The Silence of John Book

A realistic and practical account of the Biblical story of the flood. When reading stories from the Bible, it is easy to gloss over the facts and not truly comprehend them. Maine brings it all into focus with this novel: these are real people, who somehow built a floating barn in the middle of the desert, collected animals from both north and south, and did it all without know why or how it would all happen. Characters from the Bible, some of which are not even named, are given shape and feelings and opinions, and we truly come to know them and care for them.

One thing that all of the characters wrestled with was why God sent the flood, and they never really come to a consensus. I like what Mirn says at the end though, when she says, "Did Papa say God reigns over everything or did he say God rains over everything and does it matter? Because I'm pretty sure it does. It seems like one of them says, God is in charge so watch you step. And the other says, God can take away everything but he'll give back everything too, so it's up to us what to make of the sun and rain and all the animals and whatever else we find." I think Mirn is right, and what he really meant was "God rains over everything." Mirn was my favorite character - so matter-of-fact, calm, simple, hard-working, and deceptively smart.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Maine's books.