josift 's review for:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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Because if I was led by God to love God, step by step, as it seemed, if I accept that the beauty and the rapture were real and true, then the rest of it was God’s will too, and that, gentlemen, is cause for bitterness. p489

A thorough examination of the nature of belief that was exceptionally interesting to read and beautifully written. I do not believe this book comes to any real conclusions about God—and is all the better for it—but it poses the questions repeatedly in different lights and circumstances in a way I rarely encounter. Is this God's will, it asks, at a meeting of friends; at a revolutionary discovery; at a tragic accident; at a dream realized; at the brutalization of a true believer. If this is not God's will, it asks, then what is it?

The framing struck me the most while reading. We are aware from the moment we begin that something awful is going to happen, and as such, we wait for it in every line, cringing at every joy and worry expressed by the characters. How can I truly feel their joy when I know, without doubt, that it will end in tragedy? The effect this conflict has on the reading experience cannot be underestimated and is the masterstroke of this narrative.