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Parable of the Sower
  

Parable of the Sower (Hardcover)

by Octavia E. Butler (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)

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2 new from CDN$ 91.49 6 used from CDN$ 9.16

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

Octavia E. Butler, the grande dame of science fiction, writes extraordinary, inspirational stories of ordinary people. Parable of the Sower is a hopeful tale set in a dystopian future United States of walled cities, disease, fires, and madness. Lauren Olamina is an 18-year-old woman with hyperempathy syndrome--if she sees another in pain, she feels their pain as acutely as if it were real. When her relatively safe neighborhood enclave is inevitably destroyed, along with her family and dreams for the future, Lauren grabs a backpack full of supplies and begins a journey north. Along the way, she recruits fellow refugees to her embryonic faith, Earthseed, the prime tenet of which is that "God is change." This is a great book--simple and elegant, with enough message to make you think, but not so much that you feel preached to. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.


From Publishers Weekly

Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Butler's first novel since 1989's Imago offers an uncommonly sensitive rendering of a very common SF scenario: by 2025, global warming, pollution, racial and ethnic tensions and other ills have precipitated a worldwide decline. In the Los Angeles area, small beleaguered communities of the still-employed hide behind makeshift walls from hordes of desperate homeless scavengers and violent pyromaniac addicts known as "paints" who, with water and work growing scarcer, have become increasingly aggressive. Lauren Olamina, a young black woman, flees when the paints overrun her community, heading north with thousands of other refugees seeking a better life. Lauren suffers from 'hyperempathy," a genetic condition that causes her to experience the pain of others as viscerally as her own--a heavy liability in this future world of cruelty and hunger. But she dreams of a better world, and with her philosophy/religion, Earthseed, she hopes to found an enclave which will weather the tough times and which may one day help carry humans to the stars. Butler tells her story with unusual warmth, sensitivity, honesty and grace; though science fiction readers will recognize this future Earth, Lauren Olamina and her vision make this novel stand out like a tree amid saplings.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

66 Reviews
5 star:
 (35)
4 star:
 (22)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (66 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars My 100-word book review, Feb 27 2008
By A. J. Cull (London, UK) - See all my reviews
Parable of the Sower is a vivid, often harrowing, story of survival, loss and companionship, set in a United States in the near future, where the environment and society have degraded to the point of breakdown. An account of a young woman's journey away from the dangerous neighbourhood of her childhood, and of the perils and the people encountered in the search for a safe haven, this novel is about the triumph and resilience of the human spirit. Although I felt it would have been just as good without its religious element, reading this story was ultimately an uplifting experience.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Lacks connection with reader, Feb 20 2008
By T. Kharitonova (Calgary, AB) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Parable of the Sower (Paperback)
Everyone's already mentioned that the book is depressing, morbid, cruel and has no redemptive qualities. Perhaps the message is to keep going despite the adversity, but if I'd lived in that world I'd shoot myself in the head and spare myself the misery.

More importantly though, despite decent overall character development, Butler fails to truly engage the readers' emotions somehow. Like if the main character died upon arrival - I as a reader wouldn't really care. Perhaps by describing so many atrocities we become immune to further bad twists and are prepared for anything. But if you don't care about the characters - what's the point of their journey?
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5.0 out of 5 stars _1984_ for a new generation, Jun 15 2004
By Caradae Linore (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
This book is simply amazing. Though it's listed as science fiction, a more appropriate genre would be horror. Butler's vision of a destitute U.S., home to cannibals, psychotic pyromaniacs, and dogs that are no longer domesticated but vicious and hungry for human flesh, seems all too real and possible. It's a creepy book. One of my favorites.
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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Is this what the future holds?
Parable of the Sower is a look in to the future. Octavia E. Butler imagines a world of rampant crime and endless homelessness. Read more
Published on May 27 2004 by Andy

2.0 out of 5 stars Sowing the Seeds of Depression
This book takes the reader to places where they don't want to go. It assumes that the future will be total anarchy where humans and animals are reduced to mere survival. Read more
Published on Jan 28 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Really impacted my worldview
This book is set in a far too believable future -- it is much too easy to imagine that, if things continue as they are, we will find our planet, our society, and our spirits as... Read more
Published on Jan 13 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
I read this book probably in 1994. I still remember now how blown away I was by this book. It's one of the greates works I've ever read. Read more
Published on Nov 19 2003 by Todd Sullivan

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!!
"Parable of the Sower" is a great book for all the science fiction lovers out there. The plot, the characters, everything gets molded by Butler into a masterpiece... Read more
Published on Oct 14 2003 by Lucas Snider

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for OB fans
This is not my favorite Octavia Butler Novel, but it is still well written and it is a good story.
Published on Jul 8 2003 by P. W. WILLIAMS

5.0 out of 5 stars A vision
In the not-very-distant future, America is disintegrating into widespread unemployment, crime, and violence. Read more
Published on May 28 2003 by blissengine

3.0 out of 5 stars The fire next time
Some authors claim to think up their stories by playing "what if." What if there were a drug that made people have orgasms by watching and starting fires AND the water supply in... Read more
Published on April 18 2003 by Kris

5.0 out of 5 stars Things that make you go . . . hummm?
A very heavy read. Octavia Butler launches the reader into the America of the future. The story is set in southern California during the years 2024 through 2027 where, through... Read more
Published on Mar 16 2003 by Maurice Williams

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping
Other than her short stories -- which I wish she would write more of -- this is my favorite of Butler's works that I have read so far. Read more
Published on Feb 6 2003 by Thomas Strong

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