Review: Not Wanted On the Voyage
Avis de journaliste - Kirkus ReviewsAs in earlier novels (Famous Last Words, 1982; The Wars, 1978), the Canadian Findley here offers a story based loosely on already familiar material. Yet here his sights are set higher, and what he is attempting--and quite impressively achieving--is nothing less than a re-examination of the patriarchal assumptions inherent in the Genesis story of the Flood. Findley's revision eliminates the cozy two-by-two of the traditional version, dealing less with the consoling idea of being chosen than with the terrified struggles of the animal and human multitudes ""not wanted on the voyage,"" left to drown by Noah and abandoned (apparently) by Yahweh. In its deliberate anachronisms (lightbulbs, gin, silks imported from China) and fracturings of the traditional roles (Noah is a heartless and practically brainless ideologue; Yahweh, an all-too-fallible complainer), the novel seems at first too reminiscent of Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. But for all the fanciful touches--there are faeries, singing sheep, and unicorns here--Findley is not interested in whimsy: his real topics are the vulnerability of all creatures to Fate; and the human resistance to change versus the apparently inexorable commands of Nature and Deity that things do change--and catastrophically. Mrs. Noah Noyes, at first a figure of fun, soon becomes the center of the novel, in her first instinctive and later quite conscious rejection of the Divine Will that would sweep away her home, destroy her family, and condemn her favorite cat to be drowned. The Flood also destroys the magic of a just-created world, as faeries petition to be allowed on board the ark but are denied: and demons (who are aiding Lucifer--here cross-dressing as Ham's gorgeous wife ""Lucy"") are murdered by Shepath. Repeatedly, Findley uses bloody scenes of ritual slaughter--the selection of exemplary victims--to underscore the seemingly arbitrary decrees of Fate and the origins of cruelty in disorientation and fear. All in all, a fable for our times, inventive and often heart-rending.
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - Laima - GoodreadsPerhaps I'm not sufficiently intellectual to appreciate the subtlities in this book ... frankly, I found it unsatisfying. I picked it up because the premise of reading a fantastical story of what ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - Clare Zeschky - GoodreadsStill can't decide if I enjoyed this or not. Fabulously funny, terribly clever but toward the end I just felt the action was unravelling. The purpose and drive of the first half seemed to fade off. I ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - GoodreadsIn my opinion the book started off great. I was fully interested in the story, in his point of view. But somewhere in the middle I started getting disinterested. There were times where I found it ...
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - GoodreadsAwesome. Timothy Findley should be a household name in Canada. In this realist re-imagining of the story of Noah and the ark, the characters are just so damn odd, exotic and undeniably human (the ...
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - LS Burton - GoodreadsI found Not Wanted ... hard to get into, it being partially from the perspective of a cat, after all. But I stuck with it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is top notch, and the little details ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - Ruth Barrett - GoodreadsMy favourite Findley. A bizarre and frightening retelling of Noah's Ark-- this is not the typical sanitized nursery tale version. After all-- to paraphrase-- it's the end of the world. Animals are as ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - Dana - GoodreadsThis book was hard to start, once I realized how completely different it was from books I usually read. But, it being assigned reading for school, I decided to just get it over with. I quickly found ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - Vicki - GoodreadsRevelled in its' exquisite nastiness. Laughed at the seemingly vindictive treatment of so many iconic biblical and mythological archetypes and characters. Yet there is a point to it all and it made me ... Consulter l'avis complet
Review: Not Wanted on the Voyage
Avis d'utilisateur - Alison - GoodreadsThis book is what got me hooked on Timothy Findley. It is beautifully written with such a satirical twist. I read it twice in a row. As I always find with Findley's books, there is always so much ... Consulter l'avis complet
