Book - The Preservationist by David Maine

I checked this book out of the library in June, 2006 and read it fairly quickly. I had recently read "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant and this was along the same lines, a fictionalized account of Noah, his family, the ark and the flood. However, it was lighter and a bit more irreverant than "The Red Tent".

This book is the fictional account of the entire Biblical story of Noah and the ark - from his learning of the need to build the ark, his wife and sons and their wives, how they go about collecting the animals, how the people heckle him, what it’s like on the ark during the flood, the conditions, animals crammed in, what it’s like for months afterward, waiting to see land, how they get off and find land and figure out how to start from scratch when there’s not a soul left alive, except for them. It covers alot of things I really never thought about concerning a story I’ve heard of all my life.

I’m not overly fond of the way the author covered the dialogue and some of the actual dialogue itself (lots of references to “rutting” in this book!) as well as other references. But, I tend to forget that these characters were in the Old Testament, before the birth of Christ, in a time very unknown to me, and had to deal with hardships that I can’t begin to understand, as well as the fact that idol worship and mention of other gods, were commonplace.

Having said that, I did enjoy it and am glad I read it. I won't rate it as high as "The Red Tent" or others I have read, but I did like it on several levels. I give it a 6.5 out of 10 stars.

Added: July 31st 2006
Reviewer: Stace
Score:
Hits: 973
Language: