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A review by bibliochemist
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
4.0
Oof. This book. The feels. The dread. The horror.
I am going to take it upon myself to inform whomever is reading this that this book is DARK. There are SERIOUS CONTENT WARNINGS that I might suggest familiarizing yourself with before you read if you’re sensitive (notably to violence).
Brief synopsis: After hearing music from another planet, a group of Jesuit friends decides to travel to this planet and befriend this alien species. However, when only one member of the crew comes back ~40 years later, he has to answer A LOT of questions, all while working though his own grief…what went so terribly wrong on their mission?
I feel like I have a love/hate relationship with this book. For the most part, I was completely captivated. It made me feel things and consider things deeply, and when a book does that, it’s surely special. I will say that there is some serious suspension of disbelief that needs to happen as we go (would a group of friends really just up and go to space? Would they truly be able to walk around without space suits and eat the vegetation on that planet? Wouldn’t they have planned more? Were they not worried about INFECTING ALIENS WITH EARTHLY DISEASES?). But…if you’re able to get past that…and the content warnings…I think it makes it worthwhile.
One of these days I’ll read the sequel, because I want to see how Emilio (our main character) deals with the long-term aftermath of everything he’s experienced. But…we will wait awhile until we fully recover from this one.
I am going to take it upon myself to inform whomever is reading this that this book is DARK. There are SERIOUS CONTENT WARNINGS that I might suggest familiarizing yourself with before you read if you’re sensitive (notably to violence).
Brief synopsis: After hearing music from another planet, a group of Jesuit friends decides to travel to this planet and befriend this alien species. However, when only one member of the crew comes back ~40 years later, he has to answer A LOT of questions, all while working though his own grief…what went so terribly wrong on their mission?
I feel like I have a love/hate relationship with this book. For the most part, I was completely captivated. It made me feel things and consider things deeply, and when a book does that, it’s surely special. I will say that there is some serious suspension of disbelief that needs to happen as we go (would a group of friends really just up and go to space? Would they truly be able to walk around without space suits and eat the vegetation on that planet? Wouldn’t they have planned more? Were they not worried about INFECTING ALIENS WITH EARTHLY DISEASES?). But…if you’re able to get past that…and the content warnings…I think it makes it worthwhile.
One of these days I’ll read the sequel, because I want to see how Emilio (our main character) deals with the long-term aftermath of everything he’s experienced. But…we will wait awhile until we fully recover from this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Torture