Parable of the Sower

This book was published in 1993 about the future… 2024-2027 to be exact. Some of it already our past. To live in that „future“ time frame and compare the imagination (or expectation) to how it actually is now made this read that much more interesting. And I gotta say a lot of it felt a little too real. From beginning to end this wasn‘t an easy read (check trigger warnings). The future of the USA is dystopian. People are hungry, homeless, only a few still have somewhat well paying jobs and a drug has spread that makes people start fires. People are lured in by big companies that pay a below minimum wage or are lead by the hope to find a better life in the north if they can get there in the first place. With walls Lauren Olamina‘s neighbourhood tries to keep the even worse off people at bay. But she knows these walls won‘t keep them safe forever and that they need to be prepared for when that day comes. Lauren seems to be the only one thinking this way though. In form of diary entries we experience alongside Lauren how she tries to navigate the people, her belief and the world in this very chaotic, ever changing and unsafe present. I would recommend this book to everyone.

After reading "Kindred" by Octavia Spencer, which I loved, I ordered this novel by the same author. The book is quite intriguing, suspenseful and manages to tell a story in a - by now - familiar setting from a fresh and different perspective. I'm not fond of the ending, but overall, I really liked reading it.