Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
Sep. 25th, 2007 07:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleSince I talked about The Sparrow, I thought I should talk about the sequel too.
First, the short, spoiler-free version: I didn't feel betrayed by Children of God the way I did the first time I read it, but it's not anywhere near as strong a book as The Sparrow, and I still think it takes away some of the impact of the first book.
The Sparrow went back on the shelf. I kept thinking I would put Children of God in my give away stack, but now that I've flipped through it looking for the quote below, I feel compelled to keep it.
The rest of this post contains serious spoilers for Children of God. Knowing them may ruin the impact of The Sparrow for you. Think carefully before you read further.
And now the spoiler-filled version.
In Children of God, we find out that Sofia lived. To me, part of what makes the first book so strong and painful is that everyone but Emilio dies.
Emilio also leaves the priesthood, which is almost as devastating to me as it is to John. Part of what I love about the first book is that he remains a priest, even in the face of so much pain.
Looking back, I can see that at 16, when the book came out, the idea that suffering for its own sake having meaning would have appealed to me. Now, I think suffering is just suffering, and to be relieved whenever possible.
In Children of God, she gives meaning to Emilio's suffering: At the end, the music Sofia's son Isaac makes out of human, Jana'ata, and Runa DNA is what's supposed to be what the whole thing was leading up to. On a more personal level, the book ends with Emilio sitting in front of the grave of the woman he almost married with his daughter and granddaughter. As much as I read mostly happy endings these days, I still believe that some stories just don't have happy endings, and I think Emilio's story is stronger with the unhappy, we just have to keep living ending of the first book.
I also disliked Sofia's role as the instigator of the war. In The Sparrow, it works; she's teaching the Runa to stand up for themselves to prevent the slaughter of infants. In Children of God, though, I just kept thinking, especially since I was reading it during the High Holy Days, that Judaism teaches us to wish, pray, and work for peace. I have a hard time reconciling that with war, even though I realize that Sofia grew up with war.
I did really like Sofia teaching Ha'anala to be a Jew, and I loved Shetri saying, "I answer: even so, our children are innocent."
First, the short, spoiler-free version: I didn't feel betrayed by Children of God the way I did the first time I read it, but it's not anywhere near as strong a book as The Sparrow, and I still think it takes away some of the impact of the first book.
The Sparrow went back on the shelf. I kept thinking I would put Children of God in my give away stack, but now that I've flipped through it looking for the quote below, I feel compelled to keep it.
The rest of this post contains serious spoilers for Children of God. Knowing them may ruin the impact of The Sparrow for you. Think carefully before you read further.
And now the spoiler-filled version.
In Children of God, we find out that Sofia lived. To me, part of what makes the first book so strong and painful is that everyone but Emilio dies.
Emilio also leaves the priesthood, which is almost as devastating to me as it is to John. Part of what I love about the first book is that he remains a priest, even in the face of so much pain.
Looking back, I can see that at 16, when the book came out, the idea that suffering for its own sake having meaning would have appealed to me. Now, I think suffering is just suffering, and to be relieved whenever possible.
In Children of God, she gives meaning to Emilio's suffering: At the end, the music Sofia's son Isaac makes out of human, Jana'ata, and Runa DNA is what's supposed to be what the whole thing was leading up to. On a more personal level, the book ends with Emilio sitting in front of the grave of the woman he almost married with his daughter and granddaughter. As much as I read mostly happy endings these days, I still believe that some stories just don't have happy endings, and I think Emilio's story is stronger with the unhappy, we just have to keep living ending of the first book.
I also disliked Sofia's role as the instigator of the war. In The Sparrow, it works; she's teaching the Runa to stand up for themselves to prevent the slaughter of infants. In Children of God, though, I just kept thinking, especially since I was reading it during the High Holy Days, that Judaism teaches us to wish, pray, and work for peace. I have a hard time reconciling that with war, even though I realize that Sofia grew up with war.
I did really like Sofia teaching Ha'anala to be a Jew, and I loved Shetri saying, "I answer: even so, our children are innocent."