Literary Lads: The Sparrow's Emilio Sandoz
Man, I’ve been having a hard time figuring out how to talk about this guy without giving away the whole plot of the book. Then I figured, the only people who are going to be reading this are people who have read the book and, like me, just want to roll around in their adoration for this character.
So, lets do that.
I first meet Emilio when in college when the book was actually, honest-to-God, required reading. IKR?!?! I mean, I was spending my days taking classes on ~literature~ and learning how to write and a professor was cool enough to decide this was one of the books we should read (along with Hamlet, that he suggested had many similarities. I still haven’t sorted many of those out). It became an instant favorite and Emilio Sandoz has haunted my thoughts ever since.
I had to write three papers about this book: A personal essay, one about the relationship between Emilio and God and one about missing the turtles on the fence posts--or the biggest theme of the book, in my opinion, assumptions.
The mission probably failed because of a series of logical, reasonable, carefully considered decisions, each of which seemed like a good idea at the time. Like most colossal disasters.
Since I’ve been having a hard time finding the words to fully articulate just what it is about Emilio Sandoz that I adore so much, I thought I’d let the other characters in the book do it for me.
”He is a whore. He killed a child. He should be in chains. -- Voelker (but, he’s a douchebag, so lets move on.)
When Emilio said interesting, it was often code for bloodcurdling. -- Jimmy
He’s got two-hundred-pound ideas about getting things done, and a hundred and thirty pounds to do it with. He’s gonna make himself sick.-- Jimmy
...he had not merely been the first human being to set foot on Rakhat, had not simply explored parts of its largest continent and learned two of its languages and loved some of its people. He had also discovered the outermost limit of faith and, in doing so, had located the exact boundary of despair. It was at that moment that he learned, truly, to fear God.
He looked about seventeen years old to her, a teenager trying to convince his mom that he’d be fine driving across the country on a motorcycle. But he was not seventeen, and she was not his mother. He was a priest, pushing middle age, and he was alive with something she could hardly imagine. --Anne
And so it was that the only person to return from Rakhat alive was the priest and whore and murderer Emilio Sandoz, who had very much wanted to die.
In their own ways, they all gave themselves up to God’s will and trusted that whatever happened now was meant to be. At least for the moment, they all fell in love with God… But Emilio Sandoz fell hardest of all.
Those who saw his face...recognized that they stood witness to a soul’s transcendence and would remember that moment for the rest of their lives. *sobs forever for so very many reasons*
Looking down at Sandoz, seeing him at rest and unaware, she realized, simply, that he was no longer young...He was always working or laughing or studying, and his intensity and humor made him seem ageless...Not childish, but certainly childlike. And yet, she could see now the skin of the eyes pleating, the mouth bracketed by deeper grooves than she had noticed the first time she’d seen him. Half his life given to this jealous God of his...Who am I to judge a life misspent? --Sofia
God’s best beloved, we used to call him. --Giuliani
For a moment, D.W. was overwhelmed by the sense that he had seen this soul take root and grow and blossom in a way he never would have predicted and could hardly have hoped for and barely understood. A mystic! I got a Porter Rican mystic on my hands. --D.W.
”God,” he whispered again, eyes closed, with the child settling onto his hip. “I was born for this!” It was the simple truth. Nothing else explained his life. *ugly cry*
I was the best toy she could imagine. --Emilio explaining Askama’s feelings about him.
Today I may have looked upon the face of a saint. --D.W.
Emilio Sandoz had taken no vow of false modesty. --Sofia
You know as well as I do, everything about this mission has been damn near miraculous. And Emilio is the key to it. --D.W.
For Emilio, the separation between natural and supernatural is basic. God is not everywhere. God is not immanent. God is out there somewhere, to be reached for and yearned after. And you’re gonna have to trust me on this, but celibacy is part of the deal for Emilio. It’s a way of concentrating, of focusing a life on one thing. And I happen to think it’s worked for him. I don’t know whether it’s he found God, or God come and got him… --D.W.
Smug. It says, Sandoz comma Emilio; see also: insufferable. --Sofia
He had been fed irregularly but well in Sapaari’s household, like the pet of a small child who’d wanted a puppy but then lost interest.
It was necessary. If he were an artist, I’d have ordered him to paint it. If he were a poet, I’d have ordered him to write it. Because he is who he is, I made him speak it. It was necessary. nd it was necessary for us to hear it. --Giuliani
He’s the genuine article, Reyes. He has been all along. He is still held fast in the formless stone, but he’s closer to God right now than I have ever been in my life. And I don’t even have the courage to envy him. --Giuliani
Reyes: He was always a good priest, but it must have been about the time they they were planning the mission, something changed in him. It was like, I don’t know, sometimes he would just--ignite. There was something in his face, so beautiful. And I thought, if that’s what it’s like to be a priest… It was like he fell in love with God.
Giuliani: Offhand, I’d say the honeymoon is over.
SO MANY QUOTES! Sorry. I guess I just needed to have an excuse for all those highlighted sections. Working through the color-coded pages of my much read copy, I was once again reminded that there has never been a character in any book I've ever read that has made me laugh as hard as he did, and made me weep as much as he did. He is perfection, no?
Yeah, so it would be sort of awesome if this post also worked itself out as a Friending Meme for all of us Emilio lovers. I’m starting to run out of friends in my life who I haven’t forced to read this book. Of all of them who have actually done it, I am happy to report there was only one of them who didn’t instantly love it almost as much as me. I think it hurt me more that she didn’t like The Sparrow than when she politely informed me that she didn’t really like my book--the one I WROTE. But, that’s okay, she then accidentally paid me the highest compliment by saying she saw a lot of similarities between one of my main characters and of Emilio. All was forgiven. :)
So, if you too want to talk all things Emilio, want to create from scratch The Sparrow fandom when the TV SHOW COMES OUT OMGOMGOMG! and contemplate casting choices (see icon for my vote), collectively sigh in relief that Brad Pitt is no longer mentioned to play him, and bask in it all, please do feel free to friend me.
But even if not, please do tell me what draws you to Emilio.
So, lets do that.
I first meet Emilio when in college when the book was actually, honest-to-God, required reading. IKR?!?! I mean, I was spending my days taking classes on ~literature~ and learning how to write and a professor was cool enough to decide this was one of the books we should read (along with Hamlet, that he suggested had many similarities. I still haven’t sorted many of those out). It became an instant favorite and Emilio Sandoz has haunted my thoughts ever since.
I had to write three papers about this book: A personal essay, one about the relationship between Emilio and God and one about missing the turtles on the fence posts--or the biggest theme of the book, in my opinion, assumptions.
The mission probably failed because of a series of logical, reasonable, carefully considered decisions, each of which seemed like a good idea at the time. Like most colossal disasters.
Since I’ve been having a hard time finding the words to fully articulate just what it is about Emilio Sandoz that I adore so much, I thought I’d let the other characters in the book do it for me.
”He is a whore. He killed a child. He should be in chains. -- Voelker (but, he’s a douchebag, so lets move on.)
When Emilio said interesting, it was often code for bloodcurdling. -- Jimmy
He’s got two-hundred-pound ideas about getting things done, and a hundred and thirty pounds to do it with. He’s gonna make himself sick.-- Jimmy
...he had not merely been the first human being to set foot on Rakhat, had not simply explored parts of its largest continent and learned two of its languages and loved some of its people. He had also discovered the outermost limit of faith and, in doing so, had located the exact boundary of despair. It was at that moment that he learned, truly, to fear God.
He looked about seventeen years old to her, a teenager trying to convince his mom that he’d be fine driving across the country on a motorcycle. But he was not seventeen, and she was not his mother. He was a priest, pushing middle age, and he was alive with something she could hardly imagine. --Anne
And so it was that the only person to return from Rakhat alive was the priest and whore and murderer Emilio Sandoz, who had very much wanted to die.
In their own ways, they all gave themselves up to God’s will and trusted that whatever happened now was meant to be. At least for the moment, they all fell in love with God… But Emilio Sandoz fell hardest of all.
Those who saw his face...recognized that they stood witness to a soul’s transcendence and would remember that moment for the rest of their lives. *sobs forever for so very many reasons*
Looking down at Sandoz, seeing him at rest and unaware, she realized, simply, that he was no longer young...He was always working or laughing or studying, and his intensity and humor made him seem ageless...Not childish, but certainly childlike. And yet, she could see now the skin of the eyes pleating, the mouth bracketed by deeper grooves than she had noticed the first time she’d seen him. Half his life given to this jealous God of his...Who am I to judge a life misspent? --Sofia
God’s best beloved, we used to call him. --Giuliani
For a moment, D.W. was overwhelmed by the sense that he had seen this soul take root and grow and blossom in a way he never would have predicted and could hardly have hoped for and barely understood. A mystic! I got a Porter Rican mystic on my hands. --D.W.
”God,” he whispered again, eyes closed, with the child settling onto his hip. “I was born for this!” It was the simple truth. Nothing else explained his life. *ugly cry*
I was the best toy she could imagine. --Emilio explaining Askama’s feelings about him.
Today I may have looked upon the face of a saint. --D.W.
Emilio Sandoz had taken no vow of false modesty. --Sofia
You know as well as I do, everything about this mission has been damn near miraculous. And Emilio is the key to it. --D.W.
For Emilio, the separation between natural and supernatural is basic. God is not everywhere. God is not immanent. God is out there somewhere, to be reached for and yearned after. And you’re gonna have to trust me on this, but celibacy is part of the deal for Emilio. It’s a way of concentrating, of focusing a life on one thing. And I happen to think it’s worked for him. I don’t know whether it’s he found God, or God come and got him… --D.W.
Smug. It says, Sandoz comma Emilio; see also: insufferable. --Sofia
He had been fed irregularly but well in Sapaari’s household, like the pet of a small child who’d wanted a puppy but then lost interest.
It was necessary. If he were an artist, I’d have ordered him to paint it. If he were a poet, I’d have ordered him to write it. Because he is who he is, I made him speak it. It was necessary. nd it was necessary for us to hear it. --Giuliani
He’s the genuine article, Reyes. He has been all along. He is still held fast in the formless stone, but he’s closer to God right now than I have ever been in my life. And I don’t even have the courage to envy him. --Giuliani
Reyes: He was always a good priest, but it must have been about the time they they were planning the mission, something changed in him. It was like, I don’t know, sometimes he would just--ignite. There was something in his face, so beautiful. And I thought, if that’s what it’s like to be a priest… It was like he fell in love with God.
Giuliani: Offhand, I’d say the honeymoon is over.
SO MANY QUOTES! Sorry. I guess I just needed to have an excuse for all those highlighted sections. Working through the color-coded pages of my much read copy, I was once again reminded that there has never been a character in any book I've ever read that has made me laugh as hard as he did, and made me weep as much as he did. He is perfection, no?
Yeah, so it would be sort of awesome if this post also worked itself out as a Friending Meme for all of us Emilio lovers. I’m starting to run out of friends in my life who I haven’t forced to read this book. Of all of them who have actually done it, I am happy to report there was only one of them who didn’t instantly love it almost as much as me. I think it hurt me more that she didn’t like The Sparrow than when she politely informed me that she didn’t really like my book--the one I WROTE. But, that’s okay, she then accidentally paid me the highest compliment by saying she saw a lot of similarities between one of my main characters and of Emilio. All was forgiven. :)
So, if you too want to talk all things Emilio, want to create from scratch The Sparrow fandom when the TV SHOW COMES OUT OMGOMGOMG! and contemplate casting choices (see icon for my vote), collectively sigh in relief that Brad Pitt is no longer mentioned to play him, and bask in it all, please do feel free to friend me.
But even if not, please do tell me what draws you to Emilio.