The Sparrow

Rating:
Summary: First rate story-telling
Review: This was a real page-turner. Wonderful plot structure. Great characterizations. Mary Doria Russell is a very innovative, imaginative, and resourceful writer who obviously cares a great deal about the characters she brings to life on the page. I'm very much looking forward to reading "Children of God."

Rating:
Summary: A very different but yet seemingly plausible tale
Review: I sometimes found it rough going as the author flips back and forth between the earth experiences and the experiences on the new planet. That aside I felt she did a credible job of presenting a believable scenario of what life just might be like on another world. It's not so far fetched as she takes bits and pieces of certain cultures that exist on our planet and puts them together in one particular culture on the new planet. It occurred to me about half way through the book that had the group of explorers met ther ruling party first and not their slaves they might have had a totally different experience.

Sandoz is a well written character from beginning to end but I can not say that about the supporting cast. Especially towards the end the author seems to rush through major events. Some of them die in conflicts on the planet and these events are rushed through as if she were running out of time. It's very frustrating because you are not sure exactly what happened. If it was done for the purpose of a sequel then I will be very annoyed at the manipulation.

If you like sci fi, have a vivid imagination and can allow yourself the luxury of believing that space travel will not be government controlled in the near future then this book will keep you entertained. Unlike some sci fi books it tries to incorporate the very good and the very bad in all societies.

Rating:
Summary: "Sparrow" soars
Review: I loved this book! Whether you are an avid science fiction fan or a lover of character relations stories, The Sparrow is gripping and poignant. It deals with an exciting adventure story and a personal struggle with guilt and spiritual disillusionment. The characters are memorable and well-developed. Arguably one of the best books I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Just had to keep reading....
Review: A book that generates 269 reviews here on amazon.com is something to behold. Reading through them, I found that most of the comments were polarized -- readers either loving or hating Russell's first outing as a fiction author.

I started reading THE SPARROW while staying with a friend and on his recommendation. I stayed up all night, reading the first hundred-plus pages in one sitting. When I left for home the next day I stopped on the way to buy a copy of my own. Ignoring just about everything else, I plowed through the remainder of the book in the next day-and-a-half.

The superlatives and absolutes -- whether negative or positive -- so prevalent in the reviews here I felt to be unnecessary. Certainly not the "best book I have ever read," to be sure, but insults directed at the author (e.g., she should go back to writing manuals) are not only unduly harsh, but misplaced with regard to her first work of fiction. Unlike some of my fellow reviewers, I do not fancy myself an expert on creative writing. I do not do it for a living, but as a hobby. I am more at home in academia as Russell did for a substantial part of her adult life. Perhaps for that reason, I enjoyed the book -- warts and all. A few brief points:

The alternating timelines can be disorienting and problematic, but no more than other devices including the traditional chronological narrative. Imposing order on events, whether factual or fictional, implies choices that bring both clarity and obfuscation, possibilities and limits.

The characters were both "cardboard" and "fleshed-out" at the same time, one moment too clever by half and a bundle of cliches the next, but, then again, here in the real world not everyone is profound or unique and we make sense of individuals we encounter through generalizations, referents, and, yes, even stereotypes, even as we come to understand what makes them like no one else. Why can't an author rendering characters do the same?

Reading the biographical sketch of the author, it seems that she has poured the richeness of her personal and professional lives into the text, bringing knowledge and experience that give the book a certain flavor I found appealing. It was intimate and speculative at the same time. Furthermore, both the author and her work suggest that one's life (experiences, achievements, attachments, and even its end) result from some combination of choice, happenstance, and destiny/divine plan that leave both belivers and nonnbelievers just a bit uncomfortable and yet satisfied at the same time.

Even the most brief description of the book provokes raised eyebrows -- science fiction, spiritual reflection, Alpha Centauri, Jesuits, anthropology in one novel?!?!? Like any unusual combination of elements, there is a certain newness and an equally present awkwardness to THE SPARROW. Embrace uncritically and part of the author's intent is lost. Reject it based on rigid definitions of genre or style (likewise peering too deeply into its science) and miss out on its charms.

Rating:
Summary: Combined SciFi, Mysticism and Religion
Review: Truly plausible if not possible premise of Jesuits proselytizing in outer space. Catholicism, Judaism and Science skillfully interwoven to make and interesting and provocative mystery that managed to hold the interest of both reader's despite some difficult prose.

Rating:
Summary: Good story - shaky writing
Review: This is an excellent, entertaining story. As long as you're not picky about insisting that everything you read be good literature, you'll probably enjoy this. The writing is, at best, average - lots of cliches, one dimensional characters, etc. But - it's a good story in spite of the fact that it's not particularly well written.

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking anthropological sci-fi
Review: ...the writing in the first half of "The Sparrow" is somewhat disappointing. (It's the only reason I can't give the book 5 stars, although it probably still deserves it.) Russell set herself an enormous task by telling the story in two timelines with two sets of fairly complex characters and relationships to establish within the first 150 pages. The forward-moving timeline that recalls the discovery of Rakhat and establishes the histories and relationships of the expedition members is especially problematic. The dialogue and character development are overly earnest; the constant humorous/sarcastic banter comes off as very forced at times, as well as corny. There was a point, about a third of the way through the book, when I began to wonder if I was going to finish it.

Fortunately, the story's second timeline is much stronger, almost from the beginning. By describing the history and culture of the Jesuits and releasing details of the mission's terrible aftermath in little bits and pieces, Russell cleverly builds suspense and a sense of dread. Knowing everything that they did about "first contact," what could have happened to cause the deaths of the crew and the torture of Emilio Sandoz? How did everything go so horribly wrong? Where was God in all of this? By the middle of the book, the two timelines are of equal strength -- the characters and relationships are all established, the dialogue genuine and thoughtful, the sense of wonder and fear on Rakhat burning like wildfire. At this point, I couldn't put the book down.

I guess the moral of this review is STAY WITH IT. "The Sparrow" is a book filled to the rim with compassion for and insight into the spiritual and emotional lives of people everywhere. There are scenes of extraordinary beauty that will bring tears to your eyes, and they are worth waiting for. (As bad as the early dialogue was in places, I was shocked to discover how poetic Russell's writing really is most of the time.)

There are also horrific scenes that may give you nightmares or make you question the nature of human faith in God. "The Sparrow" is a darkly disturbing cautionary tale about getting caught up in one's own sense of purpose, about assigning meaning to events and calling it God's Will. People of "blind faith" who see God as a short-order cook waiting to serve up whatever their little individual egos pray for will NOT like this book, nor will people who are sexually squeemish or anthropologically challenged. However, if you appreciate great literary sci-fi in the tradition of Ursula Le Guin or Doris Lessing, you'll probably love "The Sparrow."

Rating:
Summary: Very weak
Review: The idea behind the story is a good one - a religious expedition to another planet to visit an alien culture, etc. However, the writing style, plot and character development are so amateurish that whatever interest might have been generated by the story line is quickly lost. I'll admit that I only made it through the first 200 pages before putting it down, and it was a struggle the whole way.

Rating:
Summary: Don't miss it..............
Review: I loved this book....couldnd't put it down; not only was it a great story, but the philosophical ideas imparted gave the book great depth. I didn't want it to end and ws so excited to find out there was a sequel. The sequel is not disappointing either. Very good, albeit distuburing ideas like the first one.

Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner and
Review: definitely a notch or two above most current sci-fi...i would give the book three stars and a half really; like other readers I do note some weak writing specially in the beginning..it does get better; the author does show herself fully capable of writing much better than what we get in the first parts of the books...Personally, I find the pacing of the book wonderful...and the characters do develop nicely as the book goes along....questions are raised...A Jesuit priest is found with mutilated hands in a total state of decadence...only at the end will the reader understand...and it is well worth reading to get there. Why does the book not get the full five star rating? Well, the humor is definitely on the cornier side and like another reader i found myself rolling my eyes...Anne is annoying in a way I cannot understand...I agree with her opinions , but it is the way she tries to shove them down our throat with swings of sudden sentimentality and even "self righteousenss' which is odd for such a seemingly "liberal" character...Emilio and Sofia are the most interesting characters, perhaps because most of the time they seem more sincere....after awhile i was really drawn to all the character, faults and all, because they were human...another weak point was the dialogue...i am puerto rican by birth and the odd insertions of "mano" and "yes?" to reflect our native patterns of speech were done in an way that sounds forced in the character, not as if they flowed out of his speech naturally...but don't let those little faults bog you down...the story is first rate and i will definitely read the sequel and hope that Mary Doria writes more-and although i await the movie with mixed expectations ( i cannot picture Banderas as Emilio...I'd prefered some actor more along the lines of "The Mission")...I hope that the movie follows the book close enough so as to not distort the unforgettable story which will have you thinking long after the tale has run it's course....