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The Sparrow
List Price: $15.00
as of 09/03/2010 02:43 EDT
Amazon.com's Price: $10.20
You Save: $4.80 (32%)as of 09/03/2010 02:43 EDT
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780449912553
ISBN: 0449912558
Item Dimensions:
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 408
Publication Date: September 08, 1997
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: September 08, 1997
Studio: Ballantine Books
Features:
- ISBN13: 9780449912553
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which 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 is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being "human." When the lone survivor of the expedition, Emilio Sandoz, returns to Earth in 2059, he will try to explain what went wrong... Words like "provocative" and "compelling" will come to mind as you read this shocking novel about first contact with a race that creates music akin to both poetry and prayer.
Product Description:
ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
"A NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT . . . Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense."
--USA Today
"AN EXPERIENCE NOT TO BE MISSED . . . If you have to send a group of people to a newly discovered planet to contact a totally unknown species, whom would you choose? How about four Jesuit priests, a young astronomer, a physician, her engineer husband, and a child prostitute-turned-computer-expert? That's who Mary Doria Russell sends in her new novel, The Sparrow. This motley combination of agnostics, true believers, and misfits becomes the first to explore the Alpha Centuri world of Rakhat with both enlightening and disastrous results. . . . Vivid and engaging . . . An incredible novel."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"POWERFUL . . . Father Emilio Sandoz [is] the only survivor of a Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat, 'a soul . . . looking for God.' We first meet him in Italy . . . sullen and bitter. . . . But he was not always this way, as we learn through flashbacks that tell the story of the ill-fated trip. . . . The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"SMOOTH STORYTELLING AND GORGEOUS CHARACTERIZATION . . . Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them."
--Entertainment Weekly
SELECTED BY THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Touching Characters and Deeply, Blissfully Philosophical.Well, Amazon provides you two reviews which do a much better job of summarizing the plot than I could. So, here is my personal critique...Things I liked, and some not so much.
The "not so much" list.
1) Worldbuilding. Not terrible, just not superb. If you want good world building, there are several sci-fi/fantasy authors that can help.
2) Science. No real earthshattering scientific concepts. And, in fact, some of the life sciences are somewhat sketchy. ... Read More
Rating:
- I Hated This Book!I picked this up from a friend. She thought that I might be interested because of my knowledge of the Catholic Church and a passing interest in science fiction. I Hated This Book! Characters are introduced, developed, and dismissed - dying almost off stage. There is inexplicable brutality and chaotic leaps of faith. I cannot think of a book that I liked less. I forced myself to finish The Sparrow assuming that there would be some redemptive conclusion. I was sadly wrong. I cannot discourage you strongly ... Read More
Rating:
- Classic!I found a mention of this book in an Amazon review as I was browsing - incredible luck since I am not sure how/when I would have come across this remarkable find and certainly it is a classic. The plot was great, the style is gripping and I was more interested in the characters than I generally am in science fiction novels. For me the weakest part of the novel was my lack of connection to and interest in the crisis of faith that plays a central role in joining the two time lines - perhaps if I was a more ... Read More
Rating:
- Intelligent, theological science fiction ... with a twistThis is one of those novels that haunts you. Science fiction meets theology. It's a story about first contact with an alien world; and the tragic results. It's about a priest who comes to hate God, yet never for a moment ceases to believe.
From the prologue: "The Jesuit scientists went to learn, not to proselytize. They went so that they might come to know and love God's other children. They went for the reason Jesuits have always gone to the farthest frontiers of human exploration. ... Read More
Rating:
- Compelling!This was a very enjoyable read. The complex character development and the compelling story made this book hard to put down. Even when my schedule prevented me from reading for several days in a row, I still found myself thinking about the world and the people Mary Doria Russell created. I really enjoy her writing style, and her nonlinear approach to presenting the narrative in this novel made an excellent story even more enjoyable.
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