Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

 

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I bought these two books from a local bookmobile during the Charlotte Book Crawl last year.  I have read Kindred by Butler and loved it (more of a time travel story), and love that she is the first African American woman to have published a sci-fi-novel!   This story, originally meant to be one book, is a post-apocalyptic survival story told through the journals of a young black woman named Lauren Olamina.  The US has fallen for an unnamed reason (fate?) and crime rules.  There is no law enforcement to be had unless you pay them, and even then they just shrug.  Lauren spends her teenage years listening to her preacher father and decides she believes in a different type of God - a system she calls Earthseed.  She believes the only hope for our Earth is to live among the stars.  When the thugs finally overrun her neighborhood, she is forced to run, and gathers an eclectic group of people around her.  Where her life goes after this is such an incredible story that it might actually sound more like truth.  The second novel adds a second point of view and blends timelines brilliantly.

These books were written in the 1960's but are set between 2027-2090.  Which is basically TODAY.  Very scary.  There is a tyrannical leader, there are fires everywhere, there is no infrastructure.  And one phrase will jump out at you early in the second book.  The desire to make America great again.  I am not getting political here, but remember when these were written.  Could it be that the real sci-fi aspect is really just predicting the future?  Or someone in that campaign is well read, haha!!

All that aside, I was entranced by this story.  If you like post-apocalyptic novels, these are classics that should not be missed.  However, DO NOT read the introductions in the more recent editions first.  WHY these writers of introductions think it is ok to spoil a novel or a plot point before the novel even begins is beyond me.  Grrrrr.

  

A Favor...

Just a quick note  - could I ask you to please click through TWICE when receiving my blogposts in email?  Follow It, the service I use, has now put two levels in front of my actual website, but provides you with all the content before getting to my site.  This means none of you who are reading it are actually reading it on my blog, and I cannot capture any numbers for traffic to the site.  It's like you never read it.

So, if you would be so kind as to click the green button in your email, then before reading the content on the plain white page, scroll down to the bottom and click "Continue Reading."  This should take you to my blog, with its pretty pink background, and then your "click" will count towards my analytics!!  

Thank you and Happy Reading!!

Rawles

Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser

 

There is never a better book club discussion than when the book is either not liked or controversial.  Or really, really long!

This ambitious novel is definitely long, and the consensus was that it was not our favorite. But boy did we have a lot to say about it!  The premise, tragic though it sounds, ended up being very inspirational and hopeful:  A young girl experiences a sudden bout of blindness, so before her sight goes forever, her beloved Grandfather determines to take her to the art museums in their home of Paris and show her one masterpiece a week for the year the doctor gives her.  Sounds kinda awful, but just wait until you meet 10 year old Mona.  She is a piece of work herself, and she is beautiful.  Each week they discuss just one painting, and her grandfather imparts some wise Life Lesson.  This precocious girl catches on quickly.

Meanwhile, her parents grapple with financial struggles, the loss of Mona's grandmother, drama at Mona's school, and the future their daughter may now face. Mona's parents are like stick figures here - not fully developed and quite representational.  Structured basically into 52 chapters, with a brief look at real life before heading to the museum each week, this is a novel you should not try to read in 1 or 2 long sessions.  It becomes rote.  Pick it up, put it down, come back to it.  There is no rush, and there is a lot to ponder.  SO much symbolism here!  He throws in a lot of psychology too. Part Art Lessons, part parable, part story telling and history (some great tidbits about the artists' lives!), and a lot unbelievable (not even in Paris do they speak to 10 year old about such adult issues as Grandfather speaks of to Mona!!).  At first I could not figure out why he chose these 52 pieces of art to discuss with Mona.  But they each have a purpose, and it is not just the famous ones he chooses, the Mona Lisa aside.  

There is more here than just art though.  The grief different characters feel over Grandmother's death is hidden behind the secret of how she died.  This is a slow burn reveal in this book and ends up being a major plot point.  Sneaky!  The epilogue really does bring a lot together, but it is quite a journey getting there, I'll give you that.  Don't be afraid of this book, but don't think you are going to whip through it either.  View it as a challenge, and read the hardcover, not audio (see below).  It does present as a textbook, and would actually be a great additional reading requirement for Art Classes.  After all, the author is an art professor, and his insights into each piece of art are tremendous, even if hidden in the form of a novel, as another reviewer put it.

Bonus:  the hardback sleeve opens up to reveal small pictures of each piece of art Mona and her 
Grandfather view.  This was so helpful to me!  I actually learned a lot, with flashbacks to Art Appreciation 101 in college!!