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"Noe says, -I must build a boat.-A boat, she says.-A ship, more like. I'll need the boys to help, he adds as an afterthought.-We're leagues from the sea, she says, or any river big enough to warrant a boat.This conversation is making Noe impatient. -I've no need to explain myself to you.-And when you're done, she says carefully, we'll be taking this ship to the sea somehow?As usual, Noe's impatience fades quickly. -We'll not be going to the sea. The sea will be coming to us."In this brilliant debut novel, Noah's family (or Noe as he's called here)-his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law-tell what it's like to live with a man touched by God, while struggling against events that cannot be controlled or explained. When Noe orders his sons to build an ark, he can't tell them where the wood will come from. When he sends his daughters-in-law out to gather animals, he can offer no directions, money, or protection. And once the rain starts, they all realize that the true test of their faith is just beginning. Because the family is trapped on the ark with thousands of animals-with no experience feeding or caring for them, and no idea of when the waters will recede. What emerges is a family caught in the midst of an extraordinary Biblical event, with all the tension, humanity-even humor-that implies.
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (July 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312328478
ISBN-13: 978-0312328474
Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #110 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Literature & Fiction > Biblical Fiction #14566 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Life #39489 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Religious & Inspirational
This novel captured my attention because of the wonderful cover art, one of the best I've seen. Last year, I read the great "Life of Pi" and enjoyed that story so much, I guess I wanted to read a similar novel...spiritual story of people at sea with a bunch of animals. For anyone who loves "The Life of Pi", I recommend checking out this novel.I've always had a lot of difficulty with the whole Noah's Ark story, because the idea of ancient man creating a big enough boat to hold two of every species on earth for months (plus the constant feeding and waste removal), that a perfect, all knowing God would become angry enough to kill all of His creation save Noah's family instead of punishing only the guilty, along with the idea of the whole earth under water (which would have to cover the peak of Mount Everest) always seemed a bit far fetched to me. It makes an interesting fictional account and I'm glad that a writer was confident enough to sketch out the details of the Biblical story.What this novel presents is a very interesting character drama, written from different points of view, which I really enjoyed. I found myself liking the women a lot. They were clever thinkers and intelligent, and I especially liked the part about one of them using knowledge of a coming eclipse of the sun to scare a group of thuggish men to follow her lead. The sentences are well crafted and an immense joy to read. My favorite character is Chem, the more independent son of Noe, and the one who struggles the most in his faith, yet dutifully helps in the building of the ark and keeping up the maintenance while they are afloat. He's not a bad guy at all...just doesn't understand what kind of God would do the kind of things to His creation that they all were witness to and saved from.
The Preservationist
