2011 Reading #50: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien.
42. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
43. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
44. Noise by Darin Bradley.
45. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos.
46. The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin.
47. Fugitive Days: A Memoir by Bill Ayers.
48. Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine.
49. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin.
50. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I read Kindred some years ago, for an undergrad course on African-American Women writers, but I haven't read any other Butler until now. Someone was talking about post-apocalypse books on Twitter recently, and I'm not sure if this one came up, but it should have; there's no global disaster, true, but this is very much a book about Things Falling Apart, and in relentless and horrifying detail. Another thing that Butler excels at, I think, is in writing about people who are realistically unlikable; so many of the people around Lauren are frustrating in just the way that real people are, from her family and her neighbors to the survivors she meets on her journey. I plan to read Parable of the Talents shortly; I'm sorry that Butler did not survive to write the third book she had planned. The "About the Author" note at the back of this book contains a bit of a kick in the gut, as it reads: "I'm a 46-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an 80-year-old writer." What a shame that did not happen.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien.
42. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
43. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
44. Noise by Darin Bradley.
45. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos.
46. The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin.
47. Fugitive Days: A Memoir by Bill Ayers.
48. Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine.
49. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin.
50. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I read Kindred some years ago, for an undergrad course on African-American Women writers, but I haven't read any other Butler until now. Someone was talking about post-apocalypse books on Twitter recently, and I'm not sure if this one came up, but it should have; there's no global disaster, true, but this is very much a book about Things Falling Apart, and in relentless and horrifying detail. Another thing that Butler excels at, I think, is in writing about people who are realistically unlikable; so many of the people around Lauren are frustrating in just the way that real people are, from her family and her neighbors to the survivors she meets on her journey. I plan to read Parable of the Talents shortly; I'm sorry that Butler did not survive to write the third book she had planned. The "About the Author" note at the back of this book contains a bit of a kick in the gut, as it reads: "I'm a 46-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an 80-year-old writer." What a shame that did not happen.