The Parable of the Sower: Crash Course Literature 406
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- This week, John is teaching you about the near-future dystopia in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Sower tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina, and her life growing up in a post-climate change, semi-lawless America. It's not great. The book reads as a dystopia, as a bildungsroman, and as a sacred text. Lauren grows up in a terrible future, and a lot of the book is concerned with the religion she has created, Earthseed. There's lots to think about in this one, and John will talk you through it.
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Idk if anyone’s watching this is 2020 but it’s June now and literally ALL OF THE INTRO HAS OCCURED
John: I have some bad news, disease is devastating the planet.
Everyone in 2020: yeah, we know.
Had no idea what this book was about, but here we are in 2024. Wild.
That woman was a time traveler from 2020... She warned us though🤷🏻♀️
Who’s reading in 2024💀
"God is Change,
And in the end,
God prevails.
But meanwhile...
Kindness eases Change.
Love quiets fear.
And a sweet and powerful
Positive obsession
Blunts pain,
Diverts rage,
And engages each of us
In the greatest,
The most intense
Of our chosen struggles"
- Earthseed: Books of the Living
Great episode, I can't believe she literally wrote about a strong arm president who wins on the slogan, "Make America Great Again" - prophetic indeed!
For those who haven't read it, this book really was something else. I can't guarantee you'll like or agree with everything in it but it's CRAZY how much Butler predicted
Almost 2 years later and her imagined future seems more likely than ever.
How about now?
@@yetigriff I think our version of a the designer drug is ignorance and denial.
I've got bad news for you buddy.
It’s 7 months and it seems even more likely now.
@@coena9377 LOL how bout now
Now that we've brought up Octavia Butler will there be a Crash Course philosophy episode about Afrofuturism?
K.L. Clark we need that
K.L. Clark but why
Watching the intro during covid19 and having to double check the release date 😂😂
stumbled into this while quarentining from corona, MAN does that intro hit close to home
I loved this book. Thank you John for introducing me to Octavia Butler. I went out and read everything she wrote. I'm only sorry that she died so young and there won't be any more books.
Let's address each of John Green's questions one by one, using something 2019 John couldn't have anticipated fully:
1. Was Octavia E. Butler right when writing Parable of the Sower that we are all in trouble?
Yes, all of us and our mothers are wading ankle-deep in very infertile manure.
2. Is there a US election in 2024 and, if so, is that fact hopeful?
Yes, there is a U.S. presidential election scheduled for November 5, 2024. Whether this fact is hopeful depends on one's perspective on an old guy, a pathological liar, and the two-party system.
3. Did climate change turn out to be a hoax?
Ha, wishful thinking. No, climate change did not turn out to be a hoax. The overwhelming consensus among scientists is that climate change is real and primarily driven by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
4. Are John and Hank Green still doing Crash Course in 2024?
As of my last update in April 2023, John and Hank Green were actively involved in creating educational content, including "Crash Course," a popular CZcams channel that offers courses on a wide range of subjects. However, I can't provide real-time information, so I can't confirm their current projects in 2024 without more recent information.
5. Did the 'Looking for Alaska' movie happen?
Instead of a movie, "Looking for Alaska" was adapted into a limited series by Hulu, which premiered in October 2019. The series, based on John Green's 2005 novel of the same name, received positive reviews and brought the book's story to a new audience through a different medium.
6. Is Diet Dr. Pepper bad for you?
While Diet Dr. Pepper, like many diet sodas, is marketed as a calorie-free alternative to regular sodas, the health impacts of its artificial sweeteners and other ingredients are subjects of ongoing debate and research. Some studies suggest potential links between the consumption of artificial sweeteners and various health issues, but the evidence is not conclusive. Moderation is key, and it's important to maintain a balanced diet.
7. Has Liverpool won the Champions League?
2019 was the year, man.
8. Is video maker and writer John Green still around in 2024 to answer these questions?
As of my last update in April 2023, John Green was active as an author, CZcams content creator, and educational video producer. Without real-time information or updates beyond that date, I cannot confirm his activities or status in 2024.
_"Of course none of that's happened yet._ What's that? _Oh, Stan informs me that some of it has happened."_
Oh, John, it's happening right now as we speak. _Oh so help us, God._
Bruh, you don't even know
I am indeed watching in 2024, and uhhhh damn. 😖
Change is constant and we have to train ourselves to react positively to it. Brilliant analysis. This is eerily similar with the times.
Burt Gummer troll elsewhere troll
Me watching this 6 years in the future thinking uh oh
Hello John, watching from 2020 (a little under halfway through the seven years) and the future she wrote of becomes closer and more scary every day. I don't know if we'll get there by 2024 but the things octavia wrote about still feel too real to be held off forever. I'll try to come back in four years and comment again but who knows if ill remember lol
This made me think about something I read once: That we misinterpret Darwin when we say "survival of the fittest"; that what Darwin really meant was something along the line of "survival of those most able to adapt".
The difference can be subtle, or not so subtle, depending on how one interprets or acts upon the first iteration. I tend to think that survival of the fittest/might is right is in large part how we got to this mess in the first place.
...just watched the first 30 seconds and had to double check when this got uploaded. Ooooof. 2020 is hitting HARD.
The only constant is change.
Be the change you want to see in the world, or else the world will be the change they want to see in you.
... and life is pain.
how about taxes and death?
tzcheech
@killbred1 how is being homeless unemployed and living in Antarctica going for you....
Parable of the Talents has a guy running for president who has inspired fanatical followers with his claims that he can "make America great again." o_0
Heather
Huh, sounds familier...
You're talking about Reagan, right?
Good ol' palingenesis ultranationalism.
I read Parable of the Talents when the last presidential election was going on too. The followers were also religious fanatics too..
Burt Gummer Yes I agree that most of Trump's followers aren't religious fanatics especially since my parents support Trump. I see that what I commented earlier did imply that so my apologies! I was focusing more on how the book warns that extreme levels of nationalism can enable fanatics to hurt others for the seemingly greater good of a country.
I read this for AP lit last year, I'm pretty sure this changed me more than any other book! Highly highly recommend
I started reading this at the beginning of July without realising this is exactly the month and year it begins the story!!! It freaked me out when she mentioned July 2024.
Yes, regarding one of your question during the open letter. In 2019, Liverpool won the champions league.
Yes, Liverpool just won the champions league.
YNWA
Yeah, Glad I found this comment
funny how he's not as much of an optimist as to say "will they win the Premier League?". cause this year they just might
Stan: the off-screen realist we need and deserve.
I'm watching this in 2023, she is spot on with lots of things as is handmaid tale
Well now we know John will have to make a response video to himself in seven years
Hah, that would be awesome. I'm not so confident he'll have to do that, though.
I hope it includes 2024 Green, 2017 Green, and high school Green from crash course history.
How the hell did he know I'm watching in 2024...
This is one of my favorite books and I’m so glad that you discuss it here.
Oh god, why is his intro so much more relevant now 😳
this is hitting WAYYY too close to home right now i can't even watch beyond 10 seconds, hopefully i can come back to this soon.
The first 30 seconds of this video has all happened now. It's only 2020.
The opening intro terrified me in april 2020. I was like...John, youre supposed to have hope?!
Read this in my ninth grade English class. Loved it.
3.5 years later. Mid-Coronavirus... and I am terrified of the "if this goes on"
I really love an appreciate so many parts of this analysis, and I am glad that CrashCourse chose to feature this book! That being said, there was a lot of talking *around* race without actually acknowledging the role of race, and Lauren's blackness in particular, in this video. I think does a disservice to core part of Parable of the Sower. Without illustrations, if you didn't read the book, you might not even know the Olaminas were black, apart from the aside reference to slavery and traveling north. I appreciate the intention and I hope CrashCourse will continue to center black women authors like Butler as canonical texts, while providing more well-rounded analyses of identity, especially when relating it to ongoing discourse at the time the video was made (2017).
5:12
Bit early to the party but future 2023 here:
1. We are kind of in trouble. (As we always are)
2. The last (US) election was definitely better than the former one
3. Climate change didn‘t turn out to be a hoax although I wish that was true
4. Yes CrashCourse is still here :)
5. No, there is not a Looking for Alaska movie, but a series on Hulu :-)
6. I‘m not sure about the Dr. Pepper question or if you are really concerned about that since Dr. Pepper is disgusting but you addressed it in your newest book.
7. Liverpool? Apparently in 2019 the last time but I‘m not an expert here
Hope that helped to calm some nerves. :)
Greetings and see you next year to the finale. 🎉
Soooo 2022 here. Things are starting to look up for the first time in a few years, but we are in a pretty precious place. Whatever happens, the “prophecy” is way too close to true for comfort.
I read this over the past week...that was depression and the future does seem extremely possible. I'm going to take a break with another book before I head into the second book. This was definitely a page turner, and is a must read
I was hoping John would sign of the open letter as 'Me from the past'
"+"
Dear past John, Liverpool have won the champions league
I only "discovered" Butler in the last decade, and she quickly became one of my favorite writers. I read this book in 2020, and damn! I took a year break before reading the sequel. Scarier than any horror story I've ever read.
No book has affected my life more than this one. Thank you for continuing to recommend and talk about it.
I’m 30 seconds in and it sounds like 2020
2020 anyone?
Funny he mentions Liverpools ambitions
"I have so many questions, I just hope you're around to answer them."
Classic John. :)
"Some of these things have happened." What? Oh yeah. This video was made in 2017 not 2020.
Go read the beginning of the Parable of the Talents. It describes the Pox (short for Apocalypse) that many people say began a decade earlier (compared to 2032) but Biencole argues had been going on for decades due to climate change, income inequality, poor health care, and systemic racism. It wasn't some sudden thing like losing a war that destroyed America but it was more like we lost our way and without a goal in mind we wandered until we were eventually out of steam.
I'm pretty sure Butler could write winning lottery numbers down and they'd be right, but the prize that we was canceled due to inadequate funds.
One of my FAVORITE books of all time.
The second I heard interstellar travel being the ultimate and most noble goal in the novel, I knew I was going to like this.
i read this book last year on john's recommendation from a vlogbrothers video, it was incredible. so great to hear his thoughts on it now!
Read this book for a writers' summer camp a few years ago. I loved it then, but after watching this I'm thinking of reading it again 😊
I've heard about this book before but never got around to reading it. Sounds pretty cool and unique. The protagonist is really interesting too.
"Embrace diversity". Amen brother!
It's now 2022, 2 years away from 2024. It's scary how things are going but its still on "if this goes on" basis. Let's hope it won't keep getting worse
Hyper-empathy - though not as strongly as presented in the novel - is real, and I deal with it. It's the opposite of hypoempathy, one of which is commonly part and parcel of autistic people's experiences (as it is mine). To me it's like another aspect of sensory overload, almost; an overabundance of feelings and signals that can lead to feeling much more heightened emotions from a trigger than is usual. Some of those triggers can be others' emotions, but some are my own - I find myself tearing up at even things like this video, which when the moment passes seems ridiculous but at the time is overwhelming.
one of my all-time favorite books. thank you!
EXCELLENT summary of the book and Butler's thinking. A must-read.
I read this book in high school, I thought it was a mess tbh, but thanks John for explaining it and giving me a new appreciation.
Hi. It’s 2023. And it’s pretty bad rn lol
Let's go back here by 2024
umm guys? am i the only one here saying when we watch this, it is July 2023 now?
2020 and we're currently in a nation wide pandemic where the world is shut down.
Let's see how this plays out by 2024.
I’ve loved your channel for years. Big Butler fan too. Surprised to see you guys did a video on this. It feels like an important book for Americans.
I agree with the unity part, but this unity needs to be built on some kind of general consensus and shared goals without vested interests.
3 years in and everything is going according to the author's plan.
@smarty pants.. i read this about 10 years ago @ 20. Now 30...rereading and Ms.Butler is this close👌2 being a prophet.
Watching this in March 2020. that sounds like exactly whats going on in the world right now.
Commenting from the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Things are not going well.
"But mostly, I just hope your around to answer them."
A terrifying statement. But what scares me is that it sounds like one that'll be regretted.
I've been reading this for about a month. It hurts in the best way possible
We're walking a little closer to the future in this book everyday. Let's hope 2024 doesn't look this bad...
2 things worries me. That there is a hardcore fans out there sees this as a sacred book which might give birth the similar belief like Earthseed, and what John said that this book is the most real if-this-goes-on category....
I need to read this book
Years ago I saw the "This Machine Kills Fascists" sticker on John's laptop, recognised the reference to Woody Guthrie's guitar, and thought no more about it. Yesterday I realised that the fact that it is a bumper sticker means that there are people with that written on their cars. I've been bursting into laughing fits periodically ever since.
It would be really cool to get a crash course on death of a salesman or Brave New World or Catch-22 ! The videos for 100 years of solitude and Huck Finn helped a lot.
I love this book. It fundamentally changed how I think about God and religion
georgia34279 That’s not too good. The only way to understand God is to understand the bible. I wouldn’t recommend reading it, but taking a buble class to see the main points of the bible and how they come up over and over throughout the 6,000 years. It’s pretty crazy! I don’t think this book has anything to do with religion. It is just an interesting story to get you thinking about things. BUT, the thing is, God doesn’t want you to focus your thoughts on worldly things, and he definitely doesn’t want you to worry about those things. God is actually constant. He hasn’t changed for at least 6,000 years and if he’s real, he never will. He will always want us to be good so we can join him.
John,
It's 3 days after the beginning of the book and we are not ok. 😅
I love all of the dystopian novels you are covering!
OMG, OMG, OMG!!! OCTAVIA!!!
kallistiX1 +
*cries in 2022*
*Books (Of The Living)
re:~7:15
I want to Thank You John and crew for this one. I will have to get this book. I could use a little realistic hope in this day and age.
Guys, it got worse. -Nov 2023
What really creeped me out was when I was reading the sequel, The Parable of the Talents, and found myself rolling my eyes at how the introduction was so obviously referencing 9/11. Then I looked at the publication date: 1998.
I find it surprising how many people were surprised that people would use aircraft as a weapon. All sides, though especially the Japanese, showed how it could be done in WWII, and in 1945, a bomber crashed into the upper floors of the Empire State Building. Fortunately, due to it's much smaller size, it didn't do that much damage... but the concept wasn't unknown, by any means.
I don't even think that was even the part she predicted. It was more about the political policies that followed.
So far the comments are half "these are my favourite book and author" and "this book, its author, and John are awful".
Lawrence Calablaster that's just what happens when the book is about our written by a Black person. Seriously, check out the comments for the other Black novels, they're dramatically worse than usual.
I think it has more to do with half of the country voting for Trump and there is a lot of subtle anti-Republican hints in the video including yours. Then you get Crash Courses lectures like Sociology and other propaganda. I voted third party but honestly I'm really tired of everything being politicized. There's plenty of man hating in the news and in Hollywood itself like Star Wars lately, so more intersectional feminist rants are always fun to listen to. I actually enjoy listening to these videos but it's hard to listen to people stuck in a bubble who can't help but demonize people they've never met.
Lawrence Calablaster .jj know .kj .jk jj nk kanji junk. I k,
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Kl. kl ml. M. My. S s. M. N x. C. X n,x. N x no. No. N. 🌂💍🐯👨👨👧👦👨👨👦👦👨👨👦👦👨👨👧👧👗👛👛🌂👛🏰
There's a drought in the valley of nuance
The problem with this comment is that yes, you are a white man, but you are not EVERY white man. You aren't racist, but quite a few other people of your demographic definitely are. And of other demographics! Broad generalizations like 'race has an effect on how people view this book' are useful, because they speak to a larger truth - that there's a problem with racism in this country, and across the world.
When you see statements like this, please don't think of it as speaking about you in particular; it's obviously not. And maybe examine why your first reaction to reading a simple statement - "people are racist sometimes, and it effects how they view things" - was to view it as an attack on you. We know that non-racist people exist, we promise! And we're very happy that they do! It's just important to acknowledge the fact that racist people also exist, and they have a negative effect on how certain things are received.
Yes. I read this book after John spoke about it highly on Vlogbrothers, and I fell in love with it. I've read both books three times. You highlighted it perfectly here. Such a complex book. Thank you so much for recommending it years ago and for making this video.
I am watching this video in 2020... octavia was right about a few things
Your reviews are so apt and absolute.
worth revisiting the book today uhg
This video hits a cord amidst the stock market crashing and virus outbreak and people acting like it's the end of the world and school getting shut down and the political climate. I'm worried that this reality is much closer than we ever thought.
*Can we as a species mitigate the effects of looming problems by learning from the past? I'd say no, given the number of people who think they live in the 1950s. Not simply meaning people with old-fashioned ideas, but people that literally lack awareness of the fact that the world has changed in their lifetime, except maybe for a few superficial things that they can wax nostalgic about.*
This is a great review of a great book. Just what I needed. Thanks!
Its ma birthday today, thanks crash course for making my day great
this book changed my life
I loved Dawn. I look forward to reading this book.
Who's watching this in 2020...
John, I can guarantee Liverpool will not have won the Champions League by 2024. The rest are valid questions however.
The truth is brutal😩
Klopp and Salah can only do so much
Wah wah
2005?
I hope AFC Wimbledon wins the Premier League
Thank you for this review. It's a book that was not on my radar. I've since bought the book and started reading it. Excellent review of an excellent book
Are you kidding me!? Corporate slavery never stopped!
Do you mean in some countries?