MR. NOAH AND THE SECOND FLOOD

by Sheila Burnford ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 24, 1973

When pollution precipitates a second flood (it's all reasonably explained, in terms of carbon dioxide accumulation leading to the melting of the polar ice caps, etc.) a descendant of the original Noah builds a new ark, gathers up two of every animal that's left (excluding his own sons and their wives, because Homo Sapiens the Toolmaker, who caused the problem, is not worth perpetuating), and sets off through the plastic-clogged ""putrid pudding of global garbage"" to find a higher mountain. Surviving humans meanwhile (including the rejected younger Noahs) are blasting off from Mount Everest -- the masses heading for Mars and a computer-selected elite for the Moon, where early arrivals are already making pets of synthetic bacteria. The joke however seems to be on Mr. Noah when the pair of chimps on board begins to fish up debris with an umbrella which looks in their hands uncomfortably like a tool -- but ""to the eternal credit of Homo Sapiens, as represented by the last of his species in the world,"" Mr. Noah does not interfere, dropping moodily to sleep instead as the moon sails across the sky, ""for all the world like another Ark."" Burnford's heavy, not to say dismal, message is somewhat relieved by her polished, gently chiding style and by Mr. Noah's example, which might just represent the likeliest comfort that honesty permits.

Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Praeger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION