Have you ever thought about a Twelve Step program for people who talk
too much?

You could call it On and On Anon.

From page 43 in "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell

Has anybody ever posted about that book here?

On 14/08/23 15:08, a425couple wrote:
> Have you ever thought about a Twelve Step program for people who talk
> too much?
>
> You could call it On and On Anon.
>
>
> From page 43 in "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell
>
> Has anybody ever posted about that book here?
>

You just did. I can't remember anyone else doing so.

What a powerful book, posing the Catholic puzzle of whether great art
justifies great suffering and questioning whether the fall of every
sparrow is important or known. I loved it with that perverse pleasure a
fan of horror fiction has when terrified but unable to stop reading. Not
just terrified by the suffering but also outraged by the distortion of
the truth. Her writing made it all too real. A 5 star book.
I read it in 2018 and as I still remember it well, have not been brave
enough to open the continuation novel Children of God.

On 2023-08-14, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On 14/08/23 15:08, a425couple wrote:
>> Have you ever thought about a Twelve Step program for people who talk
>> too much?
>>
>> You could call it On and On Anon.
>>
>>
>> From page 43 in "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell
>>
>> Has anybody ever posted about that book here?
>>
>
> You just did. I can't remember anyone else doing so.
>
> What a powerful book, posing the Catholic puzzle of whether great art
> justifies great suffering and questioning whether the fall of every
> sparrow is important or known. I loved it with that perverse pleasure a
> fan of horror fiction has when terrified but unable to stop reading. Not
> just terrified by the suffering but also outraged by the distortion of
> the truth. Her writing made it all too real. A 5 star book.
> I read it in 2018 and as I still remember it well, have not been brave
> enough to open the continuation novel Children of God.

Titus, you've previously posted about it in sf.written! And I have
posted several times throughout the years (eg 2017), including in
response to you. I append my comments from an earlier post.

Chris

From alan@sabir.com Mon Jun 18 11:12:27 2018
Subject: Re: Five Star Reads So Far This Year.

On 2018-06-18, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
....
> The Sparrow. Mary Doria Russell.
> Five stars for the story and five stars for the look at the Roman
> Catholic faith from a convert to Judaism.
> As I am still gobsmacked by this book, I plan to look at reviews,
> perhaps on Goodreads unless someone has a better suggestion?
....
_The Sparrow_ is emotional impact of an entirely different
variety. It's on my favorites bookcase, but unlike most books there,
never gets an occasional re-read. I re-read it a couple of times
early on, but haven't wanted to be put through the wringer again,
emotionally.

For reviews, our resident reviewer (James) reviewed it here, with a
bit of discussion, so that review is probably on his web-site. I
profoundly disagree with his review - it mis-categorizes the book as a
hard science fiction book, and then points out all the ways it doesn't
meet the standards of that category. IMO, that completely misses the
point - this is a book about a priest going through hell and trying to
reconcile his faith, his personal philosophy, and what the real world
seems to be showing him.

Chris

On 2023-08-14, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On 14/08/23 15:08, a425couple wrote:
>> Have you ever thought about a Twelve Step program for people who talk
>> too much?
>>
>> You could call it On and On Anon.
>>
>>
>> From page 43 in "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell
>>
>> Has anybody ever posted about that book here?
>>
>
> You just did. I can't remember anyone else doing so.
>
> What a powerful book, posing the Catholic puzzle of whether great art
> justifies great suffering and questioning whether the fall of every
> sparrow is important or known. I loved it with that perverse pleasure a
> fan of horror fiction has when terrified but unable to stop reading. Not
> just terrified by the suffering but also outraged by the distortion of
> the truth. Her writing made it all too real. A 5 star book.
> I read it in 2018 and as I still remember it well, have not been brave
> enough to open the continuation novel Children of God.

I forgot to add my comments on _Children of God_, such as they are. I
only read it once, when it came out, and my memories are dim. Not bad,
but not excellent ala _The Sparrow_. More troubles back on Earth but
also some resolution. I wouldn't be afraid to read it.

Chris

On 14/08/23 23:25, Chris Buckley wrote:
> On 2023-08-14, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
>> On 14/08/23 15:08, a425couple wrote:
>>> Have you ever thought about a Twelve Step program for people who
>>> talk too much?
>>>
>>> You could call it On and On Anon.
>>>
>>>
>>> From page 43 in "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell
>>>
>>> Has anybody ever posted about that book here?
>>>
>>
>> You just did. I can't remember anyone else doing so.
>>
snip
>
> Titus, you've previously posted about it in sf.written! And I have
> posted several times throughout the years (eg 2017), including in
> response to you. I append my comments from an earlier post.
>
> Chris
>

Thank you. My apologies. Since 2014 I have kept a list of books read, a
rating and sometimes a sentence long description. A quick look at 2018
titles and most of them are meaningless so I don't even remember most of
what I have read without prompting let alone rasfw posts. I have no
trouble remembering reading The Sparrow but had even forgotten James'
criticism of the science.