Paperback, 419 pages

English language

Published Sept. 8, 1997 by Ballantine Books.

ISBN:
978-0-449-91255-3
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4 stars (9 reviews)

In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question what it means to be "human".

15 editions

Review of 'The Sparrow' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Grateful for the fans and librarians who are bringing Ms Russell to my town. I read the book for a discussion. It's a marvelous exploration of burdens accepted for love and the challenges of meeting other people. For me, destroys the extreme of cultural relativism: that is, I accept that there are interdependent systems so that other cultures do things differently, but I also treasure ideals of freedom, scholarship, and nurturing that measure the effects of cultures.

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Subjects

  • Jesuits -- Fiction.
  • Life on other planets -- Fiction.