There's a lot of "Lord of the Flies" to be found-in the near-immediate loss of morality and increasing savagery the crew shows, for example. Maybe the satirist Morrow should be compared to is William Golding. The plot advances by lurches and surges, and a lot of the characters' decisions seem poorly explained, their motivations too strained to be credible: the feminists take quick offense upon learning that God is male, the atheists immediately decide to destroy the evidence rather than admit they were wrong. And where Vonnegut wielded his satire with the deft precision of minimalism, Morrow bludgeons us about the head and shoulders. We get to a similar ending place as far as satire, but the routes are wildly different. Vonnegut dealt in broad generalities that are universal to all people whereas Morrow delves deeply into specific lifestyles and professions. Much has been said comparing Morrow to Vonnegut, but other than an absurdist plot and overtones of humanism, I don't think the comparison is apt. If you don't, prepare to hear a lot about the minutae of these niche interests. If you already have a background in Catholicism or nautical shipping, it will help. Their main opposition? A World War II air force reenactment squad hired by militant atheists to sink the Lord in hopes that nobody will find out about it. He in turn is supervised by a modern-day priest/particle physicist who bridges the holy mysteries of ancient Rome with the scientific mysteries of subatomic physics. In fact, the whole novel is in-your-face-allegorical from the get-go, featuring a cast of superstitious sailors led by a guilt-ridden former captain who has never gotten over the massive oil spill his negligence caused. He in turn is supervised by a modern-day priest/particle physicist who bridges the holy myste God is dead, and something has got to be done about His corpse! This book drops the bombshell of this very unique premise, and then it's off to the races.
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