The Riveting Conversation That Sowed My Interest In Fiction Books
I love reading non-fiction books, But fiction, not so much. Not entirely sure why that’s the case, but it is what it is.
Last year, I had a conversation with a fellow reading enthusiast Keli Daniels, featured here on Great Books, Great Minds, which offered a peek into her life story and the essential role that books have played in her journey.
In recent months, I crossed paths with Keli again at a Denver area coffeehouse and we talked about a recent book that she read called Parable of the Sower, written by Octavia E. Butler.
…..and we talked……and we talked…
After our conversation, I immediately began doing some research on who Octavia E. Butler is. While I’d heard the name before I knew absolutely nothing about her.
Come to find out that she is largely regarded as one of the world's premier science fiction writers, the first black female to reach national prominence in this genre.
Says Keli:
“She’s fantastic. Her writing makes you feel like you’re involved in the story. You feel like you’re one of the people in her community talking to you. There’s a lot of dialogue back and forth between the characters but then there are also these moments of clarity where you have to stop yourself and that, ‘woah, what did you just say?’ What’s the life lesson here?”
According to Keli, the book, written in 1993, is a foreshadowing of the way the world is headed in author Octavia’s mind. She paints a dystopian future world resulting from the actions or inaction by politicians and the rapid progression of climate change.
Based in Los Angeles, the story is about a 15 year old girl growing up in a cul de sac within a walled compound. There’s no food, no water and they have to build this community in which to live. This main character is taught that the outside world is perilous and that scarcity exists beyond the wall. But she discovers that all of this exists within the compound as well and that the environment, one that deals with death, drugs, and the rape of women is hellish.
The girl begins asking herself “am I just going to stay here for the rest of my life or can I think about what I want for my life and go get it?” She eventually decides on the latter route and flees, eventually creating a community centered around caring for one another and building trust with people she’s been taught not to trust.
Says Keli:
“The book touches on racial disparities, climate change, the art of educating yourself and what that means, and knowing what you can do to better in terms of the environment, yourself, and for others.”
Keli adds that she loves a novel with depth and says Octavia’s writing made her stop and frequently ask herself: “what kind of life lesson did I just learn here?”
A theme that Keli was continually reminded of while reading the book is that change in life is inevitable. In other words, things in life are going to happen no matter what.
Citing a passage from “Parable of the Sower”
“Change is ongoing. Everything changes in some way. Size, position, composition, frequency, velocity, thinking, whatever. Every living thing, every bit of matter, all the energy in the universe changes in some way. I don’t claim that everything changes in every way, but everything changes in some way.”
Octavia, says Keli, relates change to God, saying that God is change and that change will always prevail. The message being conveyed here is that we can step up and be the change.
“Embracing change is incredibly important because in reality there's no permanence in our lives. This moment will end and then we’ll never have this moment again.”
Keli adds that the main character’s superpower is empathy, noting:
“…. she can feel the depth of other people’s pain. In this way she understands human nature and the way people interact with each other. She sees that others are living in a scarcity mindset, doing what they need to do in order to survive. Therefore they are unable to show empathy.”
Keli concludes:
“In the end, this novel is about human nature, the way people interact with each other, and the community that you can create based on caring for one another. As I see it, it’s not about whether you are rich and amazing. Rather, it’s about a sense of care, community, and kindness.”
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Like yourself, have heard of Butler for some time. But it was not until Hulu televised "Kindred," did I pick up the Library of America volume, "Kindred / Fledgling / Collected Stories." Such a terrific read! Looking forward to more Octavia E. Butler. She left a great legacy!
My first Butler book was Wild Seed followed by Parable of the Sower then Kindred. I was blown away by her imagination and how skillfully she communicated big ideas without ever losing the sense of story.