The Preservationist

David Maine has given us two novels, both renditions of bible stories. Renditions, but not revisions. The author (whose unconventional mug graces the right-hand side of this review) takes his theology and biblical history rather seriously – which is as odd as it is refreshing. His two books to date are titled The Preservationist and Fallen and treat, respectively, the stories of Noah and the Fall. Enthusiasts will note that The Book of Samson is also due out this fall. The reviews I read on Fallen indicated that his first book was better, so I picked up Maine’s account of the flood and dove in.

Anyone who has ever read the Old Testament knows that many of its stories leave the reader wanting more information: personal, relational, historical, etc. The story of Noah, his family, and the ark is no different. Maine had before him the structural outline of the story; his task was to fill in the blanks. The surprise is that he manages to do so while avoiding the double pitfall of either a) pontificating from a fundamentalist soapbox or b) revising the account into a “love contains all the answers to our religious differences” mushpot. He provides plausible character backgrounds and extra-biblical settings while taking the Genesis account, with its legendary characteristics, at face value (who indeed is the "preservationist," Noah or Maine?). At the same time, a large amount of humor has been injected, which makes the book a very quick and entertaining read.

Maine tells his tale through the voices of each character involved, including Noah, his wife, their sons, and their sons’ wives. This effective technique allows us to get inside the heads of these people as they struggle to obey what seems like a ridiculous divine command. The reader is not privy to any more information than the characters receive, so the story becomes a journey of obedience, growth, and right living in the face of limited knowledge. But the fact that Maine sticks close to orthodox Judeo-Christian ideas about God does not prevent him from asking the hard questions: why were some people chosen rather than others? how can a righteous man like Noah rejoice when unbelievers are punished? why would God create the earth, only to destroy it shortly after? These and other piercing questions remind the reader of Job, who also questions the will of God. And like Job, the answer that is given is no answer at all. In other words, God is God and does what he wants. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

A few final notes. The book is rather earthy. By this I mean that Maine is especially occupied with the physical aspects of life in the early biblical period. Things like urination and coition, or “rutting.” Rutting actually takes a prominent role in the book: rutting in the sleeping room, rutting on the ark, next to the animals, rutting in front of the parents. If nothing else, it highlights the difference between modern modesty and ancient pragmatism regarding procreation. Or maybe it slyly comments on the modern slide into indecency? Finally, the author is charitable with characters written off by many – particularly Ham. The end result is a nuanced, loamy, fairly theologically-sound, often simply beautiful story of the flood that is sure to delight many readers.

- Roger Dixon