David Maine (1) (1963–)

The Preservationist is a fictional account of the story of Noah....basically from the point where Noah hears God telling him to build the ark and gather animals, up to a year or so following the end of the flood and the redistribution of his family in order to begin to repopulate the earth. The story is told from alternating viewpoints including Noah's, but also from those of his family including his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law. It's meant to be humorous and a bit over the top, and it is.

I have mixed feelings about this story. I liked the book in the respect that it examined and explored the more practical aspects of the whole Noah and the Ark story -- about how exactly one would go about gathering all the species of animals, how to decide to arrange them on the boat so that they wouldn't kill the humans or each other, how to pack enough food for both animals and people, how to dispose of all the waste, etc. All those things that one just sort of takes for granted when retelling the story of Noah but doesn't typically think about in too much detail. I enjoyed the humor for the most part, although I felt some of it was somewhat vulgar and unnecessary to the story. I didn't care for Noah's characterization. In my head I've always thought of him as an old but wise and faithful man, but in this he was characterized as a grumpy, pigheaded and somewhat chauvinistic character, and that kind of ruined my image of him. There were parts of this story that I thought needed elaboration, but on the flip side, there were parts that I thought were unnecessary. Overall, I liked the concept, but think it could've maybe been executed better. Not a bad book, but not necessarily a great one either.… (meer)

This is a retelling of the Biblical story of Noah's ark. It is narrated alternately by Noah (Noe), his wife, his teenage son Sem,and his son Cham's wife Ilya. Noe comes across as stern and distant, and thoroughly disliked. His belief in God seems misplaced. Ilya states, "The distruction of the known world isn't anything a sane person can look upon without terror. But what left me truly cold, genuinely afraid, was Noe's reaction to it all. Which was. in a word, jubilation."
When the flood begins and people are drowning, Ilya asks if everyone else will be drowned: "Praise God, I hope so.
--That's disgusting.
--They were sinners.
--So are we all."
"Only a man could call a child filth. No woman could look on a dead infant and feel such happiness.
--Ilya said Sem.
--And only a man's god would show love for his creation by destroying it.
Noe's face had clouded over no less than the sky--Take care in tempting God's wrath woman.
I wanted to say, what can he do that he hasn't done already."
While the Biblical roots are present in this novel, and the ethical and moral complexity of a God who destroys are considered, the book is also a family drama. It also deals with some of the practical details that are glossed over in the Bible--how did they get the animals from all over the world; how did Noah, a poor man, obtain the means to build the ark; how did they get rid of the animal poop on the ark; and most of all how do you survive cooped up with this family through 40 days of rain.… (meer)