The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate and Jesuit priest, who undergoes an experience so harrowing and profound that it makes him question the existence of God. This experience--the first contact between human beings and intelligent extraterrestrial life--begins with a small mistake and ends in a horrible catastrophe.

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The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1)

Mary Doria Russell, 1950-

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Random House, Incorporated

Random House AudioBooks

Fawcett Columbine

Villard Books

Ivy Books

Ballantine reader's circle, Ballantine books trade paperback edition, New York :, 2008

Ballantine reader's circle, New York, New York State, September 1, 1997

1st Ballantine Books ed., New York, New York State, September 1, 1997

Sparrow, 1st Ballantine books ed, New York, 1997

Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 1997

United States, United States of America

1st ed edition, September 9, 1996

First edition, New York, c1996

Media tie-in, 1997

September 8, 1997

Reissue, PS, 1997

до 2011-01

lg_fict_id_864272

lg508731

Includes reader's guide.

<p>&quot;a Notable Achievement . . . Russell Shows Herself To Be A Skillful Storyteller Who Subtly And Expertly Builds Suspense.&quot;<br>--usa Today<p>&quot;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.&quot;<br>--milwaukee Journal Sentinel<p>&quot;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.&quot;<br>--san Francisco Chronicle<p>&quot;smooth Storytelling And Gorgeous Characterization . . . Important Novels Leave Deep Cracks In Our Beliefs, Our Prejudices, And Our Blinders. The Sparrow Is One Of Them.&quot;<br>--entertainment Weekly</p><h3>publishers Weekly</h3><p>an Enigma Wrapped Inside A Mystery Sets Up Expectations That Prove Difficult To Fulfill In Russell's First Novel, Which Is About First Contact With An Extraterrestrial Civilization. The Enigma Is Father Emilio Sandoz, A Jesuit Linguist Whose Messianic Virtues Hide His Occasional Doubt About His Calling. The Mystery Is The Climactic Turn Of Events That Has Left Him The Sole Survivor Of A Secret Jesuit Expedition To The Planet Rakhat And, Upon His Return, Made Him A Disgrace To His Faith. Suspense Escalates As The Narrative Ping-pongs Between The Years 2016, When Sandoz Begins Assembling The Team That First Detects Signs Of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life, And 2060, When A Vatican Inquest Is Convened To Coax An Explanation From The Physically Mutilated And Emotionally Devastated Priest. A Vibrant Cast Of Characters Who Come To Life Through Their Intense Scientific And Philosophical Debates Help Distract Attention From The Space-opera Elements Necessary To Get Them Off The Earth. Russell Brings Her Training As A Paleoanthropologist To Bear On Descriptions Of The Runa And Jana'ata, The Two Races On Rakhat Whose Differences Are Misunderstood By The Earthlings, But The Aliens Never Come Across As More Than Variations Of Primitive Earthly Cultures. The Final Revelation Of The Tragic Human Mistake That Ends In Sandoz's Degradation Isn't The Event For Which Readers Have Been Set Up. Much Like The Worlds It Juxtaposes, This Novel Seems Composed Of Two Stories That Fail To Come Together. Bomc, Qpb And One Spirit Book Club Selections. (oct.)</p>

A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end. Praise for The Sparrow “A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review “Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them.”—Entertainment Weekly “Powerful... The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Provocative, challenging... recalls both Arthur C. Clarke and H. G. Wells, with a dash of Ray Bradbury for good measure.”—The Dallas Morning News “[Mary Doria] Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense.”—USA Today

The Sparrow, an astonishing literary debut, takes you on a journey to a distant planet and to the center of the human soul. It is the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a twenty-first-century scientific mission to a newly discovered extraterrestrial culture.
Sandoz and his companions are prepared to endure isolation, hardship and death, but nothing can prepare them for the civilization they encounter, or for the tragic misunderstanding that brings the mission to a catastrophic end. Once considered a living saint, Sandoz returns alone to Earth physically and spiritually maimed, the mission's sole survivor - only to be accused of heinous crimes and blamed for the mission's failure.

In 2019, 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 is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question what it means to be "human".

A Jesuit Leads An Expedition To Investigate Singing Emanating From A Planet. So Are Discovered The Runa, Intelligent Beings, But Undernourished. The Explorers Fix That And A Population Explosion Follows, Attracting Space-age Cannibals Who Start Eating Them. The Explorers Are Killed, Except For The Jesuit Who Tells The Tale. Mary Doria Russell.

The sole survivor of a crew sent to explore a new planet, Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz discovers an alien civilization that raises questions about the very essence of humanity, an encounter that leads Sandoz to a public inquisition and the destruction of his faith.

2011-06-04