Reviews - The Sparrow | The StoryGraph

2.76k reviews for:

The Sparrow

Mary Doria Russell

4.16 AVERAGE

fsmn36's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

After recently also reading Grass (in fact I started it after and finished it before this book), I find them of a similar theme and tone; religion, first contact, alien cultures, and fundamental misunderstanding of said culture that leads to both ruin and revolution. While Grass focuses on humans sort of sucked into that culture unwillingly, Emilio and the Rakhat delegation are sucked in through pursuit of discovery. Every step leads them to knowledge, but a fundamental difference impedes them and kills many. In the slow reveal, we understand the missteps and the lack of information that leads to the demise of the delegation and the spiritual demise of Emilio. It feels much more realistic than the TV sci-fi of the 90s like SG1 where they bumble into a culture and it causes a minor mishap or a small war but everything shakes out by the end of the episode. MDR says she modeled it on first explorers, many who considered themselves sent by God and in doing so, in the name of God, enslaved people, killed them (outright and through disease), and fundamentally destroyed the indigenous cultures. In The Sparrow, we see not only the disastrous and unintentional upset of the local ecosystem (hunter and prey and populations), but in fact, the explorers are ruined similarly. It is they who die and in ways that are vaguely unsatisfying to the reader (or at least me because I want to know all the things!) but are true to a first contact and new environment; there is no magical Dr Bones and computer to find and isolate a virus in 2 days.

This book is found family and because of that, brutal as the story goes along. The characters are incredibly complex; to the point that the first half of the book seems to drag on because it is almost entirely character development and in a complex writing and emotional style. Things are implied and not said and that is to the reader as well as in between the characters. The narrator may be omniscient in that the story is not told from one perspective only and we see things happening that don’t happen to just the main character(s), but the narrator is still limited, not explaining to the reader what is left unsaid - it must be gathered as the characters gather it.

This book took me forever to read because of the complexity and heavy nature of the themes of religion, first contact, academia, philosophy of language, anthropology, etc which meant I sometimes had to put it down when life got busy or my mood wasn’t right. But I devoted the last half of the book in days, limited only due to circumstances, and I know I will be rereading this one.

daniellemarie's review

4.0

adventurous dark funny 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

slockmil's review against another edition

5.0

The slow, deliberate reveal of information was done in the most carefully intentional way I may have ever read. The unfolding horror, the parallel narratives, the commentary on faith, and the unusual nature of Jesuit practicality really made for an amazing first contact story. I find it hard to believe a sequel could possibly be this stunning, but I'm excited to find out what this author does next.

jcat16's review against another edition

5.0

Disturbing. Engaging. I can’t believe that I’ve never read this book. Well written and I’m sure will lead to great discussion at my book club

katybrooke's review against another edition

2.0

By the time I realized how boring this book was, I was too far in & felt like I had to finish it. How is a book about Jesuits in freaking SPACE so boring?? Is a 10 page explanation of space travel really necessary? Or a 5 page discussion of two old people trying (& failing) to have sex in space? I meeeeean

essinink's review against another edition

4.0

"dark night of the soul" - (Roman Catholic spirituality) a spiritual crisis in the journey toward union with God. See also "spiritual dryness." Cf the Book of Job.

2019 - The Arecibo Observatory discovers radio broadcasts of music from Alpha Centauri. Ten days later, the Society of Jesus (aka the Jesuits) begins organizing a first contact mission while the rest of the world debates what should be done.

2060 - Fr. Emilio Sandoz, sole survivor of the disastrous mission to Rakhat, is subjected to interrogation as part of the Jesuit Order's inquest into events.

Mary Doria Russell wields these two narratives with skill, transitioning between them at largely appropriate points to reveal to the reader the truth of the mission, such that as the circle of the two narratives closes, the pieces fall together--not with any sense of surprise--but with an echoing inevitability.

It's far from perfect. For all the brains that the outfit is supposed to have, I found myself appalled at their approach to the alien landscape and first contact situation. Similarly, the reaction of the VaRakhati to alien life was oddly blasé. Although commonly categorized as science fiction, it's more easily read as a philosophical novel within an SF setting. (At which point it's also easier to forgive our protagonists' blunders.)

The meat of this book, though, is concerned with the "dark night of the soul." Sandoz is a man who fell in love with God, only to be confronted by the problem of evil in a deeply personal way. His struggle to find meaning in his suffering, and in the suffering of those around him, is the soul of the story.