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ograceanne 's review for:
The Sparrow
by Mary Doria Russell
I really enjoyed the first half of the book— considering the purpose of individual human lives, unexpected friendships and unrequited love, balancing faith and the fear that one is on a fool’s mission— all themes are right up my alley. However, I became critical and disappointed the moment the motley crew met the aliens on their planet. The “aliens” are essentially earth mammals that evolved to be sentient. They have a slightly stronger sense of smell. However everything else, from their human-like language in our audible wavelength and words, to their capitalist society and apparently similar sex organs, is distinctly Earthly and frequently human. Russels background as an anthropologist undoubtably influenced her creation of a society that is different from our own but she fails to imagine that the aliens are intrinsically, wildly different from any animals that have evolved on Earth. This lack of real difference frustrated me because of its utter unlikelihood.
I kept trying to remember that the aliens themselves aren’t the point of the book, but i found that the unbelievability of their existence to be a huge detractor. Furthermore, I think that their supposed “difference” is supposed to be a key factor in Russell’s themes of faith and purpose, and I just didn’t believe the difference was significant. The way the humans and aliens interacted approximated Jesuits meeting and learning about a native people’s society, not Jesuits meeting an entirely new, sentient species. Thus, even though I was intrigued by Russell’s themes and found the plot exciting and interesting, I was disappointed in the book as a whole.
I kept trying to remember that the aliens themselves aren’t the point of the book, but i found that the unbelievability of their existence to be a huge detractor. Furthermore, I think that their supposed “difference” is supposed to be a key factor in Russell’s themes of faith and purpose, and I just didn’t believe the difference was significant. The way the humans and aliens interacted approximated Jesuits meeting and learning about a native people’s society, not Jesuits meeting an entirely new, sentient species. Thus, even though I was intrigued by Russell’s themes and found the plot exciting and interesting, I was disappointed in the book as a whole.