Song of the Crow

I didn't really know what to expect from the title of this book, but it certainly was not what I could have even imagined. This is truly a work of a very vivid imagination and a very skilled writer. The images are so clear that you can almost hear the water slopping around the hull of the boat. The descriptions of the beastmen (Noah and his family) are brutal--a realistic portray of primative peoples. The descriptions of the land, water, and air are poetic. The conversations of the crows are believable, meaningful, and insightful providing a unique look at the old story of Noah's ark. This is not a children's Sunday School version of the story. But rather it provides new dimension to an old tale emphasizing the relationship of man, animals, God, and the elements. It was difficult to follow at times, the crow's relationship to the other crows and other animals was at times confusing. That is especially true when the bird died and its soul became a part of the entity responsible for the death. However, this is a book to be read again; once one had a better feel of these relationships, the story might take on an even clearer meaning. In short, this is not an easy read, but it is certainly interesting, creative, and not like anything else.

When I first picked up the book and read the description, I confess I had some trepidation that this would be a book that was going to be "good for me," much like raw carrots. Much to my delight, Song of the Crow was as shameless a page-turner as a Michael Connelly mystery, and as intricately constructed as a Napolean pastry. Yes, it's good for you, too. The prose on virtually every page could qualify as poetry; there are images that have not yet left me since I finished reading the book. But the literary conceit of having a crow as narrator, which I initially thought would be clunky and false, manages to feel seamless and true. The narrator crow and his family are as three-dimensional characters as any human could be, maybe more.

Upon reading Maheu's book, one is struck by the powerful sentence structure and imagery. Each sentence and word has been thought out and placed to resonate inside the reader's mind, a voice asking questions, over a Biblical myth of historical grandeur. Underneath the telling of the crows' lives is the flood myth and Noah, or Keeyaw, the grand man and beast building his ark upon God's command. A parable, a story of man's indifference to the environment, and eventual return. The epic Biblical story is caringly retold as almost a folk tale, satisfying lovers of poetry and great literature.

It's been a long time since a book's imagery has haunted my dreams as much as SONG OF THE CROW's. Oh, the writing's gorgeous -- Layne Maheu's the kind of writer destined to make other writers of literary prose violently jealous, and deservedly so -- and the story, the well-worn tale of Noah's ark told from the point of view of a crow, is astonishingly compelling, considering that pretty much any adult reader in the Western world already knows what is going to happen. (Spoiler alert: the waters eventually recede.) But long before the protagonist crow's prophesying aunt is shellacked onto the prow of the ark -- I defy anyone who reads the book to dismiss THAT image quickly -- the absolutely plausible sensual details had seduced me entirely into this crow's world. Quite an achievement, considering that it would be hard to find a darker story -- not to ruin the plot for anyone, but God does wipe out virtually the entire population of the world in a not entirely explicable fit of pique. Watery graves, victims of violent predation, and resentfully crowded and confined beasts of the earth, air, and sea abound. Yet this book has genuinely funny moments that do not feel at all forced. Our crow guide is a bit sardonic from time to time, and Noah's sulkiness in the face of clearly unreasonable heavenly requirements is a joy to behold, but the humor is never light-hearted. This is the humor of, if not the grave, very near it indeed. I noticed that another reviewer was quite enamored of the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I felt that it was an editorial mistake to have them appear quite so often; occasionally, they gave away what was about to occur. I was fascinated by all of the crow lore, of course, but I would have been happier had it come at the beginning of perhaps every third chapter, or at every major section break. The book is otherwise so beautifully packaged, however, (kudos to Unbridled for attention to often-overlooked aesthetic touches) that I cannot really begrudge the too-generous heaping of chapter headings. In short, this is a book to savor while reading, to dream about between chapters, to think about afterward -- and to recommend to other lovers of fine writing with genuine pleasure.

Layne Maheu's debut novel Song Of The Crow offers a unique depiction of the confluence of humanity and the metaphysical heavens as illustrated by the story of Noah and the Flood from the perspective of a crow. Song Of The Crow carries readers through an incredibly engaging and superbly crafted story of struggle, fear, free will, the inner workings of the human mind, and the obedience of an old gray haired man to the commandment of his God despite the ridicule and disbelief of his community. Maheu's writing style is lyrical and imaginative, a kind of extended story-telling meditation uniquely portrayed through the eyes of a bird viewing the pitiful struggle of the man to build his ship and save all life from being extinct because of the wrath of Yahweh. A welcome addition to any community library fiction collection, Song Of The Crow is especially recommended for all readers who enjoy stories inspired by scripture and brought to life with flair, style, and imagination.