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Kimberly Lynne's Reviews > Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
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With Butler's stellar reputation and SOWER's high rating on GR, I hoped for so much more from this classic of post-apoc dystopian.
If you venture into this work, expect some of the flattest prose out there. "..I found Curtis and took him back to the old darkroom to make love. We hadn't done it for a long time and I needed it..." This is about as passionate as it gets from the main character whose genetic hyperempathy syndrome supposedly makes her feel everyone's pain, and pleasure, twice over.
The character arc is as flat as the prose. Lauren Olamina, the protagonist, is developing her own sophomoric new religion of "God is Change," all the while, growing and changing throughout her trials and tribulations not a whit. She's the same cold-hearted know-it-all at age 18 on page 321 ("...There are no guarantees...but our chances are good here...and if people threaten us or our crops, we kill them. That's all.") as she was at 15 on on page 23 ("...Dead bodies are disgusting...But what the hell? They're dead...if you didn't like them when they were alive, why get so upset...?")
Gaping chasms of illogic exist throughout Butler's world-building: Backyard orchards and vegetable gardens yield abundantly in a desiccated land where every drop of water has to be bought...after six years without a drop of rain? Purchasing a replacement pair of shoes is a financial hardship for a family, yet they still pay life insurance premiums? Please.
The plot consists of little more than an endless litany of horrific human violence, primarily rapes, rapes, and more rapes--though only of women, never of men--with robberies, looting, drug-induced pyromania, murders, a few scavenging packs of feral dogs, and a bite of cannibalism thrown in to drive the point home. Lauren finds herself the de-facto leader of a rag-tag band of survivors migrating ever northward through California, to found a survivalist colony based on her religion of Change, with the ultimate goal of extra-terrestrial colonization. (Because when society collapses and you have to live off the land among barbarians, intergalactic space travel gets pushed a few ticks down on your to-do list. WTH?)
By turns preachy and implausible, this novel has not endured the test of time. I'd hoped to be emotionally wrecked and rebuilt, but SOWER left me as flat as itself.
If you venture into this work, expect some of the flattest prose out there. "..I found Curtis and took him back to the old darkroom to make love. We hadn't done it for a long time and I needed it..." This is about as passionate as it gets from the main character whose genetic hyperempathy syndrome supposedly makes her feel everyone's pain, and pleasure, twice over.
The character arc is as flat as the prose. Lauren Olamina, the protagonist, is developing her own sophomoric new religion of "God is Change," all the while, growing and changing throughout her trials and tribulations not a whit. She's the same cold-hearted know-it-all at age 18 on page 321 ("...There are no guarantees...but our chances are good here...and if people threaten us or our crops, we kill them. That's all.") as she was at 15 on on page 23 ("...Dead bodies are disgusting...But what the hell? They're dead...if you didn't like them when they were alive, why get so upset...?")
Gaping chasms of illogic exist throughout Butler's world-building: Backyard orchards and vegetable gardens yield abundantly in a desiccated land where every drop of water has to be bought...after six years without a drop of rain? Purchasing a replacement pair of shoes is a financial hardship for a family, yet they still pay life insurance premiums? Please.
The plot consists of little more than an endless litany of horrific human violence, primarily rapes, rapes, and more rapes--though only of women, never of men--with robberies, looting, drug-induced pyromania, murders, a few scavenging packs of feral dogs, and a bite of cannibalism thrown in to drive the point home. Lauren finds herself the de-facto leader of a rag-tag band of survivors migrating ever northward through California, to found a survivalist colony based on her religion of Change, with the ultimate goal of extra-terrestrial colonization. (Because when society collapses and you have to live off the land among barbarians, intergalactic space travel gets pushed a few ticks down on your to-do list. WTH?)
By turns preachy and implausible, this novel has not endured the test of time. I'd hoped to be emotionally wrecked and rebuilt, but SOWER left me as flat as itself.
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Reading Progress
July 3, 2017
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Started Reading
July 7, 2017
– Shelved
July 7, 2017
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Finished Reading
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Crystal
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rated it 4 stars
Apr 04, 2025 09:50PM
I just can’t understand why people are praising Lauren. The girl is a glorified cult leader who seduced an older man to pretty much take his land. She’s not a good person. She was also born into privilege and has zero awareness of this. Ick.
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Crystal wrote: "The girl is a glorified cult leader who seduced an older man to pretty much take his land." Having just read the book, I disagree with her being a glorified cult leader - she was very clear that Earthseed is what each individual brings to it, and change is what humans do with it, not what she tells them to do, or convinces them of. I also disagree that she seduced the older man - he seemed to be the one that made the moves on her, albeit, very gently, and she reciprocated. I think her agreeing to the use of the land is what anyone in that situation would do, because where else could she have been safe?
