I’ve been reading and appreciating the two Parable books from Octavia E. Butler, The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents. They are powerful books. I can’t quite say I’m enjoying them, because the characters endure such horrible events (including sexual violence against children — it’s dark). It reminds me of The Road by Cormac McCarthy in that it is well-written, compelling, and a powerful story, but depicts a world so awful that it’s difficult to engage.

[Spoilers for the Parable books below]

In the world of Butler’s Parable books, some people are gifted/afflicted with a hyper-empathy condition, as a side-effect of drug use during their mothers’ pregnancy. They feel the pain (and less often, the pleasure) of others they see. If they see you break your leg, they feel like they’ve broken their own leg.

All of that said, I’ve concluded that I have a particular type of hyper-empathy. It only applies to people I see wearing bicycle helmets backwards. Even though they may not know of their shame yet, I feel it deeply.