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Book Reviewed by:From the book jacket: From the moment
that he looks down on the ancient gray head of
Noah, who is swinging his stone axe, the
narrating crow in this unique and remarkable
epic knows that these creators called Man are
trouble. He senses, too, that the natural order
of things is about to change. At a time when so
many of us are searching for meaning, Layne
Maheu’s debut novel lingers in a masterfully
rendered ancient world just long enough to
ponder our fears of disaster and to watch as
humanity struggles to survive, to understand,
and finally to prevail.
Comment: Song of the Crow is a very difficult book to
describe. On one level it's simply the story of
Noah's Ark told through the eyes of a crow named
"I Am", bringing the ancient biblical story to
life complete with bickering relatives and
over-crowded ark, enhanced by fascinating
factoids about crows. However, depending on your
take on life (like
Timothy) it can also be read as a
meditation on man's place in the universe;
think Jonathan Livingston Seagull meets
The Red Tent with shades of
Watership Down.
Because BookBrowse backs every recommendation
with a substantial excerpt from the book itself
you never have to take our word alone on any
book. In the case of Song of the Crow
you can browse the prologue and
first three chapters.
Layne Maheu lives with
his son in Seattle,
where he works as a
carpenter. His short
stories have appeared in
the Other Voices,
Northwest Review,
Ascent, and others.
Song of the Crow is
his first novel.
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in June 2006, and has been updated for the
May 2007 edition.
Click here to go to this issue.
If you liked Song of the Crow, try these:
by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Published 2007
Timothy explores the natural history of a particular animal by adopting the animal’s own sensibility and his deeply empathetic relation to the world around him.
by Carolyn Turgeon
Published 2006
Rain Village casts a fabulous spell, pulling us into a world of mystery and possibility where love, friendship and loyalty might either destroy or set one free.
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The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
by Bart Yates
A saga spanning 12 significant days across nearly 100 years in the life of a single man.
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Smothermoss by Alisa Alering
A haunting, imaginative, and twisting tale of two sisters and the menacing, unexplained forces that threaten them and their rural mountain community.
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