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A review by mafiabadgers
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
First read 12/2022, reread 11/2024
The Sparrow is a book about friendship. It's about living and dying. It's a first contact novel. It's about sex. It's about faith and it's about God, but it's never preachy. It's about trauma. It's about recovery. It's about the difficulty of successful communication across different cultures. What it is not, no matter what Mary Doria Russell might think, is a book about how poor Christopher Columbus was in a very difficult position and why we therefore ought to be much nicer to him.
The story moves from the discovery of alien life --> lots of planning --> outward journey --> lots of discovery --> lots of suffering --> Emilio Sandoz's slow recovery back on Earth. Russell made the decision to chop it in two at around the point Emilio, back on Earth, becomes able to hold a conversation again, then intersperses chapters from the two arcs. Back when I first read it, I thought this was a brilliant move. It manages the tone of the book very carefully—Emilio's worst moments are paired with either the hopeful outset, or his ultimate moment of catharsis—so that a book which could easily have had a long, miserable middle instead moves along at a good pace whilst making the highs and lows more intense. This is good. A tragedy shouldn't be too long, particularly a book, which people will likely put down and have to come back to later. This time around, without the promise of finding out what happened, there were times I found myself reluctant to pick it up again. Certainly I was engrossed as soon as I started reading, so this isn't a criticism, only an observation.
The thing that struck me this time around about the alternating time periods was that Russell capitalises on it so very well to create tension. The book frequently makes reference to things that have, in the late-in-the-timeline sections, already happened, but which the reader hasn't yet encountered. There's always some enticement to keep reading, particularly at the beginning, when readers are still getting acquainted with the characters. Even on a reread, it's tremendous. I do think the characters are perhaps a shade overdone (and moreso towards the beginning), probably because Russell so very badly wanted us to like them, but as this doesn't get in the way of actually doing so it's not much of a problem.
Overall, it nails the themes it sets out to explore, and tells a story the likes of which I've never come across before. It's a little racist, at times, being a bit too quick to type people based on their ethnicity or culture, but for all that it has to be one of my all-time favourites.
The Sparrow is a book about friendship. It's about living and dying. It's a first contact novel. It's about sex. It's about faith and it's about God, but it's never preachy. It's about trauma. It's about recovery. It's about the difficulty of successful communication across different cultures. What it is not, no matter what Mary Doria Russell might think, is a book about how poor Christopher Columbus was in a very difficult position and why we therefore ought to be much nicer to him.
The story moves from the discovery of alien life --> lots of planning --> outward journey --> lots of discovery --> lots of suffering --> Emilio Sandoz's slow recovery back on Earth. Russell made the decision to chop it in two at around the point Emilio, back on Earth, becomes able to hold a conversation again, then intersperses chapters from the two arcs. Back when I first read it, I thought this was a brilliant move. It manages the tone of the book very carefully—Emilio's worst moments are paired with either the hopeful outset, or his ultimate moment of catharsis—so that a book which could easily have had a long, miserable middle instead moves along at a good pace whilst making the highs and lows more intense. This is good. A tragedy shouldn't be too long, particularly a book, which people will likely put down and have to come back to later. This time around, without the promise of finding out what happened, there were times I found myself reluctant to pick it up again. Certainly I was engrossed as soon as I started reading, so this isn't a criticism, only an observation.
The thing that struck me this time around about the alternating time periods was that Russell capitalises on it so very well to create tension. The book frequently makes reference to things that have, in the late-in-the-timeline sections, already happened, but which the reader hasn't yet encountered. There's always some enticement to keep reading, particularly at the beginning, when readers are still getting acquainted with the characters. Even on a reread, it's tremendous. I do think the characters are perhaps a shade overdone (and moreso towards the beginning), probably because Russell so very badly wanted us to like them, but as this doesn't get in the way of actually doing so it's not much of a problem.
Overall, it nails the themes it sets out to explore, and tells a story the likes of which I've never come across before. It's a little racist, at times, being a bit too quick to type people based on their ethnicity or culture, but for all that it has to be one of my all-time favourites.