Jesuits in Spaaaace
Nov. 5th, 2006 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackThe Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russel. It was recently pressed upon me, and I liked it very much, though I find it hard to describe. Good features were:
* Jesuits. I apologise to real Jesuits, but I invariably come across Jesuits in fiction, as intellectual greyeminences, good or evil, and are fascinating to read about.
* The characters. There are really quite a lot of main characters, from all over, but their interaction is so touching, and funny, it's a wonder to read.
* The major theme. What if God does have a plan for you? Would it be evident? Bad things happen to other people, did they deserve it? Would your life make sense if it happened to you? The Sparrow lays out both sides of it, which fascinates me (as an athiest always interested in belief).
Analagous to the Descartes' Demon[1] in the Matrix. No-one can answer the question, that's *why* it's a fundamental philosophical point. But it can explain what the question is, in a way you grasp emotionally, which is a major revelation in understanding.
* Many books start with two threads, one before a great event, and one after, showing a much changed character. Mostly they mess it up, and the two characters don't seem the same at all. Also, invariably, the hinting at the event is a lot cooler than whatever it turns out to be, presumably because the author thought up a cool way of angsting, and then tried to fit an event to it. The Sparrow does it right.
In the later thread, Emelio is broken, tortured, silent. But you still feel who he was, still feel for him, and cheer his growing out of it, rather than saying "Get over it, already."
* The transference of guilt, from what you've done but don't speak, to what you're accused of and don't deny, is a theme I come back to. Normally very minor in my life, but here I empathise so so so much with Emelio.
* The aliens. Reasonably generic looking, but a fascinating two-species'ed world, with lots of concepts I've never seen precedented.
All in all, I'm sorry I can't describe it better, but I highly recommend it, and if you like any of the things I say I like, you may like it too.
[1] The Cartesian Demon[2], a famous thought experiment by Descartes. He asked, is anything he perceived true? What if a maelevolent entity was manufacting everything he saw and felt, his entire world an illusion[3]?
[2] Yes, where part of my user name comes from. It's not very important to me, but I often found it interesting and has a cool name, so I picked it out of the air.
[2] He went on to deduce that firstly *something* must exist, himself in some form, "Cogito Ergo Sum", I think therefore I am. I think this is cool and fundamental, though a couple of people I know are as yet unconvinced. And secondly, he used the ontological argument to deduce the existence of God, and that God would never deceive him. Rant: How this explains examples of God's apparent deception, or diffraction, is unknown to me.
* Jesuits. I apologise to real Jesuits, but I invariably come across Jesuits in fiction, as intellectual greyeminences, good or evil, and are fascinating to read about.
* The characters. There are really quite a lot of main characters, from all over, but their interaction is so touching, and funny, it's a wonder to read.
* The major theme. What if God does have a plan for you? Would it be evident? Bad things happen to other people, did they deserve it? Would your life make sense if it happened to you? The Sparrow lays out both sides of it, which fascinates me (as an athiest always interested in belief).
Analagous to the Descartes' Demon[1] in the Matrix. No-one can answer the question, that's *why* it's a fundamental philosophical point. But it can explain what the question is, in a way you grasp emotionally, which is a major revelation in understanding.
* Many books start with two threads, one before a great event, and one after, showing a much changed character. Mostly they mess it up, and the two characters don't seem the same at all. Also, invariably, the hinting at the event is a lot cooler than whatever it turns out to be, presumably because the author thought up a cool way of angsting, and then tried to fit an event to it. The Sparrow does it right.
In the later thread, Emelio is broken, tortured, silent. But you still feel who he was, still feel for him, and cheer his growing out of it, rather than saying "Get over it, already."
* The transference of guilt, from what you've done but don't speak, to what you're accused of and don't deny, is a theme I come back to. Normally very minor in my life, but here I empathise so so so much with Emelio.
* The aliens. Reasonably generic looking, but a fascinating two-species'ed world, with lots of concepts I've never seen precedented.
All in all, I'm sorry I can't describe it better, but I highly recommend it, and if you like any of the things I say I like, you may like it too.
[1] The Cartesian Demon[2], a famous thought experiment by Descartes. He asked, is anything he perceived true? What if a maelevolent entity was manufacting everything he saw and felt, his entire world an illusion[3]?
[2] Yes, where part of my user name comes from. It's not very important to me, but I often found it interesting and has a cool name, so I picked it out of the air.
[2] He went on to deduce that firstly *something* must exist, himself in some form, "Cogito Ergo Sum", I think therefore I am. I think this is cool and fundamental, though a couple of people I know are as yet unconvinced. And secondly, he used the ontological argument to deduce the existence of God, and that God would never deceive him. Rant: How this explains examples of God's apparent deception, or diffraction, is unknown to me.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-06 10:20 am (UTC)I love that book.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-06 02:21 pm (UTC)May I ask a personal question which will probably sound stupid? Are *you* christian or athiest or something else? I naturally guess athiest, but have no reason to afaik and can't remember if it's ever come up. I'm interested because of how the sparrow falling thing affected me, and since you made me read it, I wondered what it meant to you.
Also, ok, I've read it. What did you say about the sequels? I would very much like more of the same, but books that do one thing very well have a tendency to have sequels that fall between the stools of doing the same thign again, or exploring a different question, and tend to mess it up. Witness matrix :)