Welcome to the Underground Bookshelf Book Club! Throughout the month of December, we are reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. This book is the first in the Earthseed Books duology. We will read the second book, Parable of the Talents, this coming January so that we can read these books back-to-back. Parable of the Sower is a work of speculative fiction. Originally published in 1993, this book is set in California in the early 2020s. Climate crises, water shortages, and collapsing infrastructures lead to violence, mass homelessness, hunger and disorder. In an attack on her gated community, Lauren loses her family, her home, and everything she knows. She travels north in search of a place where she can build a new home and preach her developing belief system, Earthseed. I really love this author and her work and I look forward to sharing discussion prompts for this book throughout the month. If you're having trouble finding this book in your area, Parable of the Sower is available on Internet Archive or you can use WorldCat or LibraryLink to search for this book at a library near you.
Week 1
Welcome back to book club! This month, we are reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Today's questions come directly from the Reading Guide at the back of the edition reissued by Grand Central Publishing in April of 2019. This question stems from the backlash she gets from members of her community when Lauren Olamina tries to convince them to take added precautions in case their gated neighborhood is attacked. Here we go.
"Why does Jo react so negatively to Lauren's concerns about being better prepared as a community and as individuals to face crises. Do you think that Lauren's ideas, including community night watches, learning to fend for themselves in the wild, studying local wild plant life to see if it can be used for food, are excessively paranoid? Lauren's father has pointed out that the community as a whole has trouble thinking far ahead and into such sensitive areas. Do you see ways in which people in today's America are equally unable to think ahead?" (p342, Parable of the Sower, Reading Group Guide).
Image Description: The front cover of Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (edition printed in 2000). The title and author's name are printed in red and black text. On the right side is a simple silhouette of a black woman. Her exposed hand and face is black. Her dress and headscarf are red.
Week 2
Welcome back to book club! This month, we are reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. Today's questions come directly from the Reading Guide at the back of the edition reissued by Grand Central Publishing in April of 2019. This prompt focuses on the concept of the Earthseed destiny which Lauren Olamina develops as part of her new belief system. Here's the quote our prompt is based on:
"The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars. That's the ultimate Earthseed aim, and the ultimate human change short of death. It's a destiny we'd better pursue if we hope to be anything other than smooth-skinned dinosaurs -- here today, gone tomorrow, our bones mixed with the bones and ashes of our cities" (Butler, Parable of the Sower).
The Reading Group Guide asks, "What do you think about the possibility of humans becoming extinct? Do you think this is possible, and how do you think it would happen? Do you think this is something we have any control over?" (p345, Parable of the Sower, Reading Group Guide). To add to that, my questions are: What are your thoughts on the belief system Olamina creates? And how does the author use this to address the character's circumstances? How might the author be using this element of the story to discuss the real world?
Week 3
Welcome back to the Underground Bookshelf book club! During the month of December, we read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I'm back from taking a little time off to bring you fresh discussion questions on this powerful piece of literature. Today's prompt includes questions provided in the Reading Guide at the back of the edition reissued by Grand Central Publishing in April 2019. Our discussion prompt is rooted in the book's title and its allusion to the biblical parable about a sower who scatters seeds. In short, some of the seeds are eaten by birds. Some fall on stony ground and grow quickly, but wither just as quickly. Some land among thorns and are taken over by the thorn bushes, and some land on good soil and grow into healthy plants.
The Reading Group Guide asks, "What relationship do you see between this parable and the novel? Considering that Lauren rejected her father's traditional Baptist teachings before going on to teach Earthseed, it's an interesting twist that the book is titled Parable of the Sower. Why do you think this is?" To add to that, I'd personally like to ask, how is it important that Butler uses something so familiar to some readers to deliver messages in her fiction? And what do you think she is telling readers by building a comparison between her story and an ancient parable?
Week 4
Welcome back to the Underground Bookshelf book club! During the month of December, we read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I'm back from taking a little time off to wrap up our discussion on this book. Today's prompt includes questions provided in the Reading Guide at the back of the edition reissued by Grand Central Publishing in April 2019. Our final questions come directly from the author herself.
Butler writes: "I hope people who read Parable of the Sower will think about where we seem to be heading -- we the United States, even we the human species. Where are we going? What sort of future are we creating? Is it the kind of future you want to live in? If it isn't, what can we do to create a better future? Individually and in groups, what can we do?"
Thanks so much for reading this book with me! I'll be back soon to introduce the book for January. We will be continuing with the Parable series, so if you'd like to get started, we will read Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler.
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