> Anyway, I read an excellant book lately that addresses celibacy in the church (no it wasn't The Thorn Birds). It talks about the spiritual reasons behind it, and it helped me understand it better. It's also a sort of sci-fi novel, though it's theme is faith and spirituality. The recent Chrisitanity thread got me thinking about this book.
> It's called The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. There's also a sequel. My boyfriend has always been interested in the Jesuits, and this book's main character is a Jesuit priest (Mike is the one who gave me this book). I highly recommend it---if you read this book, let me know what you think of it. It's got aliens too.
>
> --Jez"reading 'A Confederacy of Dunces' right now"zika

I've read The Sparrow, and about half of the sequel, Children Of God. My feelings are kind of mixed. The Sparrow was a good, thought-provoking book, but I couldn't help thinking that its Jesuit characters were the most secular bunch of priests I'd ever seen. I'd have better appreciated the author's attempt to portray Emilio's crisis of faith if he had been a little more traditionally religious and less, well, Emersonian or something like that. Matter of taste, I guess.

Aside: "It's got aliens too." is a *dang* cool way to polish off a book recommendation.

I recently finished my second reading of A Confederacy Of Dunces, and it only gets better with successive readings. The book must be one of the most magnificent farces ever written, not that I'm an authority on the subject. The way Toole ties together all the separate characters and plot threads at the end is pure pleasure to read. Oh, and it's got aliens too.

Iss "green cap mother" achar