Book Review - The Preservationist by David Maine
Category Book Reviews
Another Amazon reviewer recommended a book that turned out to be a great read... The Preservationist by David Maine. This book has everything I can't do as a writer, and I love it.
Maine takes the biblical story of Noah's Ark and weaves a narrative tale around it. Using a combination of first and third person voice, the story is fleshed out through the eyes of "Noe", his wife, and his three sons (along with their wives). The core story follows the biblical account, but plenty of room is left for the author to add personality to each player. You see the fear and doubt that Noah encounters as he follows his directives from God, knowing he has to act but not knowing how to accomplish the huge task set before him. His sons are all distinctive individuals who don't always play well with each other. Each wife is distinctly different from the rest, but their uniqueness addresses the ability to bring in animals that no one has ever seen or imagined. Best of all, Maine does a great job in painting a picture of what it would be like to be trapped on a boat with a huge number of animals and little to do to break the monotony of each passing day. What is largely a sanitary account in the Bible becomes a struggle that every reader can identify with.
The reason I liked this book so much is that I don't do very well in painting color into a story. If I wrote War And Peace, it'd probably be done in 75 pages. Not that I write tight prose. I just don't describe events and emotions very well. Maine has forever altered the way I'll view Noah, and for me that's a good thing. Very well done...
Another Amazon reviewer recommended a book that turned out to be a great read... The Preservationist by David Maine. This book has everything I can't do as a writer, and I love it.
Maine takes the biblical story of Noah's Ark and weaves a narrative tale around it. Using a combination of first and third person voice, the story is fleshed out through the eyes of "Noe", his wife, and his three sons (along with their wives). The core story follows the biblical account, but plenty of room is left for the author to add personality to each player. You see the fear and doubt that Noah encounters as he follows his directives from God, knowing he has to act but not knowing how to accomplish the huge task set before him. His sons are all distinctive individuals who don't always play well with each other. Each wife is distinctly different from the rest, but their uniqueness addresses the ability to bring in animals that no one has ever seen or imagined. Best of all, Maine does a great job in painting a picture of what it would be like to be trapped on a boat with a huge number of animals and little to do to break the monotony of each passing day. What is largely a sanitary account in the Bible becomes a struggle that every reader can identify with.
The reason I liked this book so much is that I don't do very well in painting color into a story. If I wrote War And Peace, it'd probably be done in 75 pages. Not that I write tight prose. I just don't describe events and emotions very well. Maine has forever altered the way I'll view Noah, and for me that's a good thing. Very well done...
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