Paleologist Calvin Cohn, this novel's protagonist was studying the bottom of the ocean when the Second Flood struck. The flood is due to the thermonuclear war brought about by the Cold War (this novel was first published in 1982) and God willed the total anihilation of men on earth. However, God made a "marginal error" by not seeing Calvin in the bottom of the ocean and also some apes who also survived the catastrophe. The first of these apes to surface out is a chimp called Buz, a subject of a scientist who has been teaching him to speak like a human being. Soon other creatures appear - baboons, other chimps, five apes and a lone gorilla, George. This are all the characters in Malamud's modern-day dystopian fantasy: a man and a bunch of apes. Aside from being a scientist, Calvin is a Jew. Since Buz can speak, he teaches the other apes on how to speak like him. Then Calvin tries to teach them like human beings in the "schooltree." Calvin believes that he and his bunch of apes can start another generation of "people" that will populate the earth. I will not tell you the ending because someone might call my attention and require me to put a spoiler in my review ha ha.Bernard Malamud (1914-1986) is, along with Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, one of the greatest American Jewish authors. He is more known for his movies that have been turned into movies like The Natural and The Fixer. God's Grace is his last novel and it is, being a dystopian fantasy, a total departure from those two mainstream novels. In God's Grace, however, Malamud still incorporates his strong belief in God as he gave Calvin the ability to talk to God (mostly in dreams) and that God can take his life anytime as a correction to the "marginal error." That belief pervades the mood of the story as one can feel the danger that is lurking and that death is imminent. It's like watching James Cameron's Titanic because you know even at the start of the movie, that ship will capsize and most of them will die. That did not dampen your interest on the movie though because the movie is well-made. Just like God's Grace. It is well-written.
A good read overall, from both religious and evolutionary standpoints - Malamud interestingly reconciles the two while questioning God's will. His style is very minimalistic, which in the first chapter of the Day of Devestation (or so Cohn, the protagonist, refers to the Flood with which man destroys himself) is engaging. The contrast of such a simple style with the havoc around Cohn allows the imagination to expand and fill in the gaps, the loneliness and isolation, more than any words ever could. However, the minimalist style soon becomes weary and it's hard to get through some parts of the story because of it - the reader really needs to rely on himself.Overall, I enjoyed it, but I can't say I would recommend it to most people unless they were unusually interested in the God vs evolution question or Judaism in literature.
What do You think about God's Grace (2005)?
God struck the world through a second flood but mistakenly left out the paleologist Calvin Cohn. Cohn pleaded with God to give him another chance at life. God did not explicitly say He is sparing Cohn but indirectly let him live for a couple more years. Cohn ruled the next few years in the company of the chimpanzees. Buz, an intelligent chimapanzee, who was previously experimented with by a great scientist became like a son to him. Mary, another chimpanzee, became his wife and they gave birth to
—Sheryl
I have read Mr. Malamud's The Natural, and The Assistant, so I was attracted to this book right off the bat. It is a very different construct then the other books. In this book, Malamud writes about a dystopian future, where a Second Flood has occurred after a nuclear war. Not what I was expecting. Unlike the other books I have read by Malamud, there is a heavy presence of God and Judaism here as well. Overall, it is a great book.The story is well told, the pace is quick and the writing is excellent. I like the main character - the only human who survives the Flood, Cohen, and while you question some of his actions and ideas, you can relate to why he chooses the paths he does. The interactions with animals and the Planet of the Apes allegories are well thought out and executed.
—Du
Never read a Malamud novel before (not sure why, but then again, there's a shamefully long list of authors I have yet to read). Picked this up on advice from a guy named Moffett, whose taste tends to run congruently with my own and who described this book as "crazy" and "insane." Which it was. A sort of Robinson Crusoe meets Lord of the Rings meets Planet of the Apes. Cohn, a scientist at the bottom of the ocean during a nuclear catastrophe, emerges to find the world flooded and desolate--he, apparently, is the sole survivor; that is, he and a chimp who'd been locked in a room on a boat. Eventually Cohn and Buz--he names the monkey "Buz"--discover an island, where they eventually meet other survivors and the story, which begins with a sort of carefree Gilligan's Island vibe, eventually swerves into Cormac McCarthy territory. I can't say any more about the plot without spoiling it, so I won't. Cohn himself is--from my perspective anyway--one of those characters you end up really liking and caring and worrying about, in part because he attempts to stay rational and kind no matter how absurd or threatening the situations get. A good book to escape into, especially if you enjoy compelling portrayals of apocalyptic stuff peopled by characters who question the nature of existence in a world where God's mysteries remain maddeningly unsolvable.
—Matthew
