Monday, January 29, 2007

 

Not Wanted on the Voyage

Not really sure what to say about this book. It's a book that I'd heard was good from a few people, so I thought I'd give it a try. But my basic summary of the book was really encapsulated by the following email that I sent to one of the people who said the book was good (note: spoilers ahead!):

Since you seemed enjoy Not Wanted on the Voyage (at least based on your comment on my blog), I was hoping you could tell me wtf I was supposed to get out of it. I mean, it was entertaining and I especially liked the cat, but wtf? Noah was a terrible person and we have no unicorns because he used the unicorn to rape his 12-year-old daughter-in-law? Noah's wife (who, as far as I can tell didn't have a first name), was an alcoholic, but she liked sheep?
I'll update this posting if I get an answer explaining whatever it is that missing about this book.

As for quotations, there was really only one thing in the whole book that stood out to me - a description of the ark:
I even tried Googling "Not Wanted on The Voyage" to see if anyone had explained what the point was, but came up with nothing. No one seemed better able to describe the point, although there was a lot of "it's magical" and suchlike.

Oh ya, did I mention that I liked the cat?

Findley, Timothy. Not Wanted on the Voyage. Toronto: Penguin, 1996
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Comments:
A lot of things don't have a point, Beth. I used to wonder what the point of snakes was, but never found a satisfactory answer. I expect that snakes wonder why gorillas exist. That book probably wonders what the point of its readers is. It's a never-ending loop of pointlessness.
 
Can you believe I actually read this book in my Gr. 9 English class? I was in the pilot class for contemporary English literature. It was obvious the teachers did NOT read the book before giving it to us. My group was rather at lost in what to say during our group presentation. Theme? Symbolism? Umm...hmmm...

One good thing came out of this book. My friend, who was an atheist, was so intrigued by the evilness in this book that he actually picked up the Bible to read from beginning to end. He was rather disappointed that the Bible was rather boring compared to Timothy Finley's wild imagination.
 
I just finished reading it for my grade 12 book study. I loved it and I got the point very clearly. There is a great conflict between science and Religion seen in Lucy. And there is a loss of faith that can be related back to the Victorian era. In the novel society has given up on God, very much like the Victorians did. There are also the themes of men having the power in the family, and loss of innocence and faith. Feminism is also shown in the novel due to the way Mrs. Noyes is treaded.
I loved the book. And found it quite interesting the way things were compared to a different time period, and the twist of the classic biblical tale.
 
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