I HAVE TO SAY…

SYNOPSIS

Lauren and her family lived in a walled community in the Los Angeles area. This story follows Lauren and journey of survival.

RECAP AND REVIEW

This is the first book in a dystopian duology. It was written in 1993 and is set in the future, starting in 2024 and spanning a few years.

This book is character based, told in the first person of Lauren. Though I don’t think these are diary entries, they read as such, reflecting on the events of the days and changes in her life and the world and within her family and community as time passes.

The story starts off with her living with her father, stepmother, and half and full siblings in a walled off part of town. The dynamics between them all are complicated, being a blended family, but Lauren loves and looks up to her dad.

Outside of the walls of her community is considered dangerous, because people who live there are desperate for either money or the popular drug, pyro, which also requires money. It makes people feel euphoria by setting fires to anything, including people. They’ll steal, rob, kill, and rape to get it and to survive in an expensive world.

Some of the older folks believe eventually things will have to be better and go back to normal, though who even knows what that means anymore. Lauren feels like it’s time to prepare for the worst, believing that there’s no way they’ll be able to hole up within the walls forever.

It’s interesting reading how Octavia Butler used real world ideologies to create an apocalyptic world. At the highest level, this book is about surviving, regardless of what it takes, and building community. Being apocalyptic and a story that wants readers to intentionally think about the state of the world and your role in it, the book is heavy. This story, which constantly describes stripping dead bodies of everything on their person, clothes, money, shoes, food, feels even darker because of what’s happening in the US and in the world today.

This book discusses topics including fires wiping out neighborhoods, basically slavery and late stage capitalism, hunting vs. being hunted, protecting yourself through guns, the rising costs of goods, ineffective policing, poverty, illiteracy, a terrible job market, climate change and natural disasters (earthquakes), religion, drug abuse, the political system, complicated family (and community) dynamics, and more.

Lauren also has extreme empathy, where she feels pain in her own body. It’s debilitating, especially living in a kill or be killed world.

I think a lot of the messages in this book are important. This book made me think about my own spiritual and religious beliefs. It made me think about the difference between fear-mongering/touting your beliefs and mindset vs. educating and guiding. It re-reminded me the importance of tone, because it matters (I know some of you hate to hear it).

It explains how it can be easier to get someone to move their beliefs an inch than it is to move them a mile, especially when cognitive dissonance comes into play, especially when it’s about the changing world. It recommends to make learning fun.

It also shows what a community is. Community isn’t just made of people you like. Community means taking care of everyone. It’s a give and a take and requires a level of mutual understanding about what’s expected and what can be achieved by each person. Everyone can’t do everything. You meet people where they are.

Community is tolerating, enjoying, assisting, and sympathizing with others. Recognizing each other’s strengths and weaknesses and making up the difference where you can.

OVERALL

Overall, I give this 5 out of 5 stars. It’s a hard read, but I think it lends itself to needed introspection and reflection. I definitely recommend it.