David Maine's The Preservationist

The Preservationist struck me at first as another attempt by a new author to find success in the endless field of Biblical exploitation. Too many authors these days take and pick what they may from religious text merely to garner an automatic audience.Whether or not that was Maine's purpose doesn't really matter though, as this book was incredibly well written and a wonderful beginning to his apparent career as expander of old testament short stories. And if the Bible is anything it is that, the collection and quick recount of hundreds of short parable like stories of violent, tumultuous encounters between God and man. The interaction between God and man is the oldest in literature, from the myths of ancient Greece, to the scriptures of Hinduism, the written word seems to have been created for the sole purpose of discussing our position in the realm of the metaphysical. In recent centuries the shift has been to the mundane and all things spiritual one can find in life itself.
Main is one of those writers who seek to combine the two, the ancient and religious with the post modern accent on life itself. The early stories of the Old Testament are perfect for his task.In his first novel, Maine takes up one of the most famous of these, that of Noah and his family. Within the Bible, the entire account, from introduction of his lineage to the recession of the water and expansion of his family takes no more than a couple of chapters. Maine takes those couple of chapters and blows them up into a fully realized, brilliantly characterized novel.Not only does he manage to bring to life all of the ethos that a family forced to live as such would face, but also of the individual reactions and interactions, of Noah's sons and their wives, of the strict God fearing life he leads and the stress this puts on his family, but also of the pain he saves them through his sacrifices. His family's perspective is just as important though, from the youth of the youngest s
on to the weary devotion of his wife, Noah's tale is told again and again through a half dozen perspectives, each of them fresh in their own way and brought to life in Maine's special voice.His work does not end with the tale of the flood, or the pain of recovering these animals, the shear cost of Noah's endeavors, the giants from the north unknown to anyone but God and Noah as his extension on earth. His newest novel tells of Samson and the previous one of Cain and Able.The true strength of Maine's narration comes in that he's capable of retelling some of the oldest stories on earth, ones no one would be surprised at the ending of with a fresh and interesting voice that makes them impulsively readable. And that is the talent of a true novelist.

View this post on my blog: http://www.yourgamebook.com/david-maines-the-preservationist.html