Song of the Crow

by Layne Maheu

The story of Noah's Ark and the flood, as narrated by a Crow who is deeply suspicious - and skeptical - about Mankind.

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.

Recalling both the magical imagination of Richard Adams’s Watership Down and the spiritual richness of Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, Song of the Crow is a soaring debut.

Genres: Fiction, Biblical Fiction, Religion

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Dale Edmonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watership Down meets Genesis with feathers. I got about a third through my library copy and knew I needed it on my shelf to re-read, and have just ordered two, one to give to a friend to pass around. It is essentially a very long prose poem in chapters. The bird view of death and Noah's general despair at the world except when wine is involved - the chair flung into the flood made me laugh - and the deaths, all the deaths. It's a bastard of a book with so much death and beauty. I'm still turning over the sea chapter in my head. I have a deep interest in both birds and bible mythology so this was full of lots of background detail richly interwoven. If you like neither, it may not be your book.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful and mystical telling of the flood story from the perspective of a bird. The author draws on a lot of jewish midrash and creates a perception of the God's actions that inspire awe, wonder and frustration. made me re-enter the tension of natural destruction and theology with different eyes.

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not expect this book will draw many readers for its plot, as "biblical fiction from an animal's perspective" isn't at the top of the genre list. However, the prose is positively beautiful.

[Michael Craft · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is told with amazing imagination.

[Kristi Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book!

Song of the Crow by Layne Maheu is an absolutely poetic and masterfully crafted novel. Song of the Crow retells the biblical story of Noah’s Ark through the eyes of a crow. Now seriously, I loved this book so much I’ve read it two and a half times! How so? Each chapter begins with a quote – these quotes alone make this an enchanting read and combined with a poetically crafted story I could not put it down.

Can you have a crush on a book? If so, then I have one on this book! And, author Layne Maheu joined us at the February 13th Bad Kitty Anti-Valentines Day Party…he was the man outside Arundel wielding a giant crowbar, eye-patch and all! I know a couple of you are reading this now and tell me you feel the connection to crows because they too are attracted to shiny objects. And love the storyline.

LOVED! CRUSH!

[James Mccloskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Kathleen Rooney recently remarked, "Books with animal narrators—not just books about animals, but books that situate the reader deeply and consistently inside an animal’s point of view—are relatively rare." This book, Song of the Crow, is a wonderful rendition of a crow's perspective of Noah and the building of his ark. The author considers, along with the fiction, the natural history of crows and how they survive, in the words of one reviewer, "stripping away the seemingly superfluous parts of modern life to examine what lies at the core of each person." I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to you as well.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting premise of a book. It is a look at the Old Testament story of Noah building his ark, from the perspective of a baby crow. It's not exactly a page turner, but it is unique and well-written and I'm looking forward to seeing where Maheu goes with the whole concept.

Also looking at crows in a whole new light these days...

[Marvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

A peculiar book--sort of the story of Noah & the Ark as narrated by a crow who stows away on the ark (not as one selected to be there). This is one of those books that might just be marvelous, but I just didn't get it. It's written almost like poetry, and, like most poetry, I didn't know what the author was trying to say much of the time. It just didn't work for me.

[Beatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, wonderfully imagined.

[Felix · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book at all. Now, don't get me wrong I think the author is a good writer but the story is very dull so it took all my willpower to stay focused for the duration of the story.

[Pri · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a prolific writer! While the prose may not appeal to everyone, I'm glad I picked it up at an exhibition as a fan of anthropomorphic literature. Although I was not familiar with the myth as I am neither a Jew nor Christian, this work is clearly meant to be savored by those with an interest in biblical mythology. The writer truly deserves more recognition. It would be wonderful if he explored writing stories or personal meditations, travel memoirs, stories (something like Paulo Coelho etcetera but I know Layne can be even better). His style is suited for readers who enjoy slow-paced books, but unfortunately, that's not my preference; the scenes take too long to progress for my taste.

[Carol Johnson]

Beautifully written book....more poetry than novel. Interesting perspective....the story of Noah from the viewpoint of a crow. The writing was delicious but the story got a little tiresome at times.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was really weird. It was told in first person by a crow who was stalking Noah. That's right, Noah, the guy who built the ark.

[Carrie LeAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I thought this book was rediculous while I was reading it, I have never thought of crows or birds in the same way again!!

[Lu]

Story of Noah from the viewpoint of a bird

[Saleh MoonWalker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Onvan : Song of the Crow - Nevisande : Layne Maheu - ISBN : 1932961372 - ISBN13 : 9781932961379 - Dar 240 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2006

[Maddly Peculiar · Rating 3 out of 5]

i have no words. i don’t even know how to rate this book. it’s so bad it’s good. it’d be a wild indie film. and amazing if you were tripping on mushrooms

[Lori]

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