Comments on: Falling into Fiction

By: Leeann

Leeann — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:42:19 +0000

I’d never heard of The Sparrow or Children of God until I caught an interview with the author on Speaking of Faith recently (http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/novelist-as-god/transcript.shtml) — you should be able to get it on the podcast. It was fascinating and those books are now at the top of my to-read list!

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:22:10 +0000

I read The Sparrow and Children of God a couple years ago at the recommendation of a friend and LOVED THEM. I missed them when I was done. Sci-fi, time travel, religion, linguistics….it was as if my top interests were hand picked and used to write the story. I’m so glad you enjoyed them, too!

By: tiennie

tiennie — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:24:05 +0000

I loved the Sparrow but haven’t gotten around to Children of God yet. It was a bit painful for me to get through the first book. Such a fantastic book it was though.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:31:56 +0000

Two of my favorite books, I too stumbled on them at a book sale about 8 years ago and loved them. I finally got my book club to read “The Sparrow” and it was one of the best discussions we have ever had. That was several years ago and they are still talking about it. That book led us to read “The Robe” which obviously is not sci fi but still brings up many ethical questions that “The Sparrow” provoked.

Mary Dora Russel was on NPR a couple of weeks ago discussing these books, I think it was a repeat but I bet you could find it on a podcast.

I last heard that Brad Pitt was producing(?) starring(?) the movie version but that was several years ago. Has anyone heard of anything coming of it?

By: MaryjoO

MaryjoO — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:34:22 +0000

wow — comments about the Sparrow. I hope others comment, as I want to understand the book better.

I LOVE the book(s) but find them almost painful, for a variety of reasons. Russell “puts forth” so many ideas/thoughts about society/religion/relationships/morality that I found the reading so intense that I had to read the first book in “bursts”, and then would put it down to digest it. I guess there aren’t so many books like that anymore, and I’m just not used to it. The premise of the book is amazing, along with her characters. Still in the middle of the second book.

By: Jo

Jo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:18:55 +0000

You picked three books I read last year! I can’t even tell you how many times I cried reading Russell’s books. The Oscar Wao book is fabulous in audio form as well – you really get a flavour for all the accents in it.

By: del

del — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:09:44 +0000

Ooooh, you mentioned Oscar Wao! My friend recommended it to me and it’s one of my favorite books of all time now. This is a site that someone did that annotates all of those hard to figure phrases and stuff in the book: http://www.annotated-oscar-wao.com/

It helped me with the Spanish, though nerd that I am, I knew almost all of the sci-fi references, lol.

By: felinemagnet

felinemagnet — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:53:13 +0000

I see someone beat me to recommending the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons – great minds, etc. Really engrossing books blending sci-fi and religion with vivid characters that I thought about long after finishing them. In fact, it’s been a long time, I should read them again. The ones you recommending sound intriguing, I’ll have to take a look at them.

By: Deirdre

Deirdre — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:59:30 +0000

I listened to Oscar Wao early in the summer, and have listened to it twice more since – I absolutely love it, and expect I’ll be hearing it again in the next few months -

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:32:59 +0000

hi Lolly. I read Oscar Wao too and LOVED it. It’s heartbreaking and funny and intense. I will check out your other recommendation too. I just finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and this may be my most favorite book of all time, ever ever. I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want it to end and might go back and do it all over again. Still need to blog about how much I loved it.