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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
books Never* make me cry
*except the last few chapters of this
aughhhhhaugh augh i am already excited to read this again after some time has passed
*except the last few chapters of this
aughhhhhaugh augh i am already excited to read this again after some time has passed
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Rape, Grief
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Pedophilia
Let me begin by saying that I truly didn't expect this book to affect me this much. I initially picked it up because it had been a required reading for the other theology classes back in college. I didn't enjoy my theology classes, so I wanted to know if it was because theology wasn't something I was interested in or if I was just really bad at picking theology professors.
The Sparrow takes the reader on a journey that forces both the characters and the readers to ask questions about their faith and how they perceive their relationship with God. It places an emphasis on the disparity between the traditions we've had in our religions (and the viewpoints and expectations associated) and what happens in reality. It makes the reader ask if they really do know God, or if they're just projecting their own ideas and expectations onto God.
The book offers very little in the way of answers. What little they offer often branch into even more questions that keep on spiraling. Yet it assures us that this is precisely the human experience. We keep on questioning and exploring because we want to understand.
[Might be changed later on when I process my feelings more. I needed to release some of them so I could focus again.]
The Sparrow takes the reader on a journey that forces both the characters and the readers to ask questions about their faith and how they perceive their relationship with God. It places an emphasis on the disparity between the traditions we've had in our religions (and the viewpoints and expectations associated) and what happens in reality. It makes the reader ask if they really do know God, or if they're just projecting their own ideas and expectations onto God.
The book offers very little in the way of answers. What little they offer often branch into even more questions that keep on spiraling. Yet it assures us that this is precisely the human experience. We keep on questioning and exploring because we want to understand.
[Might be changed later on when I process my feelings more. I needed to release some of them so I could focus again.]
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This might have been one of the most brilliant books I have ever read. It’s an insane, incredible story across time and space but with some of the deepest, beautifully written humanity I’ve ever read in a novel. Need to just sit and process for a while I think
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The book is somewhat dated, but still holds value
This is one of those books that I want to recommend to everybody!
This book is a gem! Mary Doria Russell is an exquisite writer. Her story follows a small group of Jesuits attempting to make first contact with alien life after hearing them singing over a radio. Russell wrote this book in 1996 so it was interesting to see her interpretation of the world in 2019 and 2060 (the story jumps around in time, which personally I love in a novel). The book isn't perfect- without spoiling anything, there were a couple events that I felt deserved more than a paragraph or two. And the characters are kind of "all or nothing" in the sense that they're always either having a familial dinner party or solemnly contemplating God. But this is one of the most unique stories I've ever read and I recommend it to everyone, even/especially if like me you don't usually read sci fi.
This book dragged so very much for me. The last scene I read involved the main Jesuit priest getting offended because the unusual, distant, genius woman with a traumatic past (that of course everyone is in love with) made a bet about his ability to learn a language quickly. No idea why that was offensive, but it captured much of the unlikable quality of the book for me. In the "now" scenes with the priest, there seems to be a lot of nuance and subtlety that the reader is supposed to be picking up on. But, those scenes just seemed like a bunch of stuffy Jesuit priests wringing their hands over church politics. Somehow saying something was Mary Magdalene and not Lazarus was cause for great anger and self-destruction and was intended as some sort of psychological manipulation. Uh, what? Overall, the premise just seemed ridiculous - sending a bunch of friends, half of whom happen to be Jesuit priests, to make first contact with aliens? Even though they have no particular qualifications? And then dragging it out forever? I gave up.