really good but hard to read. This hit really close to home, especially with things the way they are right now. Everything feels really unbalanced and teetery. This apocalyptic sci-fi novel was predicated on the idea that the US has more or less fallen apart, for a number of reasons but climate change seems to have a bit impact on it. Reading this on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, with the fire in L.A. and the drought in California, this hit really close to home and I had to keep taking breaks. I had to go off and watch something happy before I could go back to it. Having said that, I really, really enjoyed the religious aspect of this book. Lauren Olamina is writing her own religion and her own religious books based on the truths she observes around her, and they make sense to me. God is change. Everything you change changes you. And other such parables. I thought they were lovely and made all kinds of sense.
Anyhow, I really enjoyed this book, even if it was hard to read, and I'm legit thinking about reading the next one. Wanna know what happens.
Anyhow, I really enjoyed this book, even if it was hard to read, and I'm legit thinking about reading the next one. Wanna know what happens.
Amazing read! I love the ideas of God and change. I love the idea of saving communities and making a point to help those around you. This book was exactly what I needed as an mph student who sometimes forgets what they do it for. It opened my mind and my heart. And of course, we loveeee a strong female character!
Not only is this story a stellar commentary on the ways American history is doomed to repeat itself, but it is a compelling, thrilling and strangely comforting narrative addressing concepts of maintaining social, emotional and physical wellness of an individual and a community in times of sociopolitical distress.
Dark AF and a little too prescient. The most unrealistic aspect was an HOA being helpful. Poetry was beautiful.
An apocalyptic story set in 2025 (the book was written in 1993) near Los Angeles. The world has been thrown into chaos because of water shortages, disease, drugs, economic uncertainty, and distrust.
Lauren Olamina is a teenager living with her family in a walled community -- walled in to keep them safe from predators, who will steal, rape, and kill to get what they want. She longs to get away and start a new life heading north, hopeful that things will be different up there. While she's still dreaming of this different future, circumstances force her out into the world on her own. She meets people along the way and slowly builds a family and a community with them in the midst of fear, desperation, and hopelessness.
Lauren Olamina is a teenager living with her family in a walled community -- walled in to keep them safe from predators, who will steal, rape, and kill to get what they want. She longs to get away and start a new life heading north, hopeful that things will be different up there. While she's still dreaming of this different future, circumstances force her out into the world on her own. She meets people along the way and slowly builds a family and a community with them in the midst of fear, desperation, and hopelessness.
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