TWO BY TWO

by David Garnett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 1963

One of the past masters of the conte (A Man in the Zoo, Lady Into Fox) retells an old ""Story of Survival"", that of Noah's ark which, while not his own, he has appropriated to charming effect and with no contemporary implications in mind. Through the eyes and experiences of Fan and Niss, young girls who are twins and as like as ""two almond kernels in one shell"", this Biblical fairytale becomes very real. They join the processional into the ark and stowaway, disguised as monkeys, and there are all the difficulties of life aboard in the weeks to follow; the shortages of food and fodder; the overcrowding; the small details of animal husbandry and housekeeping. There are nice touches-- all the creatures great and small; the cameleopards who are difficult to accommodate; the glowing death of the Cock Phoenix. Noah, the drunken patriarch, is seen in some less venerable moments--""an unremarkable man with bad habits""; then there's Mrs. Noah fussing over her geraniums; and finally two of their grandsons who will join Fan and Niss on the return to the devastated earth and who will fulfill ""the Divine command to be fruitful and multiply""... Mr. Garnett's alternate version is a pleasure to read, ranging as it does from the precise and practical to the playful and fanciful.

Pub Date: Jan. 24, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1963

Categories: FICTION