The Preservationist

By: David Maine

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat, Tyler Bunch, Full Cast

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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 when the waters will recede, what emerges is a family caught in the midst of an extraordinary Biblical event, with all the tension, humanity, and even humor that implies.

©2004 David Maine (P)2004 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"A literary debut that makes a familiar story enthralling." (Booklist)

"A perfect fit for audio. Maine's witty, always credible monologues, performed by an exceptional cast, will draw listeners into familiar yet stunningly original territory." (AudioFile)

"Wildly different in temperament, age, and provenance, these characters, each telling part of the story, help create a brilliant kaleidoscopic analysis of the situation.... A story of faith and survival (think Life of Pi thousands of years earlier with a much larger cast of characters), this debut is a winner." (Publishers Weekly)

Multiple voices

This is the first audible book I’ve listened to that is read by multiple narrators. It adds so much to this terrific story.. I hope to find more readings like this one.

An interesting perspective

This is a very human story of Noah. I enjoyed the full cast of narrators.

What a treat!

I didn't want this one to end; even knowing the end of the book didn't ruin the enjoyment of this great listen. The multi-character cast of readers gets it just right in conveying what it might have been like to be in Noah's family as they prepared for and endured the deluge. I have recommended the book to others as a "listen only" because the different voices were so compelling--and funny!

Brilliant novel and illuminating take on old story

Sure, don't be fooled into thinking this is a happy Christian novel. It's raw and real and authentic. It's mythical, it's a provocative narrative, it's true to the biblical story but offers depth of insight and color to an otherwise one-dimensional text.

Each narrator is compelling and relentlessly poignant and interesting. The Bible story will never be the same.

Great listen.

The narration was superb. I would hire the narrators to read my morning newspaper to me!

The biblical story of the flood to end all floods was fairly closely represented with an emphasis on the personal lives and contributions of Noah and his sons and their wives to getting the ark on the float. There were some very interesting hypotheses presented as explanations for the miracles required to make the overall project work.

The only negative I found was the descriptions of various "rutting' activities by members of the family. Some were fairly graphic and not necessarily suitable for younger children. Not that rutting didn't happen in the day but the detail was a little too graphic to let me share the otherwise excellent story with my young daughter.

Get this one. It's great!

imaginative retelling of the Noah story

For any of you familiar with the bible & most particularly its first 5 books, you will know that the stories therein "telegraph" fuller stories & morals to the stories in such a way that they are tremendously open to interpretation, puzzlement and questions. The Noah story is like this too. Certainly just a few hundred words, if that, in Genesis, it is puzzling & open to interpretation. The author of The Preservationist has taken advantage of these circumstances to write a very stimulating & imaginative account of what things might have been like for Noah, his sons (& importantly, his daughters-in-law) and his wife. I found the book moved along at a nice pace, was well-narrated, and frequently gave rise to my own intellectualizing of the story, or my appreciation of the author's having done so. This is not "great literature," but it is a nice diversion.

Worth the Read

I loved the concept of this book and the wonderful imagination of the author who made the story of Noah come alive in a down-to-earth manner. The narrating cast also deserves much credit. I did find however that the author was a bit lazy regarding his details and his choice of vocabulary. I think the book would have been more intriguing had Maine made the characters' world, language and thought life more in-line with what we know of ancient civilization via archaeology and ancient texts. I often felt as though the characters were modern settler-types going through an extraordinary event instead of pre-historic man. Some of Maine's literary techniques also begin to repeat themselves so that you can finish the end of a sentence/thought by yourself even before it is read. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the characters and plot.

Seen from a different angle

This is a fun, interesting and remarkably believable tale -- the story of Noah's Ark told from the vantagepoint of all participants: Noah's sons ("Yeah, right, Dad...God told you what??? Okay, since you are our Dad..."), daughters-in-law ("What kind of family is this??" and "I see the best in my husband, but his brothers are nutty and his parents, well), and so on. The different characters draw the reader (listener) in and - while caricatures - have you rooting for their success in dealing with normal life issues (like cleaning the Ark of tons of animal waste, as well as raising children and caring for elderly parents) in the context of the Flood and the Ark. Well worth the listen!

Brilliant

Funny, dirty, thought-provoking.

600 year old Noe (Noah) is a grouchy old man. Who'd a thunk it? This is a delightful retelling of The Flood, filling in imaginary details the Bible never mentioned, but never really straying from the outline we read in Genesis (except maybe for the bright and sassy women, and who's to say otherwise?).

a good read

Extremely well read by a company of very professional readers. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and the details can be sometimes witty, soemtimes gritty, sometimes spiritual. A good retelling of a familiar story with some amusingly modern themes thrown in.