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CatSF: THE SPARROW by Mary Doria Russell

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This story is in the Catholic Science Fiction (CatSF) sub-genre. As an
aside, CatSF ought to provide more than enough reading material for my
foreseeable future.
    My review mimics THE SPARROW's own plot development: a bright and
shiny beginning marred by a dark and depraved ending. SPARROW's a homage
to CONTACT by Sagan. SPARROW replaces CONTACT's protagonist Ellie with a
crew of eight. SPARROW's core characters contain: two Jesuits, a
Sephardic Jewess, an older trad-liberal, childless couple, and a gangly
Irishman.
    A lot of Catholics seem to like this story. Such Catholics remind me
of RASFW people who rave about FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies. Both
stories share similar sexual situations.
    THE SPARROW's downward spiral into depraved darkness is too evil
for me to face more than once. A Malvina Reynolds excerpt recently posted by
James Nicoll comes to mind:

    [chorus]
    Do you think you’ve hit bottom?
    Do you think you’ve hit bottom?
    Oh, no.
    There’s a bottom below.

    [verse]
    There’s a low below the low you know.
    You can’t imagine how far you can go down.

Imagine a first contact story where Earthlings arrive in a quelled
Palestine, ruled by Julius Popper and Itamar Ben-Gvir. The Earthlings
befriend shy, broken Palestinians at first.
    A little later they encounter the planetary rulers. Eventually
one Jesuit crew member ends up as the newest sexual sensation in the
island temple of the Epstein Coalition.
    SPARROW sinks so low as to become not recommended by me. Even though
it earns a "K" on my modified Nance scale. [1] SPARROW's bright shiny
beginning remains OK as a snack. Yet even that shine is dimmed by dark,
foreboding, non-linear story telling:

    “There is no form of death or violence that Jesuit missionaries
    have not met. Jesuits have been hanged, drawn and quartered in
    London,” he said quietly. “Disemboweled in Ethiopia. Burned
    alive by the Iroquois. Poisoned in Germany, crucified in
    Thailand. Starved to death in Argentina, beheaded in Japan,
    drowned in Madagascar, gunned down in El Salvador.” He stood
    and began to circle the room slowly, an old habit from his days
    as a history professor, but stopped for a moment by the bookcase
    to select an old volume, which he turned idly over and over in
    his hands as he spoke, strolling again, placing no special
    emphasis on any of his words. “We have been terrorized and
    intimidated. We have been reviled, falsely accused, imprisoned
    for life. We have been beaten. Maimed. Sodomized. Tortured. And
    broken.”

Note.

[1] Modified Nance scale:
    -   story contains an excess of objectionable material
    K   OK as a snack
    +   Taught me something new, or provided insight, or fired up
        my imagination, or put a fire in my belly, or catalyzed
        vague notions into solidity, or did something equally good

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's  )\._.,--....,'``.                     veritas    _|_
telltale tall tail /,   _.. \   _\  (`._ ,.               liberabit   |
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'              vos         |

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CatSF: THE SPARROW by Mary Doria Russell Don <g@crcomp.net> - 2026-09-08 14:38 +0000

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