Parable of the Talents [Paperback]

 

 

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This sequel to Parable of the Sower is fantastic, but do not expect the going to be easy. Butler again challenges what people think. Leave all your assumptions behind you. Well worth reading, never disappointing.

I came to this book after reading the Parable of the Sowers 8 times and being disturbed and shaken. The writing, as in the previous one, is masterful and pacing, - you keep going and going, not like in a thriller where you want see what happens - but because you are drawn into the world. The characters mean so much to you. I could barely read the section on the imprisonment. I had to put it down several times, jump around, come back. It is a disturbing dystrophic world yet the characters are disturbingly real and close. I wish and hope that Olamina got some happiness. As a mother I ached for her child and her problems and was upset by her child's selfishness as well. Less brutal than the Handmaid's tale, it was nonetheless a tale that will stay with me a long time. As with all Butler's tales, I am glad I own it, so I can go back to it.

Butler, in her afterword to this book, indicates that Parable of the Sower and this book where conceived and partially written as one book. It's therefore somewhat surprising that not only do you not absolutely have to read Parable of the Sower first (though I highly recommend you do so), but that Talents is, perhaps, the `better' half. Butler includes enough background information on the happenings of Sower that the current situation is fully understandable.

And the current situation is the stuff of nightmares. Not only is America wracked by the effects of massive climate change, a badly frazzled economy, and a society turning inward upon itself, but anarchy, slavery, utter lawlessness have become rampant. In this world we have Acorn, the small community established by Olimina, who has a vision, a new religion, Earthseed, based on two items: God is Change, and the Destiny of Man is the stars. The depiction of this community's daily life, its struggles to establish stability and some form of security for its residents, is starkly realistic. Not all of its inhabitants totally buy Olimina's vision; there are doubters, slackers, whiners, those with different visions of how to proceed in the world. But all the plans go by the wayside when the community is not just attacked by members of the `fundamentalist' Christian America group, whose nominal leader has been elected as President of the US, but all its residents are forced into slavery, and their young children taken away for fostering in `Christian' homes.

This section of the book is highly depressing as the picture of humanity portrayed here is not only extremely ugly, it is all too believable. Fanatical beliefs in anything always seems to lead to behavior like this - after all, if you know that only your way is right, you can justify and rationalize almost any action against those who don't believe as you do. Butler's descriptions of the degrading conditions, the brutality Acorn's members experience, is horrifying (I just wish she'd had descriptions this powerful in her Kindred, as that was about the only flaw I could find in that excellent book). But this book is not just a screed against fundamentalist `Christianity', but against any belief system that calls for blind acceptance of its dogma. Butler presents not only Olimina's viewpoint, but also that of her husband, brother, and daughter (who was raised not even knowing that Olimina was her mother), and these viewpoints show that even Olimina's own vision, her religion of `Earthseed', is not without flaws of its own, and Olimina's obsession with spreading her word sometimes leads to decisions that are not in the best interests of all involved.

Each of these characters comes to life in this book. These are some very different people from one another, and their different viewpoints adds tremendously to the believability in the events portrayed.

The poems Butler presents as part of the `Word' of Earthseed are finely crafted and have enough power to make you, the reader, believe in their being a part of a new religion. Their message of strength to manage a world of constant change is, perhaps, the best part of Butler's themes, showing that there is hope for a better future, if only man will actually use all of his abilities to manage both himself and the world around him.

A finely crafted work, rife with emotional power, horrifying in its believability, with a message that cannot be ignored.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Timely Parable
Governments and religions are big subjects. It's amazing that Octavia E Butler can make them seem so accessible; that the answers to the squabbles over 'who's right and who's... Read more

Published on 1 Oct 2003 by Mrs. A. J. Whiteley

5.0 out of 5 stars Great things are worth waiting for!
Like many others I anxiously but patiently (if that is possible) awaited Octavia's latest novel, this follow-up to her "Parable of the Sower. Read more

Published on 15 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm waiting for her next one!!!
I have read all of Octavia's books, except for Survivor, which is hasn't been in print for some time. I am glad to say that I have never been let down. Read more

Published on 28 May 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars What can I say that hasn't already been said?
Octavia Butler drags you to the edge, shoves you over,then delivers you to the bottom without a scratch. Her work can scare you, but she never leaves you without hope. Read more

Published on 30 April 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars It has finally arrived, and well worth the wait!
After reading Butler's "Parable of the Sower" in 1995, I waited breathlessly for the release of this, the sequel to her stunning first success. Read more

Published on 23 April 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars This is masterful story telling at its finest.
The book was excellent and kept me interested however as I am finding with most of her novels she seems to end them in the middle of a thought. Read more

Published on 31 Mar 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars worth the 4 year wait
I feel the same way about Butler that others do. She is my favorite sf writer and one of my favorite fiction writers (why isn't her picture on her books, anybody know?). Read more

Published on 4 Feb 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars An Deeply Probing Delightful Parable
I was mesmerized, horrified, grief-stricken, and elated by turns. This book took me through so many emotions, that I was exhausted when I finished. Read more

Published on 3 Feb 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book. Butler gives hope in a dark time.
Consistent with her other novels, Octavia Butler creates characters that you trust, understand, and love; characters who are up against substantial odds. Read more

Published on 17 Jan 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Speculative Fictions Finest Hour
I'm a huge fan of Ms. Butler's books. As an African-American woman it was a relief to finally find a futuristic novel than had black people actively taking part in the future... Read more

Published on 14 Jan 1999

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