Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

26 reviews

jedore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

“You know what’s the most terrifying thing about admitting that you’re in love?…You are just naked. You put yourself in harm’s way and you lay down all your defenses. No clothes, no weapons. Nowhere to hide. Completely vulnerable. The only thing that makes it tolerable is to believe the other person loves you back and that you can trust him not to hurt you.”

This is a captivating science fiction novel that intertwines deep themes, like love, faith, humanity, and the unknown. The story follows a Jesuit priest, Emilio Sandoz, and his eclectic team of scientists and scholars on a mission to make first contact with an alien civilization on the planet Rakhat. The narrative is structured in two timelines, one detailing the mission’s hopeful beginnings and the other unraveling the tragic aftermath, which keeps readers engaged and chomping at the bit to understand the full picture.

This may very well be my very first true science fiction book! I’m not typically a fan of sci-fi, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying this one. The blend of speculative fiction with profound philosophical questions made it a compelling read.

I was initially apprehensive about the religious aspect of the book, given its heavy focus on Jesuit priests. However, Mary Doria Russell handles the religious themes objectively and the story remains balanced by her inclusion of both non-religious and Jewish characters who are integral to the plot. The religious characters are portrayed as complex humans, not as dogmatic zealots trying to convert others, which I very much appreciated. This approach made the interactions between religious and non-religious characters feel authentic and respectful.

There were so many fascinating facets to this story. The book delves into Catholicism, linguistics, alien culture, interpersonal relationships, sanctioned body mutilation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Boredom is never an option!

Character development is fantastic. Each character is given a distinct voice and personality, making them feel real and relatable. The description of the alien species is really well-done. Russell’s vivid imagery allowed me to easily visualize the aliens and their environment.

I highly recommend "The Sparrow" to anyone interested in an intelligent and multifaceted story…whether you're a fan of science fiction or not!

Content Warnings

reenelou's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I wanted it to be more gorey.

There was so much exposition at the begining and it felt like the last part of the book was rushed, the horror element was more implied than gratuitous and gd I wanted to witness the true horror of the surgery, hasta'akala, emillo underwent.

Content Warnings

hannah_g44's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

ericaburns1's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

My favorite book. I think about it all the time. DW Yarbrough is my best friend.

”the Good Lord decided to make DW Yarbrough a Catholic, a liberal, ugly and gay and a fair poet, and then had him born in Waco, Texas. Now I ask you, is the work a serious Deity?” the greatest sentence written in all of literature.

BUT THE SPARROW STILL FALLS. I think about that all the time.

This book has shaped me. It is horrific, moving, funny, devastating. Religious tones and discussions but done from all sorts of perspectives: catholic, jewish, agnostic, atheistic.

Content Warnings

sincetheflood's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

holy fuck. holy fucking shit. easily one of the best books i've ever read and also one of the hardest to get through.

especially those last 50 pages.

good fucking lord

Content Warnings

piripiw's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I liked Russell's writing and found the story compelling and the characters' companionship heart warming.

However in the end it felt to me like all the suffering (and along with the comradeship, there is a lot of suffering!) was all in service to a philosophical/ theological thought experiment. The character who bears the worst of it is a man (a mixed race man who grew up in poverty in Puerto Rico), but it nevertheless put me in mind of those Lars von Trier films which ultimately feel voyeuristic on one woman's intense suffering.

Its also a *very* generous take on the motivations and conduct of religious organisations.

Content Warnings

emiliosandoz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ok a lot of thoughts about the sparrow

for anyone who doesn’t know uhhh **huge r*pe tw**

ALSO A LOT OF SPOILERS!!!

i don’t think i can quite articulate to anyone, even my fiancee, what this book means to me. i really don’t.

how can i, a puerto rican interested in religion and space and constantly searching for g-d, who was viciously abused growing up, who spent hours sitting in front of my window and screaming at g-d, begging to know why he hated me or for answers as to why this was happening to me, explain to anyone who hasn’t been trafficked, who hasn’t been abused, what this book could possibly mean to someone like me??

they used me hard, john. they used me hard.

sometimes…sometimes there was an audience.

face it. tell us.

i was not a prostitute.

then at least i have the solace of hating g-d.

would you like to know precisely how dark the night of the soul can get?

as you see: the whore sleeps badly.

i was naked before g-d and i was raped.

like i can’t explain it. how can i articulate that emilio sandoz is everything i am on a page? the only difference between the two of us is he was abused by aliens and i was abused by my parents. the only difference is he’s a man and i’m not. the only difference is he’s older than me. the only difference is he’s a priest.

and those are THE ONLY differences.

how many times have i thought to myself well if i was meant for all the good that’s happened to me, then i have to have been meant for all the terrible too? and how many times have i thought to myself the equivalent of “but it was my body. it was my blood. and it was my love.” how many times have i hated g-d and loved him all over again and hated him again and….

idk man. i can’t articulate it. i just can’t. because i can’t show you how many times i’ve cried reading this book. i can’t show you my whole life because we haven’t invented memory recall display technology (or whatever it would be called) yet.

this is the best way i can describe any of it and i KNOW even this isn’t good enough.

i guess the only thing i could do is write down every single line from the book that made me scream on the inside. but if i did that we’d be here all day.

i mean…idk it’s the fact that emilio is puerto rican like i am. like THAT is what mostly messes with me. that and the fact he reacts to trauma the EXACT same way i do. and also his pride and inability to admit when he’s suffering.

HIS INTEREST IN LANGUAGES

THE WAY HE JOKES.

and then the trauma too.

he was used. he was used hard. he says that himself verbatim. (they used me, john. they used me hard.) and wow hi i was trafficked. i’m PERMANENTLY DISABLED because of what my father let those men do to me. so yeah it’s really fucking hard not to compare myself to emilio sandoz when humans are literally child sized on rakhat. not just child sized: they’re the size of an eight year old child. i was seven, okay? i was seven.

oh and then there’s the fact i literally have spent YEARS dESPISING g-d bc of what he put me through. do you want to know how many times i literally was on my knees in front of my bedroom window screaming and begging g-d to tell me why he was doing this to me, to tell me why he hated me. (do you want more? would you like to know precisely how dark the night of the soul can get?)

g-d’s whore. yeah. (as you see: the whore sleeps badly)

oh and the fact that emilio really wants to fucking be dead and against all odds he’s survived. like moi. (this will kill me. this will kill me and then i can stop trying to understand)

there’s also the fact my own father beat me and my mother just let it happen. she let that and everything else happen. kind of like emilio’s mother with his father.

and emilio being incapable of saying the word until forced to it. (i was not a prostitute. no you weren’t, what were you?) the fact he can’t say that word and that i literally can’t even think it now and that i had to astrick it out at the beginning of this post…

see there’s a reason why i can’t be normal about this book. it’s not just the fact that i love emilio and my heart breaks for him. it’s the fact that i AM him. THAT’S what fucks me up so much.

i AM emilio sandoz.

i know EXACTLY how he feels. i’ve reacted EXACTLY how he has. do you want to know how many times i’ve woken up yelping at night? my own fiancee can tell you. it happens at LEAST once a week.

would you like to know precisely how dark the night of the soul can get?

i can’t fucking handle it, okay? i literally can not.

Content Warnings