The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell], The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell], The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow In humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight person scientific expedition of its own What the Jesuits find isIn humanit The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell] - The Sparrow, The Sparrow In humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat While United Nations d
- Title: The Sparrow
- Author: Mary Doria Russell
- ISBN: 9780449912553
- Page: 236
- Format: Paperback
The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell], The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell], The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow In humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight person scientific expedition of its own What the Jesuits find isIn humanit. The Sparrow, The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell] - The Sparrow, The Sparrow In humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat While United Nations d
- The Sparrow Best Read || [Mary Doria Russell]236Mary Doria Russell
I had picked this up years ago due to all the terrific reviews, but when I started it, since it involves priests and such, I thought it was going to be a Christian book So I m really glad that a group decided to read this, because it is NOT a yah yah Christian book at all I would instead call it a spiritual book in that the journey involves time old questions, of faith, of God, of religion, of humanity And altho most of the main characters are indeed Jesuits and so many questions and approaches [...]
I had wanted to read The Sparrow since its release back in 1996 1997 I had seen a review of it and loved the basic idea of future Jesuits being the first missionaries to make contact with the first sentient alien species discovered But I lost that review and was never able to figure out the name of the book or the author I tried to discover it everywhere I went, and all those I asked were oblivious I really thought I would have no trouble tracking it down, but I couldn t, so after a while I gave [...]
What is a life worth living, and what is a life wasted, and why What is worth dying for, what is worth living for, and why What shall I teach my child to value, and what shall I urge that child to avoid, and why What am I owed by others and what do I owe others, and why Each human culture provides a different set of answers to those questions, but deity is nearly always embedded in the Why The above quote is from Mary Doria Russell in her Afterword of this brilliant novel I think they sum up per [...]
I ve hit page 199 of The Sparrow and the viscosity of the text is increasing.By page 12, I had a lot of hope for this book By page 88 I was really into the book, and thinking there was a good chance this was a 4 or 5 star book At this point though, I m not sure I can summon enough conviction up to finish it.Russell takes a gamble with her story of telling it from the beginning and end toward the middle, and relies extremely heavily on foreshadowing It s high risk technique with a big payoff, and [...]
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell was Russell s first novel and was published in 1996 Winning many accolades and several awards, including the Arthur C Clarke Award, it describes a first contact between humans and an alien race A group led by Jesuit priests travels to a planet near Alpha Centauri after alien singing is picked up from interspace radio signals This is a beautifully written novel with brilliant characterization really the greatest strength of the novel that is poignant in its narra [...]
What a strange, accomplished nautilus of a novel, every chamber containing both joy and tragedy.
This is the third SF story I ve read where a Jesuit priest goes on an expedition to another planet and suffers a spiritual crisis as a result It s almost becoming a sub genre I don t want to call Emilio a whiner or anything obviously, what happens to him is truly horrible But, much as I hate to say it, his tragedy seemed lightweight compared to the other two, and I felt disappointed I was expecting something a little cosmic in scale.Of the three stories, the one I found most effective was Arthu [...]
If called upon to imagine a scenario in which the faith of the devoutly religious is put most severely to the test I would probably think of the individuals forced to work in the Nazi death camps What they experienced and witnessed is almost like science fiction in the unimaginable scope of its horror Mary Doria Russell chooses the genre of science fiction to dramatize one human being s dark night of the soul and it s certainly the most imaginative account of a spiritual crisis I ve ever read Th [...]
It has been a while since a book made me cry.The Sparrow begins with a concise prologue, so unassuming that I overlooked its significance Within this prologue, however, is a reminder, a sort of caveat that hangs over the book The Society of Jesus asked leave of no temporal government It acted on its own principles, with its own assets, on Papal authority The mission to Rakhat was undertaken not so much secretly as privately a fine distinction but one that the Society felt no compulsion to explai [...]
I love when I skim through pages of reviews of a book and they are nearly all either 5 stars or one star Only a really good book produces that range of opinion This is a really good book.The Sparrow is science fiction with class It is well written, there is a satisfying amount of science fiction and then there is a whole lot besides Russell s greatest talent is in characterisation I enjoyed every single one of the characters in this book and when I had to put it down and do other things I misse [...]
Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it Matthew 10 29 But the sparrow still falls I think the second sentence in the above quote from page 401 basically says shit happens It does encapsulate the major theme of the novel quite well I think.The Sparrow is one of those books I hear people raving about and immediately put on my TBR list, but it won t stay there quietly as I keep hearing about it almost on a weekly basis So I have to capitulate or go mad and move it to t [...]
Sadly, has yet to allow a kill it with fire rating, so I ll have to content myself with a one star review and a nice cup of tea to quell the overpowering nausea Not due to the shocking ending, which I would have welcomed somewhere around page two Not due to the incompetent sci and incredibly half assed fi Due to the revolting, self congratulatory, aren t we so clever and cute, wink to the audience characters But perhaps this was intentional Perhaps Ms Russell intended her audience to greet the t [...]
I wonder how it feels to be one of the thirty one agents who rejected The Sparrow Oh, but I shouldn t be so hard on hapless agents unable to recognize genius or unwilling to take a risk It took me many years seventeen from its date of publication, five from when I became aware of it to pick up Mary Doria Russell s debut novel And four days to devour it The threaded narrative is split in two by time and space, but follows the story of one man Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit priest from Puerto Rico with p [...]
If I wanted to read about sexual slavery, rape, gang rape, and gang rape with an audience, I d just read the news everyday Actually, I do read the news every day This kind of stuff is rampant It always blows my mind that SF F authors who can write about ANYTHING, no limits often choose to return to stuff like sexual slavery.This is not entertainment for me It is real life, it is every day, and it is NOT what I seek out in my fiction.Russell is a great writer this one star is not a reflection of [...]
6.0 stars This book was beautifully written and the best way I can think to describe it is emotionally devastating but in a good way Nominally, it is a book about first contact with an alien race but the heart of the story is the age old question, How can someone believe in a just, loving God when such horrible things happen to good people It has been over a year since I have read this book in fact I just finished the sequel, Children of God , and I can still remember feeling blown away by the d [...]
Irritating Irritating prose, irritating philosophizing, intensely irritating structure, and SUPREMELY irritating characters Honestly, a annoying set of self satisfied witty bourgeois assholes you will not find.
The most difficult thing about reading Mary Doria Russell s books is just starting them If you don t like war stories you aren t going to want to read A Thread of Grace If you don t like westerns, you ll be tempted to avoid Doc or Epitaph And if you are not big on science fiction, the descriptions of The Sparrow and its sequel, Children of God, aren t going to get you excited That s where I was when a coworker first recommend it almost ten years ago She described it as a story about a first cont [...]
I read this author s A Thread of Grace with my real world book club and I really enjoyed it and this looked interesting so I put this book on my to read shelf because of that, even though that book is historical fiction and this book is science fiction speculative fiction An online book club inspired me to actually choose it to read from my very long to read shelf and I am so grateful to have read it I don t know the bible so I didn t know why the title was The Sparrow until a few pages from the [...]
Well, dang it Dang it I was NOT in the mood to give another scathing review of a book, especially not a book that has a near cultish fan following, as this one does.This is a seriously beloved book with a 4.17 overall rating.But, for the first time in my existence on this planet, I m going to quote Whitesnake Here I go again on my own Goin down the only road I ve ever knownLike a drifter I was born to walk alone And I ve made up my mind, I ain t wasting no time.Yep, that s right I just quoted a [...]
Rating 4 of fiveGorgeous book, both physically and in content I was riveted from first to last, and completely bought into the premise A privately financed interstellar journey never seemed nore likely than in the world Russell posits is coming from our own era.Beautiful, beautiful writing The descriptions of Rukhat are spare and evoked so much for me The descriptions of Earth s near enough future were pitch perfect to my ears as well, though a lot less beautiful in the images they left behind.T [...]
It was well done, with beautiful prose Interesting dual storyline style I understand other reviewers complaints about realism and incompatible biologies, microflora, etc but I think the story is, at heart, a parable There is sophisticated play with words throughout the book which adds to the depth of meaning In one of the later hearings, she writes Sometimes they were dealing with a Spaniard Or Mephistopheles Most often, it was Dr Emilio Sandoz, linguist, scholar The passage ends with the final [...]
kitap son sayfaya kadar ak c ve merak uyand r c yd yazara hakk n vermek laz m bu konuda Emilio Sandoz un ya ad klar , deneyimleri, i at malar , hayal k r kl klar ve vicdan muhasebesi dolu dolu hissedildi kitap ok a h ristiyanl k kokuyor diyenlere olaylar zaten cizvit ler zerine kurulu, yani ok normal diyebilirim okurken n tr olursan z ok daha fazla zevk al rs n z.
I really loathed this book, I think because it was such a lazy piece of work The characters had absolutely no clue, no situational awareness of what was going on around them A real astronaut, hell, Captain Picard himself would never have made the bonehead moves these characters make in a first contact situation, and then then to have one of them kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery Are you KIDDING me Any scientist, no, make that anyone who made it through freshman biology could have told Russe [...]
One of the best first contact science fiction books I have ever read The sequel isn t as good but this one is a must not miss Absolutely terrific.
In science fiction, space exploration is usually spearheaded by intellectuals, the military, mega corporations, and even the average joes of our near future.With The Sparrow, Mary Russell goes a unique direction by taking inspiration from the explorers of times past The Catholic Church It s a concept with some hefty potential The early parts of the book lean heavily on it to create a sense of wonder and dread As a wannabe history buff, I was titillated by the idea of taking a religious organisat [...]
In a word excellent The Sparrow is a first contact science fiction novel, but it s also an example of the genre that s great for non SF fans Although it s a story about a Jesuit mission to an alien planet, the focus is on the question of faith.The novel uses a non linear storytelling device, so in the first few pages you know the outcome Emilio Sandoz has returned to earth alone and broken, and scandalous stories about a dead child and a brothel have preceded him His superiors attempt to extrac [...]
NO SPOILERS Full disclosure Book abandoned on page 106 out of 431 In the next hour, George and Jimmy and Sofia outlined the ideas for him how wildcatters selected and obtained suitable asteroids and outfitted them with life support, how the engines broke down silicates to use as fuel to move the asteroids to Earth orbit refineries, how twenty ton loads of refined metals were aimed, like the old Gemini capsules, at recovery sites in the ocean of Japan s coast How you could scale the system up for [...]
Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit priest, has returned from humanity first mission to contact aliens the sole survivor A broken man, both physically mutilated and psychologically tormented, he refuses to speak about his experiences But rumor spread years before his return, and he has become a pariah Did he not destroy the integrity of an alien culture, introducing forbidden concepts Did he not betray all his moral standards, sinking into debauchery and inter species prostitution Did he Flashbacks show us [...]
Awful.Poorly thought out, too Somehow there s near lightspeed travel, yet they can t radio for help because Well Whatever.And don t start me on the fragmented flashback present nonsense Tell your damn story in chronological order, thank you.The whole book is a vehicle for the author s extensive experience in things other than science fiction, so s exegesis than story.To clarify the writing style is ok, but could be improved to my taste, and while the plot is also fine, I don t see why it has to [...]
Wonderful book I was totally hooked from the very start Although the main character is a Jesuit, I didn t find the religion heavy or predominant It was well balanced with science which is the impression you get from the author herself so it isn t surprising Mary Doria Russell has joined our book club for a QA about this novel which has given lots of great insight into this brilliant piece of science fiction The journey is magnificent, beautiful and heartbreaking Since the story is presented as b [...]