[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i dont read drunk. coffee and tobacco at most.

and i didn't toss it, i just returned it to the library for others to pick up

i'm not big into mysteries, or body damage

i do watch british detective shows sometimes-- the brits seems to have an obsession with the genre

but it's more because i enjoy the wuiet pace of their tv-- foyle's war is like some sort of very mellow valium--only towards the last season it starts to get a little frantic-- street footchases and what not

but anyway yes i did like th way she started. this big straightforward narrative taking big leaps and it's kinda like beowulf.

then she switches mode and starts describing these fucking characters. my fuck, i want to slice their throats. just kidding. i just don't want to read about them.

what can i do about this? how do i become interested in them?

honest question!

Well first of all, obviously I'm not genuinely angry at you for setting the book aside, or for not wanting to read it. But I was really pumped to get those messages from you way back when, saying "Thank you, Severino! Sincerely!" I love being able to connect with people through literature. Rob Instigator reading Gene Wolfe is, like, an IRL big deal for me, because nobody I've known has ever had the patience or follow-through to read that particular book, except for Ms. Noisefield. She also read the Sparrow, but there's only so much blabbing you can do about something with your life partner before it becomes grating and irritating (for them).

I originally recommended the book to you, I think, because of some of our conversations about religion, science, and the merits of "sci-fi." I know you're not a big sci-fi reader, but The Sparrow is written from a more general fiction approach, and doesn't rely on the usual tropes of series SF. It's the rare extraterrestrial story that seems to appeal to all readers, even outright haters of science fiction.

Also, it's just such a mind fuck. You referenced Nabakov recently, in discussing Blood and Guts in High School. Literature is absolutely supposed to make you feel something, to make your spine tingle, and I offered up the Sparrow for your consideration because it does just that. It latches onto your spine, and plants a vibrator to it from the outset. The feeling of dread, of certain ominousness from an uncertain origin, is spread throughout the book, and I thought you'd appreciate that.

How do you get interested in the characters? You keep reading. Rarely does a story feature so many relatable characters that you know from the get go are absolutely fucking doomed. It's daring, and a bit pretentious, but still very effective. I found as I read that that seed of ominousness that is planted in the first few pages informs every character study throughout the book, messing with the reader's emotional investment in everyone. On top of that, there's this wonderful/terrifying protagonist who is presented as the very personification of human goodness, and through his backstory, you learn to trust and appreciate Father Emilio Sandoz, while simultaneously questioning virtually everything that he says or does, because of the implication of guilt. It makes for some extremely tense and rewarding reading, even in the slowest moments.

Also, I think having a vested interest in religion helps with this one. Particularly Catholicism. Maybe I underestimated your fascination with morality and religious philosophy when I recommends the book. But for me, a "post-Catholic" from a strict Jesuit family, reading about this stuff was intoxicating. Reading about the motives of the church's figureheads, learning more about Jesuit philosophy, while also getting a nice helping of hard science, it was a very close-to-home read for me, and prompted some intersting reflections on my own religious upbringing.

I guess if you don't like the characters, or didn't feel a connection even to Sandoz or John from the get go, then maybe it's not for you, and that's all there is to it. But I thought it was haunting and powerful and disturbing and glorious, even though it sent me down some negative mental rabbit holes.

I think Emilio's story is worth reading. Worth knowing. For anyone with a serious interest in literature. He's just too powerful a character to NOT know, as a reader. I think The Sparrow is one of the best novels of the 1990s. Not so much the sequel, Children of God, which goes a little too far off the deep end and makes some serious reaches with the surviving characters to explain their actions in the first book. Even it is worth reading, but I consider the Sparrow a must.

Also, if you're ever going to read it you certainly want to do so before it emerges from it's Hollywood pre-production purgatory. They've been trying to adapt it for ages, and last I heard it was back in the "coming soon" zone, as Brad Pitt apparently has the film rights and will probably try to pull off a portrayal of the main character if a film is ever made. I love Brad Pitt, but he's awful for the part of a slight of frame 40-something Latino priest from the ghetto. So the adaptation, if it ever happens, will be a big deal and will probably suck, and if you have any interest in finishing it, I'd recommend that you do so before H-wood taints the meat.