the sparrow by mary doria russell summary

As a matter of fact, I'm sorry I started this review even discussing the religious aspect, because I would say the anthropology approach and insight is just as strong if not even a stronger force in the book. This was also one of the best first contact books - because The Sparrow is far more than just a question of what God is or isn't, but more so a fascinating study of anthropology. And that morality and goodness has its place even outside any type of established religion. You can also be an aetheist and derive much insight into the nature of what drives us toward spirituality to begin with. She found her drawn to Judaism and converted.Īnd that makes alot of sense, in that The Sparrow does speak about religion but in a completely open, tolerant way. And very very beautiful.Īfter I was done, I read that the author had left the Catholic church at age 15, and after 20 years of aetheism found herself re-examining questions of values, ethics, morality and religion upon the birth of her child. And altho most of the main characters are indeed Jesuits and so many questions and approaches do involve Catholicism, they were universal. I would instead call it a spiritual book in that the journey involves time old questions, of faith, of God, of religion, of humanity. So I'm really glad that a group decided to read this, because it is NOT a yah-yah Christian book at all. I had picked this up years ago due to all the terrific reviews, but when I started it, since it involves priests and such, I thought it was going to be a Christian book.

The sparrow by mary doria russell summary