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Mar
17
My Answers (A Flock of Readers for THE SPARROW)
2010 at 8am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Discussion Questions Responses to
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Hello fellow readalongers (and everyone else)! Heather posted a bunch of excellent discussion questions about The Sparrow yesterday, and now that I’m almost halfway through the book—this is my fourth (or fifth?) reading of it—I’m more than ready to chat. Here are my responses to a few of the topics. If you’ve read The Sparrow or are participating in the readalong, I’d love to hear your thoughts as well. You can also keep track of the other readalongers’ responses here.
- This book is set in a not-so-distant future in which the balance of world power has shifted from the United States to Japan. Poverty, indentured servitude, ghettos, and “future brokers” are common. Based on this projected future, would you classify this novel as dystopian? Do you think this future is a real possibility based on where the world is today?
Though The Sparrow shares many thematic elements with dystopian novels, I’m reticent to call it one because, to me, the tone is very different from, say, The Handmaid’s Tale or Brave New World. Sadly, poverty, ghettos, and indentured servitude (in various forms) are not uncommon in the world today, and I’d be willing to bet that there are also “future brokers” of a sort as well. Aside from the futuristic space travel and fancy technology, the world of The Sparrow doesn’t feel terribly different from the world we live in today.
Additionally, I think that in dystopian novels, the story and the characters’ struggles are shaped and defined by the dark, threatening elements in the world, and that doesn’t happen in The Sparrow. Those dark elements set up the possibilities that give us characters like Sofia, but really, the story could take place in the world as it is today, if we just had the improved technology. I think most of the world events in The Sparrow are possibilities, but I don’t think they’ll be happening in the next nine years (the action of the story begins in 2019), unless NASA is working on some really fancy top secret projects
- From the beginning of the book we know that Something Bad happened during the mission but it takes until almost the end of the book for the reader to get the whole story. Do you think the author built the suspense to the perfect pitch or do you feel that she drew it out too long?
I’m only halfway through this reading, and one of the things I cannot stop thinking about is how surprised I am, every time I read this book, by how much Russell gives away from the very beginning of the book. The first time I read The Sparrow, the final revelation came as such a shock that I was sobbing by the time I finished reading it. And folks, I am not much of a crier.
As I told my readalong co-hosts on Twitter, I think the fact that Russell can give so many details along the way and still make the ending so powerful is a testament to the quality of her writing and her skill as an author. For me, the suspense in this book is beyond pitch perfect. It is edge-of-your-seat impossible to put down, and it builds up in such a way that even though you have an idea of what’s coming, having your suspicions confirmed packs a huge emotional wallop. Even now, when I know EXACTLY what’s coming, I find myself turning pages compulsively, holding my breath, and hoping against hope that somehow, this time it will be different.
- How do faith, love, and the role of God in the world drive the plot of this story? One reviewer characterized this book as “a parable about faith–the search for God, in others as well as Out There.” Do you agree? If so, why?
Back in my bookselling days, I would handsell The Sparrow as “a sort-of sci-fi story in which all of the sci-fi elements are just vehicles for asking REALLY BIG QUESTIONS.” I am not typically a reader of science fiction or futuristic novels. I couldn’t care less about space travel. But I find this novel endlessly fascinating, and I think it is, without question, a parable about faith. Many of the characters believe that only God could have orchestrated the circumstances that brought them together and made their journey possible and that the existence of sentient beings elsewhere in the universe is evidence of God’s work, an indication that humans are not God’s only children.
They step out on faith, they trust that God has a purpose for their journey, and when the SOMETHING BAD happens, it calls their entire system of belief into question. Russell makes a point of discussing the characters’ various crises of faith preceding the journey, but what happens to them on Rakhat is more than a crisis of faith, and it goes beyond wondering why God would allow bad things to happen to them. The Sparrow becomes a book about the nature of faith and the struggle to believe in something that seems to have abandoned you, and as a not-really-religious person, I find it incredibly interesting.
- Heather gave several reviewer quotes and asked whether we agree or disagree with them. It’s not often that I agree with Entertainment Weekly’s take on a book, but this one pretty much sums up my thoughts about The Sparrow:
Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them.
What do you think? Join the conversation!
Great answers! I’m so glad we’re doing this read-a-long – it’s been wonderful to revisit this book, and I’m looking forward to seeing other readers input on it as well.
Wow, four or five times reading this?! It’s fun to see your take on it after reading it that many times and I can imagine doing the same thing, reading it over again and hoping that somehow, something will be different in the end.
I wouldn’t consider THE SPARROW particularly dystopian either – my answer to that question was quite similar to yours.
This is my second read of THE SPARROW, and the first was five years ago, so the suspense for me is pretty real – there are definitely things I’ve forgotten, particularly in the latter third of the novel, so I’m anxious to discover them all over again.
I think your calling the book a “parable of faith” is spot-on, but for me, it’s also an exploration of human nature (even in non-humans).
I’m so glad you’re reading this book again – with us!
Well, I wish I had something to add, but somehow I missed this whole event. I’ve been wanting to read this book, but for one reason or another, haven’t gotten there. Your descriptions of the author and plot are amazing. Sheesh, when you decide to read it a fifth time, I hope I can get in on it!
The wrap-up doesn’t happen for another 2 weeks….so you could go get it, bump it to the top of the pile, join us on the 30th! (I know, I’m WAY pushy when I love a book.)
I have already read this book twice, and I am thinking it might be time to dust it off for another read. I dearly love this book.
It just occurred to me to ask if anyone knows why the book is called The Sparrow. I have just been looking through old hymn books, and came across the one with the words, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Not sure if the reasoning is from something like that or if I just missed something obvious in my first two readings.
I always assumed it was from the bible verse – Matthew 10:29: “But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Of course, that song is based on the same verse, so you were on the right track.
I always thought this, too. And I feel like there’s a tiny reference to it somewhere in the book, but I haven’t gotten there yet.
Also: Heather J., meet my best friend, Heather W.
I wish I’d been looking for that reference – I agree, I think it IS in there somewhere, but of course I’m already done the book.
(nice to meet you Heather!)
Yes, this verse is mentioned, right at the end. I remember thinking …”Ah… I get it now!”
Glad I’m not crazy! I’ll probably finish today or tomorrow and will keep an eye out for it.