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Not Wanted on the Voyage
Not Wanted on the Voyage is the story of the great flood and the first time the world ended. It is a brilliant, unforgettable drama filled with an extraordinary cast of remarkable the tyrannical Noah and his indomitable wife, Mrs. Noyes; the aging and irritable Yahweh; a chorus of singing sheep; and a unicorn destined for a horrible death. With pathos and pageantry, desperation and hope, magic and mythology, this acclaimed novel weaves its unforgettable spell.
339 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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4934 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Findley
57 books354 followersTimothy Irving Frederick Findley was a Canadian novelist and playwright. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.
One of three sons, Findley was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Allan Gilmour Findley, a stockbroker, and his wife, the former Margaret Maude Bull. His paternal grandfather was president of Massey-Harris, the farm-machinery company. He was raised in the upper class Rosedale district of the city, attending boarding school at St. Andrew's College (although leaving during grade 10 for health reasons). He pursued a career in the arts, studying dance and acting, and had significant success as an actor before turning to writing. He was part of the original Stratford Festival company in the 1950s, acting alongside Alec Guinness, and appeared in the first production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker at the Edinburgh Festival. He also played Peter Pupkin in Sunshine Sketches, the CBC Television adaptation of Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
Though Findley had declared his homosexuality as a teenager, he married actress/photographer Janet Reid in 1959, but the union lasted only three months and was dissolved by divorce or annulment two years later. Eventually he became the domestic partner of writer Bill Whitehead, whom he met in 1962. Findley and Whitehead also collaborated on several documentary projects in the 1970s, including the television miniseries The National Dream and Dieppe 1942.
Through Wilder, Findley became a close friend of actress Ruth Gordon, whose work as a screenwriter and playwright inspired Findley to consider writing as well. After Findley published his first short story in the Tamarack Review, Gordon encouraged him to pursue writing more actively, and he eventually left acting in the 1960s.
Findley's first two novels, The Last of the Crazy People (1967) and The Butterfly Plague (1969), were originally published in Britain and the United States after having been rejected by Canadian publishers. Findley's third novel, The Wars, was published to great acclaim in 1977 and went on to win the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction. It was adapted for film in 1981.
Timothy Findley received a Governor General's Award, the Canadian Authors Association Award, an ACTRA Award, the Order of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Award, and in 1985 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was a founding member and chair of the Writers' Union of Canada, and a president of the Canadian chapter of PEN International.
His writing was typical of the Southern Ontario Gothic style — Findley, in fact, first invented its name — and was heavily influenced by Jungian psychology. Mental illness, gender and sexuality were frequent recurring themes in his work. His characters often carried dark personal secrets, and were often conflicted — sometimes to the point of psychosis — by these burdens.
He publicly mentioned his homosexuality, passingly and perhaps for the first time, on a broadcast of the programme The Shulman File in the 1970s, taking flabbergasted host Morton Shulman completely by surprise.
Findley and Whitehead resided at Stone Orchard, a farm near Cannington, Ontario, and in the south of France. In 1996, Findley was honoured by the French government, who declared him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres.
Findley was also the author of several dramas for television and stage. Elizabeth Rex, his most successful play, premiered at the Stratford Festival of Canada to rave reviews and won a Governor General's award. His 1993 play The Stillborn Lover was adapted by Shaftesbury Films into the television film External Affairs, which aired on CBC Television in 1999. Shadows, first performed in 2001, was his last completed work. Findley was also an active mentor to a number of young Canadian writers, including Marnie Woodrow and Elizabeth Ruth.
One of three sons, Findley was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Allan Gilmour Findley, a stockbroker, and his wife, the former Margaret Maude Bull. His paternal grandfather was president of Massey-Harris, the farm-machinery company. He was raised in the upper class Rosedale district of the city, attending boarding school at St. Andrew's College (although leaving during grade 10 for health reasons). He pursued a career in the arts, studying dance and acting, and had significant success as an actor before turning to writing. He was part of the original Stratford Festival company in the 1950s, acting alongside Alec Guinness, and appeared in the first production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker at the Edinburgh Festival. He also played Peter Pupkin in Sunshine Sketches, the CBC Television adaptation of Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
Though Findley had declared his homosexuality as a teenager, he married actress/photographer Janet Reid in 1959, but the union lasted only three months and was dissolved by divorce or annulment two years later. Eventually he became the domestic partner of writer Bill Whitehead, whom he met in 1962. Findley and Whitehead also collaborated on several documentary projects in the 1970s, including the television miniseries The National Dream and Dieppe 1942.
Through Wilder, Findley became a close friend of actress Ruth Gordon, whose work as a screenwriter and playwright inspired Findley to consider writing as well. After Findley published his first short story in the Tamarack Review, Gordon encouraged him to pursue writing more actively, and he eventually left acting in the 1960s.
Findley's first two novels, The Last of the Crazy People (1967) and The Butterfly Plague (1969), were originally published in Britain and the United States after having been rejected by Canadian publishers. Findley's third novel, The Wars, was published to great acclaim in 1977 and went on to win the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction. It was adapted for film in 1981.
Timothy Findley received a Governor General's Award, the Canadian Authors Association Award, an ACTRA Award, the Order of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Award, and in 1985 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was a founding member and chair of the Writers' Union of Canada, and a president of the Canadian chapter of PEN International.
His writing was typical of the Southern Ontario Gothic style — Findley, in fact, first invented its name — and was heavily influenced by Jungian psychology. Mental illness, gender and sexuality were frequent recurring themes in his work. His characters often carried dark personal secrets, and were often conflicted — sometimes to the point of psychosis — by these burdens.
He publicly mentioned his homosexuality, passingly and perhaps for the first time, on a broadcast of the programme The Shulman File in the 1970s, taking flabbergasted host Morton Shulman completely by surprise.
Findley and Whitehead resided at Stone Orchard, a farm near Cannington, Ontario, and in the south of France. In 1996, Findley was honoured by the French government, who declared him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres.
Findley was also the author of several dramas for television and stage. Elizabeth Rex, his most successful play, premiered at the Stratford Festival of Canada to rave reviews and won a Governor General's award. His 1993 play The Stillborn Lover was adapted by Shaftesbury Films into the television film External Affairs, which aired on CBC Television in 1999. Shadows, first performed in 2001, was his last completed work. Findley was also an active mentor to a number of young Canadian writers, including Marnie Woodrow and Elizabeth Ruth.
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December 19, 2025
If you finish NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE, your opinion of it will not be ambivalent!
NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE, Timothy Findley’s classic re-creation of the biblical great flood story, is many things. It’s powerful. It’s memorable. It’s unrelentingly bleak and dark. It’s gruesome. It’s compelling. It’s deeply thought-provoking. It’s blunt, in-your-face and entirely lacking in subtlety. And it is not an easy book to like.
Despite being a passionate life-long reader of thousands of books, the easiest way to ruin a book, for me at least, has always been to ask me to ponder a book’s mysteries in the fashion of an English language literary scholar or teacher – to consider the symbolism inherent in a scene, an event or a particular character in a novel; to expound upon the themes of a book; to explain the author’s use of complex metaphors and imagery; or to analyse the author’s rationale for using a particular style of story-telling such as allegory, first person narrative or dialogue, for example. That said, I would suggest to anyone contemplating reading NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE that a personal analysis of the themes and underlying symbolism conveyed by the novel is the only way to make sense of such a unique and, frankly, bizarre story. To fail to reach at least a personal understanding of what you believe Finley was trying to say is to doom the reading to failure and, almost certainly, to relegate your copy to the DNF dustbin.
I wouldn’t presume to suggest that what I took away from Findley’s efforts is the definitive interpretation or even close to what Findley might have intended. But, for what it’s worth, I’ll share it here. You’re welcome to reach an entirely different conclusion and to believe that I was miles wide of the mark.
Yaweh was introduced as a weak, narcissistic, entirely self-centered, incompetent, bumbling and not terribly bright god, entirely lacking in self-esteem, furious that his creations have turned away from him and have utterly failed in their responsibility to worship him and to love him. My belief is that Findley is making mock of theism in general. He is suggesting that, if one allows for the existence of an omnipotent god at all, then this of necessity is the inevitable, logical nature of that god – the only god if you will that could conceive and execute genocide on a scale that would make Hitler and Stalin seem like pathetic, weak-kneed wannabes. Once my mind started toward the conclusion that the novel overall was a diatribe against religion, it was easy to decide that Noah was the personification of organized religion – man-made; sycophantic to the perceived demands of the god (or at least to his personal interpretation of those demands); adamant that he and he alone was the conduit to communication between god and the world around him; ruthlessly patriarchal and chauvinistic; single-minded in the belief in the correctness of his attitudes and actions; divisive; xenophobic; and fearful and distrustful of anything but unquestioning obedience and blind faith. Noah’s wife, on the other hand, came to exemplify everything that organized religion despises – feminism, atheism, agnosticism, deism, confusion or skepticism, tolerance or even doubts as to what god and religion have demanded of them.
If you are a card-carrying member of the Sunday-go-to-meeting set, NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE will almost certainly offend you and ruin your day. It’s probably best to put the book back on the shelf and pick out something that will be more to your liking (that would be almost anything other than NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE). On the other hand, if you’ve ever questioned religion, faith, the existence of god, the nature of a god who could inflict such a bleak world on his much-loved creations, then NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE will press all of those buttons. Hard! I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced such a powerful, visceral reaction to a novel in my entire life!
Wait, wait! Did I mention Mottyl? No review of NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE would be complete without a mention of the humour, pathos and joy that Findley creates by putting his readers inside the mind of Mottyl, a 20 year old near blind calico who stumbles into, around and out of the story. If you’ve ever wondered what was going on behind the devious, beautiful, wide eyes of your pet cat, Mottyl will lift you to a higher level of understanding!
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE, Timothy Findley’s classic re-creation of the biblical great flood story, is many things. It’s powerful. It’s memorable. It’s unrelentingly bleak and dark. It’s gruesome. It’s compelling. It’s deeply thought-provoking. It’s blunt, in-your-face and entirely lacking in subtlety. And it is not an easy book to like.
Despite being a passionate life-long reader of thousands of books, the easiest way to ruin a book, for me at least, has always been to ask me to ponder a book’s mysteries in the fashion of an English language literary scholar or teacher – to consider the symbolism inherent in a scene, an event or a particular character in a novel; to expound upon the themes of a book; to explain the author’s use of complex metaphors and imagery; or to analyse the author’s rationale for using a particular style of story-telling such as allegory, first person narrative or dialogue, for example. That said, I would suggest to anyone contemplating reading NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE that a personal analysis of the themes and underlying symbolism conveyed by the novel is the only way to make sense of such a unique and, frankly, bizarre story. To fail to reach at least a personal understanding of what you believe Finley was trying to say is to doom the reading to failure and, almost certainly, to relegate your copy to the DNF dustbin.
I wouldn’t presume to suggest that what I took away from Findley’s efforts is the definitive interpretation or even close to what Findley might have intended. But, for what it’s worth, I’ll share it here. You’re welcome to reach an entirely different conclusion and to believe that I was miles wide of the mark.
Yaweh was introduced as a weak, narcissistic, entirely self-centered, incompetent, bumbling and not terribly bright god, entirely lacking in self-esteem, furious that his creations have turned away from him and have utterly failed in their responsibility to worship him and to love him. My belief is that Findley is making mock of theism in general. He is suggesting that, if one allows for the existence of an omnipotent god at all, then this of necessity is the inevitable, logical nature of that god – the only god if you will that could conceive and execute genocide on a scale that would make Hitler and Stalin seem like pathetic, weak-kneed wannabes. Once my mind started toward the conclusion that the novel overall was a diatribe against religion, it was easy to decide that Noah was the personification of organized religion – man-made; sycophantic to the perceived demands of the god (or at least to his personal interpretation of those demands); adamant that he and he alone was the conduit to communication between god and the world around him; ruthlessly patriarchal and chauvinistic; single-minded in the belief in the correctness of his attitudes and actions; divisive; xenophobic; and fearful and distrustful of anything but unquestioning obedience and blind faith. Noah’s wife, on the other hand, came to exemplify everything that organized religion despises – feminism, atheism, agnosticism, deism, confusion or skepticism, tolerance or even doubts as to what god and religion have demanded of them.
If you are a card-carrying member of the Sunday-go-to-meeting set, NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE will almost certainly offend you and ruin your day. It’s probably best to put the book back on the shelf and pick out something that will be more to your liking (that would be almost anything other than NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE). On the other hand, if you’ve ever questioned religion, faith, the existence of god, the nature of a god who could inflict such a bleak world on his much-loved creations, then NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE will press all of those buttons. Hard! I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced such a powerful, visceral reaction to a novel in my entire life!
Wait, wait! Did I mention Mottyl? No review of NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE would be complete without a mention of the humour, pathos and joy that Findley creates by putting his readers inside the mind of Mottyl, a 20 year old near blind calico who stumbles into, around and out of the story. If you’ve ever wondered what was going on behind the devious, beautiful, wide eyes of your pet cat, Mottyl will lift you to a higher level of understanding!
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
September 28, 2010
It's one of my greatest frustrations that Canadian Literature has become almost synonymous with the name "Margaret Atwood." Every reading list that I've ever seen about Canadian Lit has been dominated by Atwood: "The Handmaid's Tale", "Alias Grace", "Oryx and Crake", etc. It's not that there's anything wrong with enjoying Atwood, (although I can't name many people that do), it's just that her work offers a very limited scope on what Canadian literature is all about.
What about Aboriginal authors like Thomas King? Or Mordecai Richler, who writes about growing up Jewish in Montreal? We have best-selling authors like Michael Ondaatje, and then there's my all-time favourite, where-have-you-been-all-my-life Timothy Findley. (End Margaret Atwood rant).
Not Wanted on the Voyage is a retelling of Noah's Ark. Except calling it a retelling wouldn't be fair to the author. Findley takes the story about Noah's Ark that was spoon-fed to us when we were kids and he completely reinvents it.
In the beginning, we are introduced to Yaweh (a.k.a. God). However, in Findley's version, he isn't the almighty powerful God portrayed in the Bible. Instead, he is tired, lonely, and depressed about his relationship with mankind. So he asks his devoted follower, Noah Noyes, to build an ark. At the heart of the novel, we have our two protagonists: kind-hearted, compassionate, Mrs. Noah Noyes, and Mottyl, her blind cat. The name of the book refers to Mottyl, who becomes a stowaway on the ship. Most of the story is told through her perspective. The ark is boarded by Noah and his family, and the animals enter the ark in pairs. From here, the shit show begins.
There's something very bizarre and beautiful about this book, even by Findley's standards. Findley takes the biblical world of Noah and mixes it in with fantasy. In this world, animals can talk, and unicorns are no bigger than dogs. In this world, a man's skin is marinated until it turns blue, and Lucifer is a cross-dressing angel. Aside from the whimsical aspects of this book, there's also a really dark, sombre side.
Noah is depicted as a sadistic, power-hungry man. He is unwavering in his faith in Yaweh, but obsessed with his quest for knowledge. Usually, religion and science are pitted against each other. In this case, Noah commits atrocities in because of them. Findley writes about men's destructive tendencies in pursuit of religion, power, science, etc. Noah dehumanizes his shipmates, and you can see how later on in the novel, some of the humans digress into animalistic habits. There is also an environmentalist message that highlights men’s relationship with animals, and how humans are always exploiting their resources.
Not Wanted on the Voyage is not for the faint of heart. There are several scenes in the novel that are really disturbing. But, if you want a good thought- provoking novel, or even just a good adventure, this book makes a very good, very hard-to-put-down kind of read.
What about Aboriginal authors like Thomas King? Or Mordecai Richler, who writes about growing up Jewish in Montreal? We have best-selling authors like Michael Ondaatje, and then there's my all-time favourite, where-have-you-been-all-my-life Timothy Findley. (End Margaret Atwood rant).
Not Wanted on the Voyage is a retelling of Noah's Ark. Except calling it a retelling wouldn't be fair to the author. Findley takes the story about Noah's Ark that was spoon-fed to us when we were kids and he completely reinvents it.
In the beginning, we are introduced to Yaweh (a.k.a. God). However, in Findley's version, he isn't the almighty powerful God portrayed in the Bible. Instead, he is tired, lonely, and depressed about his relationship with mankind. So he asks his devoted follower, Noah Noyes, to build an ark. At the heart of the novel, we have our two protagonists: kind-hearted, compassionate, Mrs. Noah Noyes, and Mottyl, her blind cat. The name of the book refers to Mottyl, who becomes a stowaway on the ship. Most of the story is told through her perspective. The ark is boarded by Noah and his family, and the animals enter the ark in pairs. From here, the shit show begins.
There's something very bizarre and beautiful about this book, even by Findley's standards. Findley takes the biblical world of Noah and mixes it in with fantasy. In this world, animals can talk, and unicorns are no bigger than dogs. In this world, a man's skin is marinated until it turns blue, and Lucifer is a cross-dressing angel. Aside from the whimsical aspects of this book, there's also a really dark, sombre side.
Noah is depicted as a sadistic, power-hungry man. He is unwavering in his faith in Yaweh, but obsessed with his quest for knowledge. Usually, religion and science are pitted against each other. In this case, Noah commits atrocities in because of them. Findley writes about men's destructive tendencies in pursuit of religion, power, science, etc. Noah dehumanizes his shipmates, and you can see how later on in the novel, some of the humans digress into animalistic habits. There is also an environmentalist message that highlights men’s relationship with animals, and how humans are always exploiting their resources.
Not Wanted on the Voyage is not for the faint of heart. There are several scenes in the novel that are really disturbing. But, if you want a good thought- provoking novel, or even just a good adventure, this book makes a very good, very hard-to-put-down kind of read.
July 16, 2020
When it comes time for Canadiana, one cannot go wrong by turning to the work of Timothy Findley. This piece takes readers into the well-known story of Noah’s Ark and offers up a narrative about what really might have taken place; things the Book of Genesis left on the cutting room floor! Dr. Noah Noyes enjoys a quiet life with his wife, three sons, and their wives. They reside in a rural community, surrounded by green pastures and more animals than one could imagine. When a dove heralds a special visitor, Noah gets in a tizzy as he prepares. This is not just any visitor, but Yaweh Himself. Dust is removed and everything that can be made better has a fresh coat of whatever to make it shine. When Yaweh arrives, He has much to say, but cannot hide a significant degree of depression and displeasure with mankind. While the Earth was made to be beautiful, all its inhabitants have turned away from Yaweh. Noah is tasked with building an ark and loading two (and only two) of each creature, as well as his immediate family. They will be the only survivors left after a massive flood. Noah and the local workmen began to build this floating monstrosity, while Mrs. Noyes has second thoughts about this mission. She hides herself away and, at one point, refuses to leave. Noah’s got six centuries of marriage under his belt, but this is something new; defying one’s husband outrightly when Yaweh decreed it. After much arm twisting and negotiating, the Noyes family is ready to go. While they travel the waters that continue to rise, Noah realises the impact of the mission. His sons will be required to repopulate the world alongside their animal cousins. In a brash move, Noah takes matters into his own hands and chooses a unique pathway to ensuring the continuation of the human species. What lies ahead on the open waters is for Yaweh to know and the Noyes family to discover. Whatever it might be, there are some who surely feel more welcome than others. A brilliantly told tale that forces the reader to re-think just how much they know about Noah and the flood that ended (while also restarting) it all! Recommended to those who love a little tongue in cheek writing, as well as the reader with an interest in literary reinterpretations.
I read this book when I was first in university and have also seen the stage play, which left me a little more prepared for what was to come in this buddy read. That being said, it has been too long for me to remember all but the most indelible portion of this book, which is best left for the reader to stumble upon themselves. Findley posits not only that Noah is a pious man, but that he is the true patriarch of a family he’s led for many years. Each of the characters (human and animal alike) have their own personality and backstory, as Findley meticulously crafts them and keeps the reader enthralled with their progress. Working in tandem and also at odds, these characters offer an interesting flavouring to a somewhat well-known story from millennia ago, while also raising eyebrows on some occasions. Findley is able to breathe new life into this old story by honing in on the smallest details and creating a wonderful story surrounding it. The pace of the book is quite easy to handle, with four parts that parallel major portions of the story from Genesis. There are breaks (call them mini-chapters) that permit the reader a chance to stop, should they desire, though the momentum of the plot is not lost by steering to the side on occasion. While the story does move forward in a somewhat linear fashion, there are some significant deviations from the traditional story as well as flashback moments that serve to offer more depth to this piece. Findley adds those effectively, though the reader will have to be attentive to see how things interlock. I can truly say that I was impressed with most everything about this book, though I will never look at a unicorn the same way again!
Kudos, Mr. Findley, for a great piece of fiction. I cannot wait to read more of your work soon.
This book fulfils Topic #5: Wild (originally Topic #1: Book Set 500+ Years Ago of Equinox #1) of the Equinox #11 Reading Challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
I read this book when I was first in university and have also seen the stage play, which left me a little more prepared for what was to come in this buddy read. That being said, it has been too long for me to remember all but the most indelible portion of this book, which is best left for the reader to stumble upon themselves. Findley posits not only that Noah is a pious man, but that he is the true patriarch of a family he’s led for many years. Each of the characters (human and animal alike) have their own personality and backstory, as Findley meticulously crafts them and keeps the reader enthralled with their progress. Working in tandem and also at odds, these characters offer an interesting flavouring to a somewhat well-known story from millennia ago, while also raising eyebrows on some occasions. Findley is able to breathe new life into this old story by honing in on the smallest details and creating a wonderful story surrounding it. The pace of the book is quite easy to handle, with four parts that parallel major portions of the story from Genesis. There are breaks (call them mini-chapters) that permit the reader a chance to stop, should they desire, though the momentum of the plot is not lost by steering to the side on occasion. While the story does move forward in a somewhat linear fashion, there are some significant deviations from the traditional story as well as flashback moments that serve to offer more depth to this piece. Findley adds those effectively, though the reader will have to be attentive to see how things interlock. I can truly say that I was impressed with most everything about this book, though I will never look at a unicorn the same way again!
Kudos, Mr. Findley, for a great piece of fiction. I cannot wait to read more of your work soon.
This book fulfils Topic #5: Wild (originally Topic #1: Book Set 500+ Years Ago of Equinox #1) of the Equinox #11 Reading Challenge.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
January 9, 2014
We discussed this book last night at book club.
It certainly was one to get me thinking. I was brought up Catholic. The kind of Catholic who went to church every Sunday and participated very much in church activities, never questioning, just doing. For me it was just something I did. Like brush my teeth.
Then I went to university and moved away from home, but I still went to church every Sunday on campus. I took a class that first year, intro to comparative religion. It really opened my eyes, it really made me start to question and try to understand some things about my religion, that I had never done before.
Needless to say, I stopped going to church. But I still get Catholic’s guilt. I guess it is in my blood.
This book is a retelling on the Genesis story about Noah and the ark. It was dark, and well written. It affected me. A lot. I couldn’t sleep sometimes. It really changed my idea about the whole story.
I used to think of it as a cartoon, everything happy happy happy on the ark going to the new world. But then when you think about it, I mean, really think about it. It is terrifying. You have these animals stuck in the dark without proper anything for a long time praying for it all to be over.
Noah is a dark, scary man, and now that I think back it all makes sense.
There are some disturbing scenes. But I think life was distributing back then.
Read it, then talk to me about unicorns.
It certainly was one to get me thinking. I was brought up Catholic. The kind of Catholic who went to church every Sunday and participated very much in church activities, never questioning, just doing. For me it was just something I did. Like brush my teeth.
Then I went to university and moved away from home, but I still went to church every Sunday on campus. I took a class that first year, intro to comparative religion. It really opened my eyes, it really made me start to question and try to understand some things about my religion, that I had never done before.
Needless to say, I stopped going to church. But I still get Catholic’s guilt. I guess it is in my blood.
This book is a retelling on the Genesis story about Noah and the ark. It was dark, and well written. It affected me. A lot. I couldn’t sleep sometimes. It really changed my idea about the whole story.
I used to think of it as a cartoon, everything happy happy happy on the ark going to the new world. But then when you think about it, I mean, really think about it. It is terrifying. You have these animals stuck in the dark without proper anything for a long time praying for it all to be over.
Noah is a dark, scary man, and now that I think back it all makes sense.
There are some disturbing scenes. But I think life was distributing back then.
Read it, then talk to me about unicorns.
May 29, 2009
Joan Osborne asked in song: “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?” Findley offers an answer with his repackaging of the Noah’s ark fable. Yaweh, an ancient, self-obsessed and venal god, takes human form and visits Noah. Arriving with his entourage of servants and lackeys, Yaweh makes it known he will wipe out humanity. The crime? Dissing the creator.
As his longtime confidant, the 600 year-old Noah falls all over himself to do Yaweh’s bidding, in turn demonstrating that his own personality is an extension of Yaweh’s. He slaughters animals, terrorizes his wife and family, all in the pursuit of mindless worship of Yaweh.
Lucifer, in the form of a woman/angel (Lucy), sides with the terrorized wife and animals, continuing to seek a better life than what Yaweh and his lackeys have to offer. The book ends on a downer. The captives on the ark – Noah’s wife, Lucy, a few other humans and the animals – eventually over-power Noah and take control of the ark, but both Lucy and Noah’s wife have all but given up hope for the development or evolution of a humane society. In Lucy’s words, the Ark’s voyage will “never, never end”.
Overall, a wonderful portrayal of the dehumanizing effect of the mindless, juvenile, but widely accepted, worship of “gods” who are extremely aggressive, violent, and self-obsessed – traits we would consider sociopathic in human beings.
As his longtime confidant, the 600 year-old Noah falls all over himself to do Yaweh’s bidding, in turn demonstrating that his own personality is an extension of Yaweh’s. He slaughters animals, terrorizes his wife and family, all in the pursuit of mindless worship of Yaweh.
Lucifer, in the form of a woman/angel (Lucy), sides with the terrorized wife and animals, continuing to seek a better life than what Yaweh and his lackeys have to offer. The book ends on a downer. The captives on the ark – Noah’s wife, Lucy, a few other humans and the animals – eventually over-power Noah and take control of the ark, but both Lucy and Noah’s wife have all but given up hope for the development or evolution of a humane society. In Lucy’s words, the Ark’s voyage will “never, never end”.
Overall, a wonderful portrayal of the dehumanizing effect of the mindless, juvenile, but widely accepted, worship of “gods” who are extremely aggressive, violent, and self-obsessed – traits we would consider sociopathic in human beings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2008
fantastic. deliciously anachronistic and playful and yet deadly serious. findley wrote biblical people as PEOPLE, and not as eons-removed, idealised prophet-gods, as they naturally come across in the bible. he wrote angels as having fears and loves and moral scatteredness. he wrote singing sheep and a drunken piano. he wrote protagonists i didn't always like or agree with, and antagonists i could understand. he wrote well and simply.
i'm looking forward to finding more of his books. i thought this one was particularly brave - as brave as having faith in the truth of every word of the bible, i suppose you could say.
i'm looking forward to finding more of his books. i thought this one was particularly brave - as brave as having faith in the truth of every word of the bible, i suppose you could say.
September 20, 2024
Sep 20, 1230am ~~ I have decided to give up on this one. It is my second title by the author and while I think it is wildly creative (almost bizarrely so) I simply cannot be in this book's dark aura any longer. Maybe it will lighten up at some point after the 200 page mark; someday I might come back and find out, but for now I need to get away from Noah and everyone else aboard the ark.
DNF at around page 200.
DNF at around page 200.
January 11, 2016
I discovered this text in a bookshop in Stratford Canada where I go yearly to attend the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Mr. Findley was a performer there, long ago, and his plays have been produced at the Festival. Knowing nothing about his fiction I picked up the book because of its intriguing premise. I was not disappointed!
Mr. Findley has created a world, that due to his prowess with the tools of magical realism, seems utterly believable. From an androgynous devil, to the explanation of the disappearance of unicorns, the text is an enjoyable exercise on the nature of patriarchy, deity worship, the virtues of curious and scientific thinking, and the dangers of power. The character of Mrs. Noyes is a drunk, a battered wife, a loving mother, a choir leader, a pessimist, an optimist, and a devastatingly real human. She is all of us, and is by the far the novel's best creation.
If you can find a copy, check online, then you should pick up this novel. It is an excellent piece for a book club. Knowledge of the Bible enhances the text, but is not needed to appreciate it.
Mr. Findley has created a world, that due to his prowess with the tools of magical realism, seems utterly believable. From an androgynous devil, to the explanation of the disappearance of unicorns, the text is an enjoyable exercise on the nature of patriarchy, deity worship, the virtues of curious and scientific thinking, and the dangers of power. The character of Mrs. Noyes is a drunk, a battered wife, a loving mother, a choir leader, a pessimist, an optimist, and a devastatingly real human. She is all of us, and is by the far the novel's best creation.
If you can find a copy, check online, then you should pick up this novel. It is an excellent piece for a book club. Knowledge of the Bible enhances the text, but is not needed to appreciate it.
November 30, 2020
Read for Book Club
Not Wanted On The Voyage by Timothy Findley is loosely based on the story of Noah's Ark.
Findley took this biblical tale and changed it to suit his own bizarre purposes. Reading Paul Quarrington's introduction to the story helped me to see exactly how eccentric this author was.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of the many characters, especially the animals, until the animal cruelty began.
I found Hanibal Lector eating brains out of a human skull more preferable to read than the scene in this book involving the torture of a child and an animal.
All in all I enjoyed the weirdness of this tale but definitely could have done without the extreme cruelty.
Not Wanted On The Voyage by Timothy Findley is loosely based on the story of Noah's Ark.
Findley took this biblical tale and changed it to suit his own bizarre purposes. Reading Paul Quarrington's introduction to the story helped me to see exactly how eccentric this author was.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of the many characters, especially the animals, until the animal cruelty began.
I found Hanibal Lector eating brains out of a human skull more preferable to read than the scene in this book involving the torture of a child and an animal.
All in all I enjoyed the weirdness of this tale but definitely could have done without the extreme cruelty.
September 5, 2014
I must presume that Timothy Findley smoked copious amounts of marijuana while writing Not Wanted on the Voyage. There is really no other way to explain it. The author seems to demand that we suspend our disbelief and take seriously the fantastical world he creates in retelling the story of Noah's Ark, as the novel does not really lend itself to be read as mere allegory. But such a suspension of disbelief exceeded my meager abilities. It was just too much—way, way too much—culminating, perhaps, in the lecherous Noah's genitally mutilating his pre-teen daughter-in-law with the horn of a dying unicorn. (I say "perhaps" because this scene is just one among many that, for me, exceeded the bounds of even fictional plausibility.)
Rated two stars for the quality of the writing itself. But the storytelling was bonkers beyond words, bonkers beyond belief: a series of increasingly bizarre plot contrivances that leave one exhausted, bored, flabbergasted or perhaps even all three at once. I would not have finished this novel had it not been given to me as a gift by some dear Canadian friends, and certainly would not recommended it to anyone, even those of you who might come across this review while behind a thick haze of marijuana smoke.
Rated two stars for the quality of the writing itself. But the storytelling was bonkers beyond words, bonkers beyond belief: a series of increasingly bizarre plot contrivances that leave one exhausted, bored, flabbergasted or perhaps even all three at once. I would not have finished this novel had it not been given to me as a gift by some dear Canadian friends, and certainly would not recommended it to anyone, even those of you who might come across this review while behind a thick haze of marijuana smoke.
December 11, 2009
"Not Wanted on the Voyage is the story of the great flood and the first time the world ended. It is the story of who went on the ark and who was left behind. It is also the story of a divided family: of Noah, the tyrannical patriarch and God's magician; of his sons and their wives - Japeth and his victimized wife Emma; Shem the Ox and Hannah the survivor; the inventor Ham and Lucy - the enigmatic disturbing woman who is not what she seems. And finally it is the story of Noah's wife, Mrs. Noyes, who desperately battles to save the magic and mystery of the old world, and of Mottyl, the blind cat who sees all."
Weird book. As Fuzzy points out, it is Timothy Findley, so that does go without saying, at least a little. But still. Weird book. Between the sadistic Noah, the fallen angel posing as a woman (apparently no one particularly questions the fact that "she" is over 7 feet tall and has webbed hands and feet), the son whose skin is permanently dyed blue from being marinated by cannibals, and his wife who gets her virginity taken from her with the horn of a unicorn - still attached to the poor creature, I might add - it's pretty weird. The portrait of God, as an ancient, and in fact dying, old man, with tattered clothes and matted hair and a beard full of old food and whatnot was also... interesting.
The book does, I suppose, raise some valid points, though. The fact that, just because God tells you to do this doesn't mean that bringing your entire life onto a big boat and watching while the entire world drowns except you isn't scary as all hell, for example. And the appalling conditions such a task involves. You simply can't bring that many creatures onto a boat, no matter how big, for an indefinite amount of time, and not end up with horrendous stenches, food shortages, and even a number of deaths. So it was interesting to see those things presented in a slightly more realistic fashion than is usual. All in all, though, can't say as I much cared for it, really.
Weird book. As Fuzzy points out, it is Timothy Findley, so that does go without saying, at least a little. But still. Weird book. Between the sadistic Noah, the fallen angel posing as a woman (apparently no one particularly questions the fact that "she" is over 7 feet tall and has webbed hands and feet), the son whose skin is permanently dyed blue from being marinated by cannibals, and his wife who gets her virginity taken from her with the horn of a unicorn - still attached to the poor creature, I might add - it's pretty weird. The portrait of God, as an ancient, and in fact dying, old man, with tattered clothes and matted hair and a beard full of old food and whatnot was also... interesting.
The book does, I suppose, raise some valid points, though. The fact that, just because God tells you to do this doesn't mean that bringing your entire life onto a big boat and watching while the entire world drowns except you isn't scary as all hell, for example. And the appalling conditions such a task involves. You simply can't bring that many creatures onto a boat, no matter how big, for an indefinite amount of time, and not end up with horrendous stenches, food shortages, and even a number of deaths. So it was interesting to see those things presented in a slightly more realistic fashion than is usual. All in all, though, can't say as I much cared for it, really.
September 15, 2015
It's one thing to know, intellectually, that life as described and prescribed in the bible would have been unimaginably brutal, particularly for women, but quite another thing to know viscerally through the experience of narrative.
Likewise, you can know that petty, tyrannical god who bargains and pouts and punishes, spurting out arbitrary violence and horror, without knowing him as a character who comes to visit.
I also liked the ahistorical mix of everything -- languages, time periods, cultures, songs, mythical and real beasts. I think this must be the mental world you need to live in if you are to take the kind of stories I was taught as a child seriously and literally.
Likewise, you can know that petty, tyrannical god who bargains and pouts and punishes, spurting out arbitrary violence and horror, without knowing him as a character who comes to visit.
I also liked the ahistorical mix of everything -- languages, time periods, cultures, songs, mythical and real beasts. I think this must be the mental world you need to live in if you are to take the kind of stories I was taught as a child seriously and literally.
May 26, 2014
I always forget how fascinating and distressing this book is. I have read it several times and each time it pulls me quickly into the desperate tyrannical world of Dr. Noyes and his subjugated family. The narrative provided by both humans and animals is full of emotion and provokes a much deeper reaction than just another story about a boat and a rainbow.
September 8, 2017
As beautiful and heartbreaking as when I first read it 30 years ago.
January 9, 2010
Having read (and disliked) The Telling of Lies , oh, I don't know, in that year known as Y2K that seems so long ago, I anticipated a rough relationship with this book, another choice for Canada Reads 2008. I was so so so wrong. Like the computer glitch that was said to be capable of ending the world, the distaste never arrived. The lovely feline on the cover was the initial reason I carried this book everywhere I went, but soon I was so engrossed in the story that I was reading it in every spare minute of my day. In Findley's ...Voyage rain falls like oily pine cones, animals talk, unicorns are not as big as I had thought (duh!) and Lucifer didn't fall from Heaven, but rather escaped. I loved this book and I will continue to love it and that fabulous cover.
2010 - update: I still think about this book ALL the time. My understanding of the story of Noah is forever entangled in its utterly bleak vision of the world. The ending will never leave me.
2010 - update: I still think about this book ALL the time. My understanding of the story of Noah is forever entangled in its utterly bleak vision of the world. The ending will never leave me.
November 29, 2011
I'm hesitant to call a book like this one of my favourites. I love a tale about a popular story that takes a different point of view or twist, and the narrative itself was constantly enthralling and a joy to read. My main beef with this book is that something violent happens to one of the female characters, possibly the most horrible thing I've ever read happening to someone, and I almost put the book down right there and didn't finish reading. I guess it's a good indication of how much I love this book that I decided to finish.
July 22, 2019
I read this book for a course I took in the fall of 2009.
There are only a few books that will haunt you for almost five years and this one will exactly do so.
It is creepy, vulgar, blunt, with a side of rare and raw humour. It throws human behaviour at its worse in your face and shows you the depth of a person's character.
Egocentrism, lack of communication and the oh-so-familiar topic of gender hierarchy within the "traditional" family and family dynamics in general are only a few of the topics addressed through this very un-Biblical re-telling of the great flood.
Some of the sections in the book can be quite horrific, others show the brutality of a person's actions to the point of making the reader sick and frustrated at the same time.
I found it sometimes very difficult to make it through a chapter. Sometimes the story would stretch out endlessly without continuing at all and then suddenly picking up again to reach a comfortable pace of action.
Overall, this story was truly amazing for so many different reasons. However, it requires some patience to get through and the subject matter as a whole may not suit everyone.
ElliotScribbles
There are only a few books that will haunt you for almost five years and this one will exactly do so.
It is creepy, vulgar, blunt, with a side of rare and raw humour. It throws human behaviour at its worse in your face and shows you the depth of a person's character.
Egocentrism, lack of communication and the oh-so-familiar topic of gender hierarchy within the "traditional" family and family dynamics in general are only a few of the topics addressed through this very un-Biblical re-telling of the great flood.
Some of the sections in the book can be quite horrific, others show the brutality of a person's actions to the point of making the reader sick and frustrated at the same time.
I found it sometimes very difficult to make it through a chapter. Sometimes the story would stretch out endlessly without continuing at all and then suddenly picking up again to reach a comfortable pace of action.
Overall, this story was truly amazing for so many different reasons. However, it requires some patience to get through and the subject matter as a whole may not suit everyone.
ElliotScribbles
March 12, 2008
I can't recommend this to my students (be warned) because of some fairly graphic images, but it is so well written and such an interesting idea of Biblical "fiction." Could warp your head, but only if you let it. Oddly similar to Julian Barnes History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. Only this one came first.
September 13, 2008
Four stars only because I sobbed my eyes out reading this wonderful, but gut-wrenchingly sad book. Cat lovers especially be warned.
May 19, 2024
This book is very strange, very gruesome, and I would not recommend that anyone else read it.
It's meant to be a retelling of Noah's Ark, but dark and twisted. The author has no respect for Christianity at all, and -albeit skillfully- turns the story of God's salvation of Noah's family into a story of how "Yaweh" died of old age, Noah made the lives of his family miserable with abuse and selfishness, and the world ended.
(Oh, and Ham marries "Lucy" who is a female incarnation of Lucifer. But Lucy is a good-guy, when stacked against the grisly Noah and the horrific practices of his misplaced "faith.")
The writing is very stylistic and beautiful; Findley is clearly a master at his craft. But that is arguably all the book has going for it, especially for a Christian.
It's meant to be a retelling of Noah's Ark, but dark and twisted. The author has no respect for Christianity at all, and -albeit skillfully- turns the story of God's salvation of Noah's family into a story of how "Yaweh" died of old age, Noah made the lives of his family miserable with abuse and selfishness, and the world ended.
(Oh, and Ham marries "Lucy" who is a female incarnation of Lucifer. But Lucy is a good-guy, when stacked against the grisly Noah and the horrific practices of his misplaced "faith.")
The writing is very stylistic and beautiful; Findley is clearly a master at his craft. But that is arguably all the book has going for it, especially for a Christian.
June 26, 2013
Such an enjoyable read, complete with its highs and lows, good guys and bad guys and even the deaths of some of its heroes and survival of some villains.
Instead of a "review" and my thoughts I am going to scribe one of my favorite snippets here and let it read for itself:
'"You may carry the one-heads (these are pre-flood demons), if that will make you feel any easier," said Lucy -- exchanging sacks with Mrs Noyes.
"Thank you," said Mrs Noyes. "And just how do you carry a sack of demons?"
"Simple," said Lucy. "You sling them over your back, just like a sack of anything else. You'll see ... they rather love it."
Lucy swung the others over her shoulder and there was a chorus of delighted squeals.
"Heavens!" said Mrs Noyes. "You're quite right. They do like it. ..." And she hefted her own sack onto her back, swinging it through the air as she did.
"Whee!" said the one-heads to Lucy, from deep within their bag. "Tell her to do that again!"
"There isn't time," said Lucy. "When you've done your job, you can have lots and lots of being slung over shoulders. Now, we have work to do."
Instead of a "review" and my thoughts I am going to scribe one of my favorite snippets here and let it read for itself:
'"You may carry the one-heads (these are pre-flood demons), if that will make you feel any easier," said Lucy -- exchanging sacks with Mrs Noyes.
"Thank you," said Mrs Noyes. "And just how do you carry a sack of demons?"
"Simple," said Lucy. "You sling them over your back, just like a sack of anything else. You'll see ... they rather love it."
Lucy swung the others over her shoulder and there was a chorus of delighted squeals.
"Heavens!" said Mrs Noyes. "You're quite right. They do like it. ..." And she hefted her own sack onto her back, swinging it through the air as she did.
"Whee!" said the one-heads to Lucy, from deep within their bag. "Tell her to do that again!"
"There isn't time," said Lucy. "When you've done your job, you can have lots and lots of being slung over shoulders. Now, we have work to do."
September 23, 2020
Perhaps I'm not sufficiently intellectual to appreciate the subtleties in this book ... frankly, I found it unsatisfying. I picked it up because the premise of reading a fantastical story of what might have happened on Noah's ark was intriguing to me. I found the initial development of the characters interesting and I waited patiently for the plot to develop. However, once the storyline got to the point of boarding, I had to push myself to complete the book. I couldn't reconcile the cruelty and storyline from that point. Further, the end didn't have sufficient resolution for my liking. I felt like I was left hanging. If you read, and enjoyed, "Gods Behaving Badly" by Marie Phillips, this book may be for you. I, however, enjoyed neither of these.
September 20, 2011
This book was amazing. Recommended by a friend who had read years ago after a conversation that we had had. It's the author's re-telling of what "really" happened on the Ark, and how the family that was chosen got there. My favorite character happens to be the Cat, Mottyl. Lucy comes in at a close second.
Before you start the book, please ask yourself if you are open-minded enough to be ok with a re-telling of the biblical story. Because this isn't anything like you've ever read, be assured.
Before you start the book, please ask yourself if you are open-minded enough to be ok with a re-telling of the biblical story. Because this isn't anything like you've ever read, be assured.
July 15, 2018
This is a clever, yet dark and disturbing retelling of the Noah and the Ark story.
Living in biblical times were tough, especially for the women, add a bit of fanaticism, and a God complex to the mix, and you have an intense story.
Living in biblical times were tough, especially for the women, add a bit of fanaticism, and a God complex to the mix, and you have an intense story.
August 7, 2008
Very strange and often very disturbing.
January 27, 2020
I’ve never read a book quite like this before, and normally not a type I would like - a sort of fantasy based on a biblical story. Yet the writing and characters sucked me in, and even though it came to be at times quite disturbing and heart-wrenching, I couldn’t put it down and wanted to see how it would end.
March 2, 2021
Rather dark, but fascinating and imaginative. Why aren't there more stories about what happened on the ark? Three years, eight people, so many animals and we never wonder what that was like? And we think pandemic lockdown is bad.
There's an element of fantasy here, but it's so well based in myth and realism that it seems feasible, likely that events were not unlike the ones Findley unfolds. There's a lot going on here: patriarchy, supremacy, fascism, abuse, family dynamics, shame, fear of "other", religion, good and evil, magic, life and death, and yet it also has a pastoral feel -- at least the first half does. There's originality (demons who burn fire from their butts, unicorns the size of a small dog, the flood bringing on a kind of reverse-Babel with the animals losing their language). It's all deep and dark but with glimmers of hope and resilience and a future, and its originality meant I wondered where it would go. Worth a read.
There's an element of fantasy here, but it's so well based in myth and realism that it seems feasible, likely that events were not unlike the ones Findley unfolds. There's a lot going on here: patriarchy, supremacy, fascism, abuse, family dynamics, shame, fear of "other", religion, good and evil, magic, life and death, and yet it also has a pastoral feel -- at least the first half does. There's originality (demons who burn fire from their butts, unicorns the size of a small dog, the flood bringing on a kind of reverse-Babel with the animals losing their language). It's all deep and dark but with glimmers of hope and resilience and a future, and its originality meant I wondered where it would go. Worth a read.
May 1, 2022
I would actually call this one a 3.5 because I debated on a rating. It was a very interesting read but not a pleasure to read and very dark in parts. I will say no more!
March 26, 2023
A masterpiece, no doubt, a masterpiece.
For that reason, no reviews: it would be like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. So read it, just read it, if you haven't. And if you have, re-read it, or at least those pages at the end of part 3, when the fallen angel Lucy (as in Lucifer, don't you know) makes a speech about the extinction of wonder and magic from the world. It takes the grotesque death of the unicorn and makes it redemptive. It is stunningly beautiful, and it reminds us that:
"This is all we have and it may well be the only promised land we shall ever know."
For that reason, no reviews: it would be like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa. So read it, just read it, if you haven't. And if you have, re-read it, or at least those pages at the end of part 3, when the fallen angel Lucy (as in Lucifer, don't you know) makes a speech about the extinction of wonder and magic from the world. It takes the grotesque death of the unicorn and makes it redemptive. It is stunningly beautiful, and it reminds us that:
"This is all we have and it may well be the only promised land we shall ever know."
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