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Gargulec
Zanim napisał Gargulca, Andrew Davidson przez siedem lat zbierał materiały. Praca przyniosła oszałamiający efekt.
Powieść jeszcze przed premierą zyskała olbrzymi rozgłos i przyciągnęła uwagę mediów i wydawców z całego świata. Dwadzieścia pięć redakcji z całego świata równolegle pracowało nad przekładem.
Na oddziale poparzeń leży mężczyzna. Zawieszony między życiem a śmiercią. Ulgę znajduje jedynie w szczegółowym planowaniu samobójstwa. Aż do momentu, gdy przy jego łóżku pojawia się Marianne Engel, chora na schizofrenię rzeźbiarka tworząca figury maszkaronów.
Marianne twierdzi, że od siedmiuset lat łączy ich namiętna miłość. Że poznali się w XIV wieku, gdy opatrywała jego rany jako mniszka, kopistka z niemieckiego klasztoru. Zapomniał? Nie chce uwierzyć? Nie szkodzi. Ona udowodni mu, że tak było. Zaczyna opowieść... O zaginionych przekładach Biblii i Boskiej Komedii. O średniowiecznych kondotierach, buddyjskich świątyniach, wyprawach wikingów. A nade wszystko - o miłości.
Twardej jak piekło, silniejszej niż śmierć.
Powieść jeszcze przed premierą zyskała olbrzymi rozgłos i przyciągnęła uwagę mediów i wydawców z całego świata. Dwadzieścia pięć redakcji z całego świata równolegle pracowało nad przekładem.
Na oddziale poparzeń leży mężczyzna. Zawieszony między życiem a śmiercią. Ulgę znajduje jedynie w szczegółowym planowaniu samobójstwa. Aż do momentu, gdy przy jego łóżku pojawia się Marianne Engel, chora na schizofrenię rzeźbiarka tworząca figury maszkaronów.
Marianne twierdzi, że od siedmiuset lat łączy ich namiętna miłość. Że poznali się w XIV wieku, gdy opatrywała jego rany jako mniszka, kopistka z niemieckiego klasztoru. Zapomniał? Nie chce uwierzyć? Nie szkodzi. Ona udowodni mu, że tak było. Zaczyna opowieść... O zaginionych przekładach Biblii i Boskiej Komedii. O średniowiecznych kondotierach, buddyjskich świątyniach, wyprawach wikingów. A nade wszystko - o miłości.
Twardej jak piekło, silniejszej niż śmierć.
502 pages, Paperback
First published August 5, 2008
1593 people are currently reading
34050 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Davidson
1book2,509followersAndrew Davidson is the author of The Gargoyle, which came out in 2008. In America, the publisher is Doubleday; in Canada, the publisher is Random House; in the UK, the publisher is Canongate; in Australia, the publisher is Text. The book was a New York Times best-seller, and has been translated into thirty languages.
Andrew lives in Canada, and is currently working on his next book.
Andrew lives in Canada, and is currently working on his next book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,041 reviews
June 11, 2016
“All history is just one man trying to take something away from another man, and usually it doesn't really belong to either of them.�
3 1/2 stars. Very nearly 4 but the strong start peters out a little, with the second half of the book losing momentum (I got to a point where I was reading just to finish).
's prose bursts onto the pages in a blazing sea of fire. The book opens with detailed description of the accident that disfigures the unnamed narrator, with a beautiful, horrific break down of the accident itself, and the subsequent medical procedures he must undergo to recover. A former porn star and now beyond recognition, the narrator takes us on a journey into his own past, into his future and recovery, and into medieval Germany.
For at least half of the book, I was completely hooked. Some parts of the story are slow, and yet the prose is dynamic and exciting enough to carry you through. It's extremely gritty, and the protagonist is exactly the kind I like: cynical, sarcastic, and with a somewhat nihilistic view of the world. His narrative charisma is so very compelling.
While recovering in the hospital, the narrator becomes addicted to morphine and even more addicted to misery, plotting his own suicide in graphic detail. That is - until Marianne Engel appears in his room. Marianne is undoubtedly strange, and he suspects that she is either suffering from manic depression or schizophrenia. Because the things she tells him cannot possibly be true.
Among her tales of love stories, she also reveals that they have a "past". Once upon a time in fourteenth-century Germany, they were lovers. Ludicrous as this obviously is, the protagonist is drawn into her tales, finding new reason to live from her companionship, whilst also being concerned for her mental health.
Both the present day recovery and the historical elements are fascinating. The writing is lush and vivid, weaving a modern day tale of tragedy and romance with history and the suggestion of fantasy. Unfortunately, the novel begins to slow down when we leave the hospital and the later chapters lacked some of the earlier magic.
Despite this, I still have to recommend it. For me, it's just a fine example of really great writing and genre crossovers being done well. It's a love story that should suit romantics and non-romantics alike - with plenty of history, gore and social commentary, there's something for almost everyone in here.
| | | | |
December 10, 2008
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
It's easy to take the low road whenever a subpar book with tremendous hype comes out, to comically trash that book not necessarily for its ludicrous elements but rather that a group of corporate executives decided to spend millions on it anyway. But what if that author happens to be on your friend list at a popular social network for book nerds, so is guaranteed to eventually see your review? And what if he was actually the one to invite you to be friends? And what if it was months and months before his own book ever took off? And what if he turns out to be a really nice guy, and an active member of the literary community, and goes out of his way to help out other authors and always spread the love? What if, say, you're me, and you're about to review Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle, aka "The Little Book That Could," that came out of obscurity earlier this year to become the most heavily hyped new novel of the entire fall season?
Well, if you're me, you take a deep breath, point your car squarely towards the low-road exit ramp, and declare: This book was freaking terrible, and every executive at Doubleday responsible for overhyping it should be ashamed of themselves. In fact, now that I'm finished with it, I'm starting to wonder if "Andrew Davidson" is even a real person at all; if we haven't perhaps all been duped by the greatest literary hoax in history, and that the most hyped adult book of 2008 turns out to have been written by a 15-year-old girl who's read Twilight one too many times. And don't get me wrong, that's not bad if you're a 15-year-old girl, and I don't begrudge 15-year-old girls in any way at all for being fans of Twilight; but when it's a book written by a grown-up and meant for other grown-ups, marketed as a grown-up book within grown-up publications, to have it turn out to be a gooey, badly-written, chaste supernatural romantic thriller is a freaking crime, or at least should be.
I mean, how else to explain so many of the elements found in this book, things that had me instantly rolling my eyes in slacker disgust the moment I came across them, but that I could nonetheless see a whole gaggle of high-school girls wetting their panties over? Sheesh, where do you even start with this thing? Well, how about this, that it's an intense love story where no one has sex; in fact, Davidson even drives this point home in about as obvious a manner as possible, by making our hero a victim of a fiery car crash whose d-ck has literally been burned off. Subtle, Davidson, subtle! Or how about all the bizarre yet stereotypical details just arbitrarily thrown willy-nilly into these characters' backgrounds, without any follow-through or realistic observations about such a detail, or any other evidence that the author in any way knows what the hell they're talking about with that detail, and that they just threw it in because it "sounded cool?" I'm thinking for example of our burned-up hero again, who before his accident had spent his entire life as a sex-addicted, drug-addicted, childhood-abuse-victim gigolo and owner of his own pornography production company; yet after his crash he doesn't exhibit even the first sign of emotional distance, mental withdrawal or psychological manipulation that almost automatically comes with such a background, instead ready to throw himself feet-first into the most sickly-sweet pink-heart teenage-girl romantic relationship one could ever possibly have, with the very first person he sees after coming out of his coma.
And speaking of which, that's yet another sign that this book was possibly written secretly by a 15-year-old girl; because the middle-age woman serving as our romantic interest acts exactly like a 15-year-old girl the entire time, is clearly meant by the author to be admired for it instead of mocked and scorned, and in fact has a lifestyle that would be the wet dream of any goth-wearing, Tori-Amos-obsessed suburban pubescent slam poet and underground comics artist. She's a quirky sculptress who makes a million dollars a year! She lives in an abandoned church and hangs out with rock stars! She eats instant coffee like candy, and sleeps nude on her stone slabs the night before she carves them! She has a special rapport with animals that no one else understands! And to top it all off, she believes herself to actually be 700 years old, the burn victim actually her soul-sworn lover from nearly a millennium ago, who she's been tracking throughout history while paying supernatural penance for a sin against him in her youth! J-SUS C-RIST, GET THE F-CK AWAY FROM ME, YOU STUPID F-CKING 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL!
And that of course leads us neatly to the next major problem with this book; that much like fellow overhyped trainwreck The Historian, The Gargoyle is sold as a contemporary supernatural story but is neither contemporary nor supernatural, the modern-day scenes existing only and solely as a framing device for this wacko love interest to tell these giant, rambling stories about their supposed original passionate romance back in the 1300s, with Davidson going out of his way to show that she might just be mentally ill and making the entire thing up. (And in fact, exactly like The Historian, large parts of the contemporary side of The Gargoyle can be skipped altogether without missing a single important plot development; just start paying attention again whenever you come across the phrase, "Should I tell you more of my story now?") And speaking of which, this is yet another reason why I suspect that this novel was secretly written by a 15-year-old girl, someone whose entire concept of relationships is strictly limited to bland surface-level middle-class suburban nuclear marriages; because how else to explain the exact bland, middle-class suburban existence this couple apparently lives right smack-dab in the middle of the f-cking Dark Ages? They move to the big city...he struggles to find work, while she makes him comfort meals each night...they become friends with their elderly Jewish neighbors...they romantically talk about one day buying their own home. Cheese And Freaking Rice, Davidson, this is not what couples did in the 1300s; couples in the 1300s simply built their houses themselves, rutted around in their own filth after 17 hours a day of backbreaking labor, and desperately tried to squeeze out as many babies as possible before they all died of the g-dd-mn plague!
Whew. Okay. Deep breath, Jason. Okay, I think I've got my entire comical rant out of my system now, which means I can finally get to my most important point; that when all is said and done, in reality The Gargoyle is no worse than any other first novel by any other beginning novelist, the kind you can just picture coming out with little fanfare, gathering a modest amount of passionate genre fans, and sparking just exactly enough sales to guarantee that author's next book contract, at which point they will undoubtedly be just a little better of a writer than they were before, then a little better again, then a little better again. Ultimately I would've liked this book a lot more if it had arrived under those circumstances, and in fact I could've just as easily described this book today as a typical yet decent beach read with a few above-average elements. No, when I go off on books like these -- when most people go off on books like these -- what I'm really ranting about are the knuckleheads at Doubleday who thought that this middlebrow first novel should've been insanely hyped in the first place, who thought that tens of millions of dollars should've been spent on its promotion when there are clearly so many other better books out there that deserve that hype and money more. It's a naked sign of just how much contempt these publishing executives have for their audience, a very clear indication that they don't think they should publish anything "too smart" (or at least hype it), because it'll obviously go right over the heads of the ignorant cash-flush sheep they call their customers.
It angers me when I see a publishing company treat me with this kind of naked contempt, and it makes me want to lash out at them. It makes me want to write these kinds of devastatingly witty, borderline-cruel reviews, just as a way of shouting at these executives, "Stop sh-tting down my throat and calling it chocolate cake. STOP DOING THAT." It's unfair to dump on Davidson, I know, merely for writing the exact book that he should be writing at this point in his career; but when it's one lone critical voice against tens of millions of marketing dollars and an entire multinational hype machine, sometimes that voice simply needs to be extra-loud and extra-mean. That's just sometimes how it is, and Davidson knew this the moment he signed that 1.5-million-dollar Doubleday contract to begin with.
Out of 10: 6.7
It's easy to take the low road whenever a subpar book with tremendous hype comes out, to comically trash that book not necessarily for its ludicrous elements but rather that a group of corporate executives decided to spend millions on it anyway. But what if that author happens to be on your friend list at a popular social network for book nerds, so is guaranteed to eventually see your review? And what if he was actually the one to invite you to be friends? And what if it was months and months before his own book ever took off? And what if he turns out to be a really nice guy, and an active member of the literary community, and goes out of his way to help out other authors and always spread the love? What if, say, you're me, and you're about to review Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle, aka "The Little Book That Could," that came out of obscurity earlier this year to become the most heavily hyped new novel of the entire fall season?
Well, if you're me, you take a deep breath, point your car squarely towards the low-road exit ramp, and declare: This book was freaking terrible, and every executive at Doubleday responsible for overhyping it should be ashamed of themselves. In fact, now that I'm finished with it, I'm starting to wonder if "Andrew Davidson" is even a real person at all; if we haven't perhaps all been duped by the greatest literary hoax in history, and that the most hyped adult book of 2008 turns out to have been written by a 15-year-old girl who's read Twilight one too many times. And don't get me wrong, that's not bad if you're a 15-year-old girl, and I don't begrudge 15-year-old girls in any way at all for being fans of Twilight; but when it's a book written by a grown-up and meant for other grown-ups, marketed as a grown-up book within grown-up publications, to have it turn out to be a gooey, badly-written, chaste supernatural romantic thriller is a freaking crime, or at least should be.
I mean, how else to explain so many of the elements found in this book, things that had me instantly rolling my eyes in slacker disgust the moment I came across them, but that I could nonetheless see a whole gaggle of high-school girls wetting their panties over? Sheesh, where do you even start with this thing? Well, how about this, that it's an intense love story where no one has sex; in fact, Davidson even drives this point home in about as obvious a manner as possible, by making our hero a victim of a fiery car crash whose d-ck has literally been burned off. Subtle, Davidson, subtle! Or how about all the bizarre yet stereotypical details just arbitrarily thrown willy-nilly into these characters' backgrounds, without any follow-through or realistic observations about such a detail, or any other evidence that the author in any way knows what the hell they're talking about with that detail, and that they just threw it in because it "sounded cool?" I'm thinking for example of our burned-up hero again, who before his accident had spent his entire life as a sex-addicted, drug-addicted, childhood-abuse-victim gigolo and owner of his own pornography production company; yet after his crash he doesn't exhibit even the first sign of emotional distance, mental withdrawal or psychological manipulation that almost automatically comes with such a background, instead ready to throw himself feet-first into the most sickly-sweet pink-heart teenage-girl romantic relationship one could ever possibly have, with the very first person he sees after coming out of his coma.
And speaking of which, that's yet another sign that this book was possibly written secretly by a 15-year-old girl; because the middle-age woman serving as our romantic interest acts exactly like a 15-year-old girl the entire time, is clearly meant by the author to be admired for it instead of mocked and scorned, and in fact has a lifestyle that would be the wet dream of any goth-wearing, Tori-Amos-obsessed suburban pubescent slam poet and underground comics artist. She's a quirky sculptress who makes a million dollars a year! She lives in an abandoned church and hangs out with rock stars! She eats instant coffee like candy, and sleeps nude on her stone slabs the night before she carves them! She has a special rapport with animals that no one else understands! And to top it all off, she believes herself to actually be 700 years old, the burn victim actually her soul-sworn lover from nearly a millennium ago, who she's been tracking throughout history while paying supernatural penance for a sin against him in her youth! J-SUS C-RIST, GET THE F-CK AWAY FROM ME, YOU STUPID F-CKING 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL!
And that of course leads us neatly to the next major problem with this book; that much like fellow overhyped trainwreck The Historian, The Gargoyle is sold as a contemporary supernatural story but is neither contemporary nor supernatural, the modern-day scenes existing only and solely as a framing device for this wacko love interest to tell these giant, rambling stories about their supposed original passionate romance back in the 1300s, with Davidson going out of his way to show that she might just be mentally ill and making the entire thing up. (And in fact, exactly like The Historian, large parts of the contemporary side of The Gargoyle can be skipped altogether without missing a single important plot development; just start paying attention again whenever you come across the phrase, "Should I tell you more of my story now?") And speaking of which, this is yet another reason why I suspect that this novel was secretly written by a 15-year-old girl, someone whose entire concept of relationships is strictly limited to bland surface-level middle-class suburban nuclear marriages; because how else to explain the exact bland, middle-class suburban existence this couple apparently lives right smack-dab in the middle of the f-cking Dark Ages? They move to the big city...he struggles to find work, while she makes him comfort meals each night...they become friends with their elderly Jewish neighbors...they romantically talk about one day buying their own home. Cheese And Freaking Rice, Davidson, this is not what couples did in the 1300s; couples in the 1300s simply built their houses themselves, rutted around in their own filth after 17 hours a day of backbreaking labor, and desperately tried to squeeze out as many babies as possible before they all died of the g-dd-mn plague!
Whew. Okay. Deep breath, Jason. Okay, I think I've got my entire comical rant out of my system now, which means I can finally get to my most important point; that when all is said and done, in reality The Gargoyle is no worse than any other first novel by any other beginning novelist, the kind you can just picture coming out with little fanfare, gathering a modest amount of passionate genre fans, and sparking just exactly enough sales to guarantee that author's next book contract, at which point they will undoubtedly be just a little better of a writer than they were before, then a little better again, then a little better again. Ultimately I would've liked this book a lot more if it had arrived under those circumstances, and in fact I could've just as easily described this book today as a typical yet decent beach read with a few above-average elements. No, when I go off on books like these -- when most people go off on books like these -- what I'm really ranting about are the knuckleheads at Doubleday who thought that this middlebrow first novel should've been insanely hyped in the first place, who thought that tens of millions of dollars should've been spent on its promotion when there are clearly so many other better books out there that deserve that hype and money more. It's a naked sign of just how much contempt these publishing executives have for their audience, a very clear indication that they don't think they should publish anything "too smart" (or at least hype it), because it'll obviously go right over the heads of the ignorant cash-flush sheep they call their customers.
It angers me when I see a publishing company treat me with this kind of naked contempt, and it makes me want to lash out at them. It makes me want to write these kinds of devastatingly witty, borderline-cruel reviews, just as a way of shouting at these executives, "Stop sh-tting down my throat and calling it chocolate cake. STOP DOING THAT." It's unfair to dump on Davidson, I know, merely for writing the exact book that he should be writing at this point in his career; but when it's one lone critical voice against tens of millions of marketing dollars and an entire multinational hype machine, sometimes that voice simply needs to be extra-loud and extra-mean. That's just sometimes how it is, and Davidson knew this the moment he signed that 1.5-million-dollar Doubleday contract to begin with.
Out of 10: 6.7
May 19, 2024
(Dd 11/03/2017) A one wonderful story, twisted of a plethora of entangled tales. I love this book, it leaves an incredibly warm afterfeeling to the reader. Get ready to get enamoured with this fantastic tale.
A tale that invokes such vivid imagery that it's almost painful to read. An excruciating fairy tale exploring the gossamer of tears and bliss, of fears and hopes. The lore and the subconcious are entangled to create a memorable exploration of a soul's journey through eternity.
(Dd 23/09/2017) This story is memorable enough to linger in my memory for months afterwards. Somehow, it is comforting, warming even, though lots of things discussed in there are horrible enough to be chilling. I think it is the masterfully presented idea of eternal life, of souls meeting with each other time and again, is what makes this book such a comfort. I love it, love it, LOVE IT!
(Dd 13/03/2018) I happen to be a believer in all the key things to this: both reincarnation and eternal love. That's probably why this became my fav-fav! Unconventional and unforgettable!
Of course, I would have loved a happy end (I always do!), it would have been a balm on my tired nerves. Still, the way the author chose to compose this plot was waaay superior to anything else.
Even if it was so sad, there is still hope for our heroes.
The next time they will do better. The next time they will meet outright. The next time they will be happier. And again, and again.
And even if the next time doesn't work, there always is another story, another life to be happy in.
(DD xx)
I keep rereading this one non-stop. Mesmerizing and evocative! I love how all the threads of this story weave into a superb novel. One which is to be read as a very personal experience, transcending space and time.
(Dd 2024) Still in love with this book.
Still both scared and mesmerised by its subject.
I wish there were many more reads this strong around. I wish...
Q:
The only way I was able to survive that shitty world was to imagine better ones, so I read everything I could get my hands on.
(c)
Q:
When the mother became savage-eyed and withdrawn, the young girl would come to cry fearfully in my tiny room, anticipating an impending sale. Last I heard, her mother had cleaned up, lost addiction, and found God. Last I heard, the girl (now adult) was a pregnant heroin addict.
(c)
Q:
My “miraculous survival� will not change my opinion that Heaven is an idea constructed by man to help him cope with the fact that life on earth is both brutally short and, paradoxically, far too long.
(c)
Q:
I can state this with authority: nothing compares with deciding to die. I had an excellent plan and it made me smile. It made me drift more lightly on my air flotation bed.
(c)
Q:
In those days, you must understand, children were basically thought to be inadequate adults. A child’s nature was not something that could be developed, because character was set at birth; childhood was a period of revelation, not development, so when my language abilities appeared they were thought to have always existed, placed there by God, waiting to be made known.
(c)
Q:
I tried to imagine being so thoroughly devoted that I would die for someone else; I, who found it difficult enough to imagine living for myself.
(c)
Q:
It’s a strange but consistent trait of people who consider themselves unattractive. They look embarrassed if you suggest that they might be interested in someone; because they feel unworthy of receiving attention, they also deny that they would dare to give it.
(c)
Q:
If anything, I am an equal opportunity misanthropist.
(c)
Q:
No wonder Marianne Engel lived next to a graveyard: who but the dead could put up with her?
(c)
Q:
I am more than my scars.
(c)
Q:
And just when you start thinking that you've accepted who you are, that changes, too. Because who you are is not permanent.
(c)
Q:
Who would have guessed that the monster of fraud was a democracy?
(c)
Q:
Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell.
(c)
Q:
I am not a hero in soul and never will be, but I am better than I was. Or so I tell myself; and for now, that is enough.
(c)
Q:
“Do you know what the best part of that swim was?�
“N.�
“Knowing that you were on the shore waiting for me.�
(c)
Q:
Belief in a better future is an amazing gift.
(c)
Q:
The Archangel turned towards us. Francesco lowered his head and made the sign of the cross. I kept my head up, my eyes focused. Unlike Francesco, because I had never longed to see the divine, I was not burdened with the fear of what might happen if I did.
Michael smiled.
I realized then, for the first time, that I was not hallucinating. I was indeed in Hell, and I was indeed in the presence of the Divine. It was beyond all doubt: I am far too human to imagine anything like that smile. It was like a kiss upon all my worst secrets, absolving them straight away.
(c)
Q:
“I spent my entire life waiting for you, Marianne, and I didn’t even know it until you arrived. Being burned was the best thing that ever happened to me because it brought you. I wanted to die but you filled me with so much love that it overflowed and I couldn’t help but love you back. It happened before I even knew it and now I can’t imagine not loving you. You have said that it takes so much for me to believe anything, but I do believe. I believe in your love for me. I believe in my love for you. I believe that every remaining beat of my heart belongs to you, and I believe that when I finally leave this world, my last breath will carry your name. I believe that my final word-Marianne-will be all I need to know that my life was good and full and worthy, and I believe that our love will last forever.�
(c)
Q:
“You are mine, I am yours; you may be sure of this. You’ve been locked inside my heart, the key has been thrown away; within it, you must always stay.�
(c)
A tale that invokes such vivid imagery that it's almost painful to read. An excruciating fairy tale exploring the gossamer of tears and bliss, of fears and hopes. The lore and the subconcious are entangled to create a memorable exploration of a soul's journey through eternity.
(Dd 23/09/2017) This story is memorable enough to linger in my memory for months afterwards. Somehow, it is comforting, warming even, though lots of things discussed in there are horrible enough to be chilling. I think it is the masterfully presented idea of eternal life, of souls meeting with each other time and again, is what makes this book such a comfort. I love it, love it, LOVE IT!
(Dd 13/03/2018) I happen to be a believer in all the key things to this: both reincarnation and eternal love. That's probably why this became my fav-fav! Unconventional and unforgettable!
Of course, I would have loved a happy end (I always do!), it would have been a balm on my tired nerves. Still, the way the author chose to compose this plot was waaay superior to anything else.
Even if it was so sad, there is still hope for our heroes.
The next time they will do better. The next time they will meet outright. The next time they will be happier. And again, and again.
And even if the next time doesn't work, there always is another story, another life to be happy in.
(DD xx)
I keep rereading this one non-stop. Mesmerizing and evocative! I love how all the threads of this story weave into a superb novel. One which is to be read as a very personal experience, transcending space and time.
(Dd 2024) Still in love with this book.
Still both scared and mesmerised by its subject.
I wish there were many more reads this strong around. I wish...
Q:
The only way I was able to survive that shitty world was to imagine better ones, so I read everything I could get my hands on.
(c)
Q:
When the mother became savage-eyed and withdrawn, the young girl would come to cry fearfully in my tiny room, anticipating an impending sale. Last I heard, her mother had cleaned up, lost addiction, and found God. Last I heard, the girl (now adult) was a pregnant heroin addict.
(c)
Q:
My “miraculous survival� will not change my opinion that Heaven is an idea constructed by man to help him cope with the fact that life on earth is both brutally short and, paradoxically, far too long.
(c)
Q:
I can state this with authority: nothing compares with deciding to die. I had an excellent plan and it made me smile. It made me drift more lightly on my air flotation bed.
(c)
Q:
In those days, you must understand, children were basically thought to be inadequate adults. A child’s nature was not something that could be developed, because character was set at birth; childhood was a period of revelation, not development, so when my language abilities appeared they were thought to have always existed, placed there by God, waiting to be made known.
(c)
Q:
I tried to imagine being so thoroughly devoted that I would die for someone else; I, who found it difficult enough to imagine living for myself.
(c)
Q:
It’s a strange but consistent trait of people who consider themselves unattractive. They look embarrassed if you suggest that they might be interested in someone; because they feel unworthy of receiving attention, they also deny that they would dare to give it.
(c)
Q:
If anything, I am an equal opportunity misanthropist.
(c)
Q:
No wonder Marianne Engel lived next to a graveyard: who but the dead could put up with her?
(c)
Q:
I am more than my scars.
(c)
Q:
And just when you start thinking that you've accepted who you are, that changes, too. Because who you are is not permanent.
(c)
Q:
Who would have guessed that the monster of fraud was a democracy?
(c)
Q:
Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell.
(c)
Q:
I am not a hero in soul and never will be, but I am better than I was. Or so I tell myself; and for now, that is enough.
(c)
Q:
“Do you know what the best part of that swim was?�
“N.�
“Knowing that you were on the shore waiting for me.�
(c)
Q:
Belief in a better future is an amazing gift.
(c)
Q:
The Archangel turned towards us. Francesco lowered his head and made the sign of the cross. I kept my head up, my eyes focused. Unlike Francesco, because I had never longed to see the divine, I was not burdened with the fear of what might happen if I did.
Michael smiled.
I realized then, for the first time, that I was not hallucinating. I was indeed in Hell, and I was indeed in the presence of the Divine. It was beyond all doubt: I am far too human to imagine anything like that smile. It was like a kiss upon all my worst secrets, absolving them straight away.
(c)
Q:
“I spent my entire life waiting for you, Marianne, and I didn’t even know it until you arrived. Being burned was the best thing that ever happened to me because it brought you. I wanted to die but you filled me with so much love that it overflowed and I couldn’t help but love you back. It happened before I even knew it and now I can’t imagine not loving you. You have said that it takes so much for me to believe anything, but I do believe. I believe in your love for me. I believe in my love for you. I believe that every remaining beat of my heart belongs to you, and I believe that when I finally leave this world, my last breath will carry your name. I believe that my final word-Marianne-will be all I need to know that my life was good and full and worthy, and I believe that our love will last forever.�
(c)
Q:
“You are mine, I am yours; you may be sure of this. You’ve been locked inside my heart, the key has been thrown away; within it, you must always stay.�
(c)
February 2, 2016
Posted at
I’m usually suspicious of over-hyped books, but a friend at the library highly recommended it.
A short way into the story, the narrator’s mom dies, his grandmother dies, he gets severely burned in a car accident, and his aunt and uncle die. I felt beat over the head with all the suffering and seriously thought about giving up reading by page 50. Then Marianne Engel, a woman with a history of mental illness, shows up in the nameless narrator’s hospital room telling a story about her previous life in medieval Germany. That was the hook that drew me in.
The story jumps back and forth between stories about Marianne’s life as a nun and scribe, the narrator’s past as a mercenary soldier, and the tragic lives and loves of other people from different places that Marianne has known. The contemporary part of the story deals with Marianne's passion for creating gargoyles, the narrator’s treatment and recovery from his burns, his drug addiction, former career in pornography, his growing friendship with his psychiatrist and physical therapist, and his love for Marianne.
The thing that bothers me most is the narrator’s seemingly hasty transition from a drug-addicted, sex-addicted, selfish, friendless porn star to a man who finally develops a soul after he becomes smitten with a mentally ill woman who tells him stories. This flaw was relatively easy to overlook, as I too, was swept away by Marianne’s stories - the religious imagery, literary references and beautiful, tragic tales of love that felt so very real.
Highly original, magical, heart wrenching, and a real treat!
I’m usually suspicious of over-hyped books, but a friend at the library highly recommended it.
A short way into the story, the narrator’s mom dies, his grandmother dies, he gets severely burned in a car accident, and his aunt and uncle die. I felt beat over the head with all the suffering and seriously thought about giving up reading by page 50. Then Marianne Engel, a woman with a history of mental illness, shows up in the nameless narrator’s hospital room telling a story about her previous life in medieval Germany. That was the hook that drew me in.
The story jumps back and forth between stories about Marianne’s life as a nun and scribe, the narrator’s past as a mercenary soldier, and the tragic lives and loves of other people from different places that Marianne has known. The contemporary part of the story deals with Marianne's passion for creating gargoyles, the narrator’s treatment and recovery from his burns, his drug addiction, former career in pornography, his growing friendship with his psychiatrist and physical therapist, and his love for Marianne.
The thing that bothers me most is the narrator’s seemingly hasty transition from a drug-addicted, sex-addicted, selfish, friendless porn star to a man who finally develops a soul after he becomes smitten with a mentally ill woman who tells him stories. This flaw was relatively easy to overlook, as I too, was swept away by Marianne’s stories - the religious imagery, literary references and beautiful, tragic tales of love that felt so very real.
Highly original, magical, heart wrenching, and a real treat!
August 6, 2008
I began to get an idea why the publisher paid $1.5 million for this novel (the highest ever paid in Canada) after the first few pages. Andrew Davidson is able to tease stories out paper with his pen like his character, Marianne, is able to tease gargoyles out of stone with a chisel. Through the mouth of Marianne and with images straight out of Dante's , he tells 700 years of stories of Marianne's reincarnations which have included whispering nuns, fiery arrows, callous mercenaries, deadly plagues, lost ships, gregarious Vikings, and being buried alive.
It's with a man's cocaine-influenced fiery car accident and his subsequent treatments in a burn unit that the novel itself begins. However grotesque this situation really is, the author is able to find the perfect words that transform the story into a work of art. The car is falling into the pit of Dante's hell and the burn victim's bed is in the belly of a bleached white skeleton.
So here we have a man who was orphaned at birth, who was brought up by meth addicts who eventually blew up their house, and who later became a model and then a porn star to make ends meet on the street (Of course, after sustaining 1st-4th degree burns over most of his body and having a penectomy, there's not much of that career left.)
As the man is lying in his hospital bed thinking of a spectacular way to kill himself involving hanging, jumping from a building, a bullet to the head, an overdose, and a razor blade to the wrist all at once, a psych patient wanders into his hospital room. She swears she's known him for 700 years, tells him this is the 3rd time he's been burned, says she knows how he got the scar on his chest, tells him stories of dragons and monks, and leaves him a grotesque (not to be confused with a gargoyle) that she herself carved for him. Then she proceeds to tell him stories about the various lives they've met in.
This is a masterpiece of a book indeed. I've not seen so much symbolism and layers of story in a modern book in a quite a while. I found myself lost within the stories within the story and gasping for air at their astonishingly horrible and beautiful endings. This is definitely a book worth careful scrutiny and more than one read.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah.
It's with a man's cocaine-influenced fiery car accident and his subsequent treatments in a burn unit that the novel itself begins. However grotesque this situation really is, the author is able to find the perfect words that transform the story into a work of art. The car is falling into the pit of Dante's hell and the burn victim's bed is in the belly of a bleached white skeleton.
So here we have a man who was orphaned at birth, who was brought up by meth addicts who eventually blew up their house, and who later became a model and then a porn star to make ends meet on the street (Of course, after sustaining 1st-4th degree burns over most of his body and having a penectomy, there's not much of that career left.)
As the man is lying in his hospital bed thinking of a spectacular way to kill himself involving hanging, jumping from a building, a bullet to the head, an overdose, and a razor blade to the wrist all at once, a psych patient wanders into his hospital room. She swears she's known him for 700 years, tells him this is the 3rd time he's been burned, says she knows how he got the scar on his chest, tells him stories of dragons and monks, and leaves him a grotesque (not to be confused with a gargoyle) that she herself carved for him. Then she proceeds to tell him stories about the various lives they've met in.
This is a masterpiece of a book indeed. I've not seen so much symbolism and layers of story in a modern book in a quite a while. I found myself lost within the stories within the story and gasping for air at their astonishingly horrible and beautiful endings. This is definitely a book worth careful scrutiny and more than one read.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah.
July 28, 2019
Audiobook...read by Lincoln Hoppe....and physical book by Andrew Davidson.
HOLY KAMOLY......This is an exceptional....*OUTSTANDING* Audiobook .....
........and in combination....I pulled out my physical hardcopy to read which I’ve owned for 11 years. ( 11 years this gem was waiting for me)....
THIS NOVEL WAS HYPNOTICALLY AMAZING!!!!
I’m soooooo blown away!!! I loved it and can’t recommend it highly enough > physical copy - ebook - or audiobook.....any desired device....it’s all good!!!!!.....
But....
I’m kinda partial to the Audiobook. It’s soooo easy to LISTEN TO .....ALLOWING THE VISUALS in our minds to journey along happily satisfied.
I might have said this before....but scratch it all.....haha...
BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I’VE READ THIS YEAR!!!!
I just can’t say it enough!!!!
As an audiobook- in itself - I’d rate it as one of the TOP BEST 5 books I’ve ever LISTENED to.
WHY didn’t SOMEBODY tell me to READ THIS BOOK SOONER?......AS IN DO NOT MISS IT?
I thought this book was going to be about? Architecture- Cathedrals- building designs. I couldn’t have been more WRONG!!!
Mike - Smily-Face - ŷ friend ....sent me a high-five when I expressed a desire to read it. Then somebody else...then somebody else....
So thank you to all the people - all you somebody’s....who were jumping up-and-down saying READ IT!!! I would have hated to miss it.
A few tidbit thoughts:
.... I’ll never see or think about burn patients the same ever again.
.... I’ve never heard women’s - ha- private parts - described as I did in this book.
.... My thoughts about the professional sex industry - and or sex as a hobby ( NOT FOR ME)....was fascinating.
....The many stories interlinked together were mesmerizing. Marianne Engel’s stories were as mysterious as she was ....Marianne was a thought provoking character & storyteller. Sayuri Mizumoto was a treasure.
.... Many themes throughout...subtle: but as we listen or read this story...themes are busting at the seams: .... disfigured, recovery, redemption, clemency, human fallibility, mental illness, forgiveness, compassion, assumptions, suicide, death, the past, present, future, and love.
This book is brilliant - entertaining- and masterfully written (hard to believe it was a debut).
Audiobook lovers: RUN AND DOWNLOAD THIS GEM!!! I can’t imagine anyone not getting sucked in immediately!!!
Note: The author, lives in Manitoba, Canada. He received his BA in English literature from the University of British Columbia. He has worked as a teacher of English in Japan, where he has lived on and off, and as a writer of English lessons for Japanese websites. The Gargoyle is not only his first book - published 11 years ago....but his only book.
WHEN THE HECK IS HE COMING OUT WITH ANOTHER?
HOLY KAMOLY......This is an exceptional....*OUTSTANDING* Audiobook .....
........and in combination....I pulled out my physical hardcopy to read which I’ve owned for 11 years. ( 11 years this gem was waiting for me)....
THIS NOVEL WAS HYPNOTICALLY AMAZING!!!!
I’m soooooo blown away!!! I loved it and can’t recommend it highly enough > physical copy - ebook - or audiobook.....any desired device....it’s all good!!!!!.....
But....
I’m kinda partial to the Audiobook. It’s soooo easy to LISTEN TO .....ALLOWING THE VISUALS in our minds to journey along happily satisfied.
I might have said this before....but scratch it all.....haha...
BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I’VE READ THIS YEAR!!!!
I just can’t say it enough!!!!
As an audiobook- in itself - I’d rate it as one of the TOP BEST 5 books I’ve ever LISTENED to.
WHY didn’t SOMEBODY tell me to READ THIS BOOK SOONER?......AS IN DO NOT MISS IT?
I thought this book was going to be about? Architecture- Cathedrals- building designs. I couldn’t have been more WRONG!!!
Mike - Smily-Face - ŷ friend ....sent me a high-five when I expressed a desire to read it. Then somebody else...then somebody else....
So thank you to all the people - all you somebody’s....who were jumping up-and-down saying READ IT!!! I would have hated to miss it.
A few tidbit thoughts:
.... I’ll never see or think about burn patients the same ever again.
.... I’ve never heard women’s - ha- private parts - described as I did in this book.
.... My thoughts about the professional sex industry - and or sex as a hobby ( NOT FOR ME)....was fascinating.
....The many stories interlinked together were mesmerizing. Marianne Engel’s stories were as mysterious as she was ....Marianne was a thought provoking character & storyteller. Sayuri Mizumoto was a treasure.
.... Many themes throughout...subtle: but as we listen or read this story...themes are busting at the seams: .... disfigured, recovery, redemption, clemency, human fallibility, mental illness, forgiveness, compassion, assumptions, suicide, death, the past, present, future, and love.
This book is brilliant - entertaining- and masterfully written (hard to believe it was a debut).
Audiobook lovers: RUN AND DOWNLOAD THIS GEM!!! I can’t imagine anyone not getting sucked in immediately!!!
Note: The author, lives in Manitoba, Canada. He received his BA in English literature from the University of British Columbia. He has worked as a teacher of English in Japan, where he has lived on and off, and as a writer of English lessons for Japanese websites. The Gargoyle is not only his first book - published 11 years ago....but his only book.
WHEN THE HECK IS HE COMING OUT WITH ANOTHER?
June 8, 2015
** 2"Forgive me Father for I am dumb" STARS**
Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to write a review, but God *beep* it, this book left me confused, defeated & feeling like a royal idiot. I couldn't wait for Carla to finish because she had some splanin to do. Um yeah, that conversation went something like this . .
. . . Yup, neither one of us understood the ending. We went from riding the short bus, to pushing it.
There are two main plot points that didn't add up & it's driving me crazy. Please do not peek inside if you plan to read the book .
Now this is the part which I try to avoid, but its rare for me to give a book two stars. I feel as though I should explain my rating.
. . . I know, I know, this whine fest isn't needed. . . . but I'm adding it anyway. Please remember I'm a smart-ass & do not wish to berate the author in any way. Any and all jokes are directed towards his characters or myself.... In fact, feel free to bypass this section entirely.
Okay, here goes:
*It irked me that I was never told either MC name. Although I read Marianne Engel a thousand times, it turns out that wasn't her birth name. It really isn't a big deal, but why add that tidbit in the first place? If it was to prove she was crazy, I was already a believer. But what about "He who shall remain nameless"? <-- Hmm, was he a fallen angel?
* I did not feel the love connection (at all) it felt more like a mother-son relationship, than a epic love story. Where was the intimacy? Yes, I'm aware that "what's his face" no longer had a penis, but I've walked into a room where a couple was simply looking at each other & it felt like I just walked in on them having sex, that's the intimacy I'm referring to. Where was the affection? She could have held his good hand. They could have kissed. There was no wanting to be near this person nor words of missing the others touch. The author had numerous opportunities to showcase their fondness for one another. Maybe they did and I just didn't feel it.
* Their/ Her love spanned over 700 years. What was she doing the 600+ years they were apart? Why didn't she find him sooner?
* I'm still trying to figure out how his penis was incinerated but his balls went unharmed. Did he tuck them inside his asshole? This poor character was left with no frank, just beans. I keep thinking it symbolizes something, but what ? I have no idea.
*What happened to him being suicidal? He went from having this elaborate plan to it never being brought up again, in the blink of an eye.
*I completely loved the beginning of the story. I know some readers found the details of his injuries to be overly graphic, but I was lapping them up likes drinks at happy hour. I couldn't put this book down. Then Marianne Engel entered the picture ...
. . . I'm sure this is where I'm going to agree to disagree with others but I did not like Marianne Engel. At times I found her to be annoying, self-centered as well as pushy.
* Why the four other stories?
Granted they were entertaining, but IMHO they weren't needed as they took away from the past & present story line.
* I found his injuries to be inconsistent. One second I'm reading about his urine bag & the next, he's seating down on a toilet to pee. Also, per the description of his groin area, there's no hole. Mr. Incognito bumped into a car & was in such excruciating pain, he needed a shot of morphine, yet at the Halloween party he was crawling all over the floor like a baby, without so much as an ouch. Also, he had one good ear, so why did a plastic surgeon offer to rebuild both?
* This book was Grand Filler Station. As some of you are already aware, unnecessary information is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. There were pages (plural) of food listed. We were given word meanings that would've impressed Mr.Webster himself. I read an entire (untranslated) conversation written in Japanese. Granted the author did elaborate later on, but he could have easily stated,the two characters were having a discussion in a foreign language.
*Parts of the story were so religiously detailed, I told Carla that I think the publisher made a mistake. I went from reading a fictional story to studying a theology text book. Hell, I grabbed a pen & paper and started taking notes just in case there was a pop quiz at the end of the book. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, I just felt it took away from the main story.
. . I could say more but I think I've said my peace ... and then some :-) Please don't allow my review to deter you from reading . There are thousands of five star reviews. This book just didn't work for me but it may very well save your soul.
Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to write a review, but God *beep* it, this book left me confused, defeated & feeling like a royal idiot. I couldn't wait for Carla to finish because she had some splanin to do. Um yeah, that conversation went something like this . .
. . . Yup, neither one of us understood the ending. We went from riding the short bus, to pushing it.
There are two main plot points that didn't add up & it's driving me crazy. Please do not peek inside if you plan to read the book .
Now this is the part which I try to avoid, but its rare for me to give a book two stars. I feel as though I should explain my rating.
. . . I know, I know, this whine fest isn't needed. . . . but I'm adding it anyway. Please remember I'm a smart-ass & do not wish to berate the author in any way. Any and all jokes are directed towards his characters or myself.... In fact, feel free to bypass this section entirely.
Okay, here goes:
*It irked me that I was never told either MC name. Although I read Marianne Engel a thousand times, it turns out that wasn't her birth name. It really isn't a big deal, but why add that tidbit in the first place? If it was to prove she was crazy, I was already a believer. But what about "He who shall remain nameless"? <-- Hmm, was he a fallen angel?
* I did not feel the love connection (at all) it felt more like a mother-son relationship, than a epic love story. Where was the intimacy? Yes, I'm aware that "what's his face" no longer had a penis, but I've walked into a room where a couple was simply looking at each other & it felt like I just walked in on them having sex, that's the intimacy I'm referring to. Where was the affection? She could have held his good hand. They could have kissed. There was no wanting to be near this person nor words of missing the others touch. The author had numerous opportunities to showcase their fondness for one another. Maybe they did and I just didn't feel it.
* Their/ Her love spanned over 700 years. What was she doing the 600+ years they were apart? Why didn't she find him sooner?
* I'm still trying to figure out how his penis was incinerated but his balls went unharmed. Did he tuck them inside his asshole? This poor character was left with no frank, just beans. I keep thinking it symbolizes something, but what ? I have no idea.
*What happened to him being suicidal? He went from having this elaborate plan to it never being brought up again, in the blink of an eye.
*I completely loved the beginning of the story. I know some readers found the details of his injuries to be overly graphic, but I was lapping them up likes drinks at happy hour. I couldn't put this book down. Then Marianne Engel entered the picture ...
. . . I'm sure this is where I'm going to agree to disagree with others but I did not like Marianne Engel. At times I found her to be annoying, self-centered as well as pushy.
* Why the four other stories?
Granted they were entertaining, but IMHO they weren't needed as they took away from the past & present story line.
* I found his injuries to be inconsistent. One second I'm reading about his urine bag & the next, he's seating down on a toilet to pee. Also, per the description of his groin area, there's no hole. Mr. Incognito bumped into a car & was in such excruciating pain, he needed a shot of morphine, yet at the Halloween party he was crawling all over the floor like a baby, without so much as an ouch. Also, he had one good ear, so why did a plastic surgeon offer to rebuild both?
* This book was Grand Filler Station. As some of you are already aware, unnecessary information is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. There were pages (plural) of food listed. We were given word meanings that would've impressed Mr.Webster himself. I read an entire (untranslated) conversation written in Japanese. Granted the author did elaborate later on, but he could have easily stated,the two characters were having a discussion in a foreign language.
*Parts of the story were so religiously detailed, I told Carla that I think the publisher made a mistake. I went from reading a fictional story to studying a theology text book. Hell, I grabbed a pen & paper and started taking notes just in case there was a pop quiz at the end of the book. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, I just felt it took away from the main story.
. . I could say more but I think I've said my peace ... and then some :-) Please don't allow my review to deter you from reading . There are thousands of five star reviews. This book just didn't work for me but it may very well save your soul.
August 19, 2008
I gave this almost 200 pages to win me over since it has been hyped so much and everyone seems to love it, but I had to give up on it and move on. I thought that the writing was very good, with some vivid images, especially the early one equating the narrator's burn to the pain caused by touching a hot stove--for a full minute. I also, surprisingly, enjoyed some of Marianne's tales of love.
The problem was--okay, one of the problems was--that I found them to be more interesting than her own story. The main issue I had was that there was no real conflict to propel the plot along and I didn't think that the characters were strong enough to carry the story themselves. Yes, there were some details that intrigued me (like the Asian woman whispering to a young Narrator about the origin of his scar, which was completely forgotten in the pages that I was able to get through), and Marianne's assertion that they were lovers did pique my interest a little bit--was she for real or just a looney tune? But the majority of the plot seemed to be about the Narrator's recovery in the burn unit, his rehabilitation and physical therapy, which, granted, was quite thoroughly researched but a little boring after a while. But there were also parts where the author slipped into long, monotonous, detailed description that could have easily been cut. A half page listing all of the foods at the Christmas feast? Seriously?
My second major issue was the characters. I just felt that they were one-dimensional and uninteresting beyond the fact that one is burned and the other thinks they're lovers from 700 years ago. They reminded me of the titular gargoyle: meticulously crafted but ultimately stony and impenetrable and without much substance below the surface. I didn't think that they had any chemistry together, either. In fact, I was more charmed by the crush Gregor had on Mizumoto than I was by the primary romance.
I'm sure there were a ton of literary references and layers upon layers of symbolism in here that I didn't get, which may give it depth, but if I can't muster up the energy to plod along or care about the characters enough to watch them recuperate and court each other, what good is it? Honestly, if this were to have crossed my desk, I would have passed on it.
The problem was--okay, one of the problems was--that I found them to be more interesting than her own story. The main issue I had was that there was no real conflict to propel the plot along and I didn't think that the characters were strong enough to carry the story themselves. Yes, there were some details that intrigued me (like the Asian woman whispering to a young Narrator about the origin of his scar, which was completely forgotten in the pages that I was able to get through), and Marianne's assertion that they were lovers did pique my interest a little bit--was she for real or just a looney tune? But the majority of the plot seemed to be about the Narrator's recovery in the burn unit, his rehabilitation and physical therapy, which, granted, was quite thoroughly researched but a little boring after a while. But there were also parts where the author slipped into long, monotonous, detailed description that could have easily been cut. A half page listing all of the foods at the Christmas feast? Seriously?
My second major issue was the characters. I just felt that they were one-dimensional and uninteresting beyond the fact that one is burned and the other thinks they're lovers from 700 years ago. They reminded me of the titular gargoyle: meticulously crafted but ultimately stony and impenetrable and without much substance below the surface. I didn't think that they had any chemistry together, either. In fact, I was more charmed by the crush Gregor had on Mizumoto than I was by the primary romance.
I'm sure there were a ton of literary references and layers upon layers of symbolism in here that I didn't get, which may give it depth, but if I can't muster up the energy to plod along or care about the characters enough to watch them recuperate and court each other, what good is it? Honestly, if this were to have crossed my desk, I would have passed on it.
August 13, 2008
The Gargoyle moves you to want to be in love and to NEVER want to be in love. Love is suffering, love is bliss. Davidson has penned a beautiful book full of love, meaning, and intelligence. It's not often that a person can learn history,religion and culture in a book about love. Oh and he threw in burn procedures, yes BURN procedures in a book about love, somehow it seems fitting. Wait, I think I forgot to mention there are language translations too. I do realize a lot of people run from anything that can further their knowledge, that's what school texts are for, but his book is so enchanting that you don't even realize how much you're absorbing until you come to the end. The end,that awful place I did not want to arrive. I longed to stay forever immersed in this story. Breathtakingly original, descriptions that lead you into a journey of pain (yes my skin crawled when I read about the burns), and how beautifully he tied the stories of love together into a tight knot. I will say this book is graphic but it had to be, or it wouldn't be a powerful read that haunts you long after you're done. I stayed up for many nights as if possessed, and few books have mesmerized me like The Gargoyle.Read it, re-read it,cling to it and spread the word!
August 13, 2016
I loved this so much that I am periodically checking to see if the author writes another book. Just checked now and it seems it will not happen soon. Will try again in a year or so :(
November 7, 2015
This Book is Beautiful Beyond Words!!!
5 "Beautiful Grotesque" stars!!!
Our Nameless Hero
Our hero is wounded and almost dead. He survives a horrible accident and struggles to survive.
“My flesh began to singe as if I were a scrap of meat newly thrown onto the barbecue, and then i could hear the bubbling of my skin as the flames kissed it.�
“My skin will never work like that again, so aware of the other person that I'm unsure where she ends and I begin. Never again. Never again will my skin be a thing that can so perfectly communicate; in losing my skin to the fire, I also lost the opportunity to make it disappear with another person.�
As our hero is recovering from his horrible accident, he meets Marianne Engel. She is eccentric, and beautiful. She tells a tale of lovers past. A tale of their past and how they have lived and loved many times before.
Marianne Engel
Marianne has lived multiple lives and has fallen in love with her destined mate each time. Yet she remembers each life they have had together. She attempts to convince our hero that their love is timeless and that she is on a spiritual mission that must be completed.
“I envy all suffering, because suffering is necessary to become spiritually beautiful.�
This is by far one of the most beautiful love stories I have read. It is a love that transcends time.
“I spent my entire life waiting for you, Marianne, and I didn't even know it until you arrived. Being burned was the best thing that ever happened to me because it brought you. I wanted to die but you filled me with so much love that it overflowed and I couldn't help but love you back. It happened before I even knew it and now I can't imagine not loving you. You have said that it takes so much for me to believe anything, but I do believe. I believe in your love for me. I believe in my love for you. I believe that every remaining beat of my heart belongs to you, and I believe that when I finally leave this world, my last breath will carry your name. I believe that my final word--Marianne--will be all I need to know that my life was good and full and worthy, and I believe that our love will last forever.�
The story of the Gargoyle, or Grotesque, which is how Marianne refers to them as, is just puzzling. But if you suspend all doubt and just take what she says as gospel, you will find a spiritually beautiful, epic, tragic, story.
This is a tear jerker, but most epic love stories are. This is one of my favorite quotes from the book, near the end:
“With every fragment of rock that fall from me, I can hear the voice of Marianne Engle. I love you. Aishiteru. Ego amo te. Ti amo. Eg elska pig. Ich liebe dich. It is moving across time, coming to me in every language of the world, and it sounds like pure love.�
I look forward to re-reading this amazing book. It was so realistic that I started researching the book to find out if it was an autobiography, but it's not. It is just so well written, and so real, that you feel as if you reading a true story.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing love story that spans time and involves many cultures.
5 "Beautiful Grotesque" stars!!!
Our Nameless Hero
Our hero is wounded and almost dead. He survives a horrible accident and struggles to survive.
“My flesh began to singe as if I were a scrap of meat newly thrown onto the barbecue, and then i could hear the bubbling of my skin as the flames kissed it.�
“My skin will never work like that again, so aware of the other person that I'm unsure where she ends and I begin. Never again. Never again will my skin be a thing that can so perfectly communicate; in losing my skin to the fire, I also lost the opportunity to make it disappear with another person.�
As our hero is recovering from his horrible accident, he meets Marianne Engel. She is eccentric, and beautiful. She tells a tale of lovers past. A tale of their past and how they have lived and loved many times before.
Marianne Engel
Marianne has lived multiple lives and has fallen in love with her destined mate each time. Yet she remembers each life they have had together. She attempts to convince our hero that their love is timeless and that she is on a spiritual mission that must be completed.
“I envy all suffering, because suffering is necessary to become spiritually beautiful.�
This is by far one of the most beautiful love stories I have read. It is a love that transcends time.
“I spent my entire life waiting for you, Marianne, and I didn't even know it until you arrived. Being burned was the best thing that ever happened to me because it brought you. I wanted to die but you filled me with so much love that it overflowed and I couldn't help but love you back. It happened before I even knew it and now I can't imagine not loving you. You have said that it takes so much for me to believe anything, but I do believe. I believe in your love for me. I believe in my love for you. I believe that every remaining beat of my heart belongs to you, and I believe that when I finally leave this world, my last breath will carry your name. I believe that my final word--Marianne--will be all I need to know that my life was good and full and worthy, and I believe that our love will last forever.�
The story of the Gargoyle, or Grotesque, which is how Marianne refers to them as, is just puzzling. But if you suspend all doubt and just take what she says as gospel, you will find a spiritually beautiful, epic, tragic, story.
This is a tear jerker, but most epic love stories are. This is one of my favorite quotes from the book, near the end:
“With every fragment of rock that fall from me, I can hear the voice of Marianne Engle. I love you. Aishiteru. Ego amo te. Ti amo. Eg elska pig. Ich liebe dich. It is moving across time, coming to me in every language of the world, and it sounds like pure love.�
I look forward to re-reading this amazing book. It was so realistic that I started researching the book to find out if it was an autobiography, but it's not. It is just so well written, and so real, that you feel as if you reading a true story.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing love story that spans time and involves many cultures.
August 30, 2008
This is a most unusual tale. It is the love story of a severely burned ex-porn star and a schizophrenic sculptor on it's surface. Which is interesting enough--both are lovably flawed fascinating characters in their on right. But soon the other stories, spanning centuries, begin. Each is a heartbreaking yet uplifting story of love. All are told in language I can only call magical--I found myself often stopping to re-read sections because I wanted to savor their beauty a bit longer. Reading this book felt like sorting through a wondrous box of treasure--there are well researched intellectual prizes, laugh out loud humor (advice--carefully read the menu for Christmas dinner), tear jerking moments that take the breath away, love that creates a longing in the heart, physical pain that make the body recoil at the reading..........and so much more. This is Davidson's first book, and we will be hearing much, much more about him in the coming years--he is a story teller extraordinaire. This book is quite graphic in it's detail of the care of burn victims and in it's depiction of violence, so it isn't for the faint at heart. But both are a very necessary part of the whole book--the ugliness and the horror being a corridor to the amazing beauty and peace contained within. Five stars just don't seem enough for this amazing book.
I would recommend this book especially to folks who liked The Time Travelers Wife or The Little Book by Seldon Edwards, but anyone who loves a great love story and doesn't mind some grit will fall under the spell of this book. Fans of Dante's Inferno will find large sections of this book fascinating as well.
I would recommend this book especially to folks who liked The Time Travelers Wife or The Little Book by Seldon Edwards, but anyone who loves a great love story and doesn't mind some grit will fall under the spell of this book. Fans of Dante's Inferno will find large sections of this book fascinating as well.
October 8, 2008
What a book! I thought okay so an odd storyline when I heard about it. But my book group was saying it was so good that I thought I would give it a try and I'm soooo glad that I did. This book makes you glad to be a reader. For me it brought stories and that love of a really really good book to life again. I am about halfway through it and I keep making me put it down because I dread it ending.
Andrew Davidson has written a gift for the reading world. His stories sweep you up and place you there and that's a rare treat. I remember being a young girl and feeling that sensation..discovering that magic! Share this book with the people you know. It's awesome. Thank you Mr. Davidson!
Andrew Davidson has written a gift for the reading world. His stories sweep you up and place you there and that's a rare treat. I remember being a young girl and feeling that sensation..discovering that magic! Share this book with the people you know. It's awesome. Thank you Mr. Davidson!
February 20, 2012
Everyone told me I'd love this book, then they all told me I SHOULD love this book. I read all the blurbs about how wonderful, astounding, amazing, unbelievable it was.
You know, I actually wanted to like it. I was looking for a good book. I was hoping for an absorbing story that would draw me in, where I could sink into the story.
Alas, this wasn't it. I forged my way through a good part of the book, after all sometimes books start slowly and then "take off". This one didn't. I finally skimmed my way to the end and finished, sadder but wiser. I just didn't care for it, in other words, I didn't think it was astounding, amazing, absorbing, incredible...or even very good. To each their own, if you liked it (and I see many do/did) I'm happy for you, but it's not for me. In my opinion it's several hours of my life I'll never get back.
Can't really endorse this one, but it is I'm sure a matter of taste. This one didn't pull me in or appeal to me as it does some of you. Sorry.
You know, I actually wanted to like it. I was looking for a good book. I was hoping for an absorbing story that would draw me in, where I could sink into the story.
Alas, this wasn't it. I forged my way through a good part of the book, after all sometimes books start slowly and then "take off". This one didn't. I finally skimmed my way to the end and finished, sadder but wiser. I just didn't care for it, in other words, I didn't think it was astounding, amazing, absorbing, incredible...or even very good. To each their own, if you liked it (and I see many do/did) I'm happy for you, but it's not for me. In my opinion it's several hours of my life I'll never get back.
Can't really endorse this one, but it is I'm sure a matter of taste. This one didn't pull me in or appeal to me as it does some of you. Sorry.
March 20, 2017
Yo diría que entre un 3.5 y 4.
Realmente la historia me ha sorprendido! No esperaba de ninguna manera un protagonista tan atípico; irónico. Es tan fuerte su personalidad, que, para mí, a pasado por encima de la historia y se ha llevado todo el mérito.
Realmente la historia me ha sorprendido! No esperaba de ninguna manera un protagonista tan atípico; irónico. Es tan fuerte su personalidad, que, para mí, a pasado por encima de la historia y se ha llevado todo el mérito.
June 27, 2016
Hopeful, Yet Heart-Crushing
"I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away
****
I see my Marianne walkin' away...."
Boston, "More Than a Feeling," 1975
4.2 stars [revised/shortened on 6/27]
by Elizabeth Lisa, My Visualization of Marianne Engel, from novel
Two separate but related stories occur within this novel, with maybe 4/5 meta-meta-fables of love being told to the protagonist by his lover Marianne Engel (surname, German for "angel"). It works.
The novel begins with our unnamed narrator looking back to himself a few years before this recounting. He grew up lonely, yet very attractive to women, as a result of which he became a self-centered drug-addicted hard-porn star, all about the conquest, pulling out his package without fear of rejection or emotional attachment. A real life of drugs, sex and "lights, camera, roll."
Then he drives off the road into a ravine in trying to avoid hallucinatory arrows flying at him from the woods. His car catches fire and he suffers the worst-degree burns to most of his body and, most importantly, he loses the only tool of his trade.
He spends his time in the burn unit thinking of either his next hit of morphine or the advantages (or not) of myriad forms of suicide. Also, a devil of a snake has inhabited his spine, hissing evil thoughts.
A visitor named Marianne Engel, being treated in the hospital's psych ward, begins visiting. She says she knew him in 14th Century Germany, and spins a tale of a long-ago romance. Marianne is a sculptress of stone grotesques/gargoyles.* She makes him want to live.
At her insistence, he moves in with her upon leaving the hospital. Over time, she discloses their story interspersed with 3 or 4 more tales of romance, spanning centuries and continents, that give hope to our narrator as he falls desperately in love with her.
She reveals that she was a nun in 14th Century Germany when she met him. [any more of their past would be a spoiler]. When she nearly died in Germany she was given another chance at life and passage into heaven if she gave away her chest full of hearts, which she does through sculpting gargoyles. She is nearly finished with her endeavor.
The Gargoyle is a clever cosmic romance that heavily relies on Dante's Inferno as it explores and interprets the essence of faith in, and the ultimate sacrifice for, love. "...for all those who enter here, there is no need to abandon hope. Lessons are learned, love is found, spirits are restored, and faith is revealed..." Janet Maslin, NYTimes 2010 review.
Botticelli, "Inferno, Canto XVIII"
Maybe the best description of this novel: heart-crushing, yet hopeful.
*A gargoyle is a grotesque with a spout for emitting water from a roof or away from the side of a building.
"I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away
****
I see my Marianne walkin' away...."
Boston, "More Than a Feeling," 1975
4.2 stars [revised/shortened on 6/27]
by Elizabeth Lisa, My Visualization of Marianne Engel, from novel
Two separate but related stories occur within this novel, with maybe 4/5 meta-meta-fables of love being told to the protagonist by his lover Marianne Engel (surname, German for "angel"). It works.
The novel begins with our unnamed narrator looking back to himself a few years before this recounting. He grew up lonely, yet very attractive to women, as a result of which he became a self-centered drug-addicted hard-porn star, all about the conquest, pulling out his package without fear of rejection or emotional attachment. A real life of drugs, sex and "lights, camera, roll."
Then he drives off the road into a ravine in trying to avoid hallucinatory arrows flying at him from the woods. His car catches fire and he suffers the worst-degree burns to most of his body and, most importantly, he loses the only tool of his trade.
He spends his time in the burn unit thinking of either his next hit of morphine or the advantages (or not) of myriad forms of suicide. Also, a devil of a snake has inhabited his spine, hissing evil thoughts.
A visitor named Marianne Engel, being treated in the hospital's psych ward, begins visiting. She says she knew him in 14th Century Germany, and spins a tale of a long-ago romance. Marianne is a sculptress of stone grotesques/gargoyles.* She makes him want to live.
At her insistence, he moves in with her upon leaving the hospital. Over time, she discloses their story interspersed with 3 or 4 more tales of romance, spanning centuries and continents, that give hope to our narrator as he falls desperately in love with her.
She reveals that she was a nun in 14th Century Germany when she met him. [any more of their past would be a spoiler]. When she nearly died in Germany she was given another chance at life and passage into heaven if she gave away her chest full of hearts, which she does through sculpting gargoyles. She is nearly finished with her endeavor.
The Gargoyle is a clever cosmic romance that heavily relies on Dante's Inferno as it explores and interprets the essence of faith in, and the ultimate sacrifice for, love. "...for all those who enter here, there is no need to abandon hope. Lessons are learned, love is found, spirits are restored, and faith is revealed..." Janet Maslin, NYTimes 2010 review.
Botticelli, "Inferno, Canto XVIII"
Maybe the best description of this novel: heart-crushing, yet hopeful.
*A gargoyle is a grotesque with a spout for emitting water from a roof or away from the side of a building.
May 22, 2024
This is another one of my airport finds. There was a time when I had an average of 28 minutes a day in a plane, which in fact meant I was traveling two or more times a week, every week. And having to wait so many long hours for my flights, I survived by checking the many airports bookstores for bargains. Such activity soon became a well-rewarded hobby.
This one book I took because the price was right and the cover seemed attractive. There was only one blurb in the back but it was intriguing enough for me to buy the book.
The Gargoyle is, at it core, a love story. Told across time and using other stories than those of the protagonists to fill the gaps about what love is, or it ought to be. But it is also a tragedy, not in the literary way of a protagonist never changing his core beliefs, but in the sense of ending with death.
It is not the most original book but it has its moments. There's a lot about burning victims and their treatment, so if your squeamish about such stuff, this may not be the book for you.
I personally felt a bit disappointed with the ending, but that's a personal thing, others may find the ending uplifting.
This one book I took because the price was right and the cover seemed attractive. There was only one blurb in the back but it was intriguing enough for me to buy the book.
The Gargoyle is, at it core, a love story. Told across time and using other stories than those of the protagonists to fill the gaps about what love is, or it ought to be. But it is also a tragedy, not in the literary way of a protagonist never changing his core beliefs, but in the sense of ending with death.
It is not the most original book but it has its moments. There's a lot about burning victims and their treatment, so if your squeamish about such stuff, this may not be the book for you.
I personally felt a bit disappointed with the ending, but that's a personal thing, others may find the ending uplifting.
December 30, 2016
To describe 2016 as a disaster would be an understatement. Sadly, my reading year wasn't too different. While I have read a couple of exceptionally good books, the rest of the year has been a bit of a dud. I picked this book up with an apathetic shrug of the shoulders. Hardly any of my friends had read it and I just thought it would be too weird for me. Luckily for me, the year still had room for pleasant surprises.
The nameless protagonist is, in his own words, "a coke-addled pornographer". Naturally, he's attractive, but this doesn't last much longer than a few pages into the book. After an evening of snorting coke, he manages to crash his car and nearly burn himself to death in the process. During his recovery in the hospital, he meets a patient by the name of Marianne Engel. She swiftly starts to tell him the story of her past life in a medieval monastery. In between reality and this, she tells stories about people she's known in her time and their reckless acts of love. From 9th century Iceland to feudal Japan, this book has it all.
This is quite the unique novel. While it isn't action-heavy, it's gripping. The plot is infinitely rich and the prose, while horrifying and gory at times, resembles art. This book focuses heavily of redemption and love in the most poetic of ways. It's evident that Davidson did plenty of research and I'm curious to see what he'll write in the future. I can tell that this will be on my mind for some time.
The nameless protagonist is, in his own words, "a coke-addled pornographer". Naturally, he's attractive, but this doesn't last much longer than a few pages into the book. After an evening of snorting coke, he manages to crash his car and nearly burn himself to death in the process. During his recovery in the hospital, he meets a patient by the name of Marianne Engel. She swiftly starts to tell him the story of her past life in a medieval monastery. In between reality and this, she tells stories about people she's known in her time and their reckless acts of love. From 9th century Iceland to feudal Japan, this book has it all.
This is quite the unique novel. While it isn't action-heavy, it's gripping. The plot is infinitely rich and the prose, while horrifying and gory at times, resembles art. This book focuses heavily of redemption and love in the most poetic of ways. It's evident that Davidson did plenty of research and I'm curious to see what he'll write in the future. I can tell that this will be on my mind for some time.
January 24, 2024
I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did, but every time I put it down, I found myself thinking about it and looking forward to picking it back up.
This book, at times as grotesque as the gargoyles carved by Marianne, carried me away on tales of love and redemption.
Unforgettable characters weaving in and out of unforgettable eras, and yet all of the storylines were carefully woven together for a wonderfully romantic ending.
(Reviewed 5/7/09)
This book, at times as grotesque as the gargoyles carved by Marianne, carried me away on tales of love and redemption.
Unforgettable characters weaving in and out of unforgettable eras, and yet all of the storylines were carefully woven together for a wonderfully romantic ending.
(Reviewed 5/7/09)
May 31, 2025
“Personally, I believe it’s a poor idea to tell a seven-year-old girl that God’s tremendous plan is to incinerate her lungs.�
It’s definitely a “literary� novel, that’s for sure. I finished THE GARGOYLE and I can honestly say that I have no idea what genre would best describe it or what Davidson’s intended message or moral takeaways might have been. Heck, I don’t even know if there was one. Lots of contenders for that genre classification � historical fiction, fantasy, romance, paranormal, horror, magic-realism � you’re going to have to decide for yourself!
After a serious car accident, a man (who for reasons known only to the author was never named??) lies seriously burned and much closer to death than life. As he struggles with his recovery, Marianne Engels, a very odd woman plagued by a litany of mental illnesses, wanders into his room and insists that they met in a monastery in medieval Germany and have known one another for several hundred years. With no options available to him, he listens to her tell the stories of their mutual history � hers as a linguistic and artistic prodigy and novitiate nun in reluctant defiance of the demands of the all-powerful Roman Catholic Church and his as a wounded mercenary soldier who seems doomed to repeat the near death of fire and burn injuries throughout several lifetimes.
I’ll repeat � I have no idea what Andrew Davidson intended to convey but I gotta tell you, his way of saying nothing and going nowhere was eye-popping, gripping, and throat-lumping from first page to last. It’s probably a good idea to point out several “sub�-stories or themes that were each worthy of special mention on their own. Consider, for example:
Davidson’s ultra-graphic and no-holds-barred technical description of the treatment of extensive third degree burns was at once informative, breathtaking, and terrifying! I had absolutely no idea what was involved.
“Even when [a skin graft] did take, the absence of oil glands in the transplanted tissue resulted in extreme dryness. “Ants beneath the skin� is not only too clichéd a description of how it felt, but also not graphic enough. Lumberjack termites brandishing little chainsaws, maybe; or fiddler crabs wearing hairshirts and fiberglass shoes; or a legion of baby rats dragging tiny barbed-wire plows. Tap dancing, subepidermal cockroaches wearing soccer cleats and cowboy spurs?�
The mind simply boggles at the wealth of outlandish metaphors!
Davidson didn’t hold back when it came to both explicit and implicit criticism of the church and its behaviours ranging from nonsensical idiocies to abhorrent evil. This excerpt, for example, deals with one of Marianne Engel’s stories and her acquaintance with Heinrich Seuse, a German religious mystic born in 1295, who would become one of the most important religious figures of the day.
“[ܲ opened his robes one evening and used a sharpened stylus to carve the letters IHS into the flesh above his heart (� the abbreviated name of Christ in the Greek language). Blood poured out of his ripped flesh but he claimed he barely felt the pain, such was his ecstasy. The scarified letters never vanished and he wore the wound in secret until the end of his life; it soothed him in times of struggle, � , to know that the very name of Christ moved with each beat of his heart.�
Davidson seems to have the ability to create ridiculously laughable non-sequiturs that leaped out of nowhere and promptly disappeared:
“You’d be surprised how many great Japanese books don’t have decent Latin translations.�
And the philosophical contemplations of the unnamed burn victim (was it Davidson’s intent to make him the eponymous “GҰ۳�?) were deeply thought-provoking:
“I was born beautiful and lived beautiful for thirty-plus years, and during all that time I never once allowed my soul to know love. My unblemished skin was numb armor used to attract women with its shininess, while repelling any true emotions and protecting the wearer � What an unexpected reversal of fate; only after my skin was burned away did I finally become able to feel. Only after I was born into physical repulsiveness did I come to glimpse the possibilities of the heart.�
I can say with absolute certainty that the reactions to Andrew Davidson’s THE GARGOYLE will range from disgusted wall-banger DNFs to awed 5-star ratings with comments such as “Wow! Best book ever! Amazing!� Your reaction will, of course, be entirely subjective and it will, of necessity, be your own. I can but convey the fact that I enjoyed it immensely and wholeheartedly recommend that you give it a try for yourself.
Paul Weiss
It’s definitely a “literary� novel, that’s for sure. I finished THE GARGOYLE and I can honestly say that I have no idea what genre would best describe it or what Davidson’s intended message or moral takeaways might have been. Heck, I don’t even know if there was one. Lots of contenders for that genre classification � historical fiction, fantasy, romance, paranormal, horror, magic-realism � you’re going to have to decide for yourself!
After a serious car accident, a man (who for reasons known only to the author was never named??) lies seriously burned and much closer to death than life. As he struggles with his recovery, Marianne Engels, a very odd woman plagued by a litany of mental illnesses, wanders into his room and insists that they met in a monastery in medieval Germany and have known one another for several hundred years. With no options available to him, he listens to her tell the stories of their mutual history � hers as a linguistic and artistic prodigy and novitiate nun in reluctant defiance of the demands of the all-powerful Roman Catholic Church and his as a wounded mercenary soldier who seems doomed to repeat the near death of fire and burn injuries throughout several lifetimes.
I’ll repeat � I have no idea what Andrew Davidson intended to convey but I gotta tell you, his way of saying nothing and going nowhere was eye-popping, gripping, and throat-lumping from first page to last. It’s probably a good idea to point out several “sub�-stories or themes that were each worthy of special mention on their own. Consider, for example:
Davidson’s ultra-graphic and no-holds-barred technical description of the treatment of extensive third degree burns was at once informative, breathtaking, and terrifying! I had absolutely no idea what was involved.
“Even when [a skin graft] did take, the absence of oil glands in the transplanted tissue resulted in extreme dryness. “Ants beneath the skin� is not only too clichéd a description of how it felt, but also not graphic enough. Lumberjack termites brandishing little chainsaws, maybe; or fiddler crabs wearing hairshirts and fiberglass shoes; or a legion of baby rats dragging tiny barbed-wire plows. Tap dancing, subepidermal cockroaches wearing soccer cleats and cowboy spurs?�
The mind simply boggles at the wealth of outlandish metaphors!
Davidson didn’t hold back when it came to both explicit and implicit criticism of the church and its behaviours ranging from nonsensical idiocies to abhorrent evil. This excerpt, for example, deals with one of Marianne Engel’s stories and her acquaintance with Heinrich Seuse, a German religious mystic born in 1295, who would become one of the most important religious figures of the day.
“[ܲ opened his robes one evening and used a sharpened stylus to carve the letters IHS into the flesh above his heart (� the abbreviated name of Christ in the Greek language). Blood poured out of his ripped flesh but he claimed he barely felt the pain, such was his ecstasy. The scarified letters never vanished and he wore the wound in secret until the end of his life; it soothed him in times of struggle, � , to know that the very name of Christ moved with each beat of his heart.�
Davidson seems to have the ability to create ridiculously laughable non-sequiturs that leaped out of nowhere and promptly disappeared:
“You’d be surprised how many great Japanese books don’t have decent Latin translations.�
And the philosophical contemplations of the unnamed burn victim (was it Davidson’s intent to make him the eponymous “GҰ۳�?) were deeply thought-provoking:
“I was born beautiful and lived beautiful for thirty-plus years, and during all that time I never once allowed my soul to know love. My unblemished skin was numb armor used to attract women with its shininess, while repelling any true emotions and protecting the wearer � What an unexpected reversal of fate; only after my skin was burned away did I finally become able to feel. Only after I was born into physical repulsiveness did I come to glimpse the possibilities of the heart.�
I can say with absolute certainty that the reactions to Andrew Davidson’s THE GARGOYLE will range from disgusted wall-banger DNFs to awed 5-star ratings with comments such as “Wow! Best book ever! Amazing!� Your reaction will, of course, be entirely subjective and it will, of necessity, be your own. I can but convey the fact that I enjoyed it immensely and wholeheartedly recommend that you give it a try for yourself.
Paul Weiss
Want to read
November 15, 2019is this worth reading? It has been sitting on my shelf for such a long time.
February 24, 2019
I think this waas the third or fourth time I read this book and I am happy to say, I love it even more!
In the meantime I have read Inferno by Dante as well, which made some of the things in this book clearer or put it imto more context than before.
Also I loved taking my time with the book, as I knew where it would lead and didn't feel the rush of wanting to find out the ending but cherished spending time with the characters and the prose.
The story touched me just as it does every time and I had to take frequent breaks to let the events sink in and reflect on them.
I know I always say this, but READ THIS BOOK!
Ten years after my first read and I still love the book.
In the meantime I have read Inferno by Dante as well, which made some of the things in this book clearer or put it imto more context than before.
Also I loved taking my time with the book, as I knew where it would lead and didn't feel the rush of wanting to find out the ending but cherished spending time with the characters and the prose.
The story touched me just as it does every time and I had to take frequent breaks to let the events sink in and reflect on them.
I know I always say this, but READ THIS BOOK!
Ten years after my first read and I still love the book.
April 8, 2012
Opening Line: "Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love."
I really liked this book and found myself absorbed in the world that Andrew Davidson has created. THE GARGOYLE is a multilayered tragedy within a love story and it will affect you on many different levels; horrific, sad and gruesome it is also complex, funny, thought provoking and redeeming. Unfortunately any summery you read won't really do it justice.
THE GARGOYLE has been written in a first person narrative and although we never learn the narrator's name he is self-consciously and sometimes humorously aware that he's writing a book. We begin with our good looking and self absorbed narrator (N) driving his car while high on cocaine and with a bottle of bourbon between his legs. He subsequently starts hallucinating and to avoid the burning arrows flying at his car drives off the road. N's car flips several times and catches fire, burning him alive. The next half of the book takes place within the burn ward as N begins his long road to recovery.
The car accident and most of the burn ward scenes are detailed, horrific and at times hard to read but they're also so well written that you'll be able to smell the hospital and really feel N's pain and suffering. N has been burned so severely that he no longer resembles anything close to the gorgeous porn star that he once was and as he begins his therapy it's only in the detailed planning of his suicide that he's able to get through the day. The shots of morphine that silence the snake living in his spine help too but you'll have to read the book to understand that.
One day a strange and wild woman known as Marianne Engel escapes from the psyche ward and sneaks into the burn unit. She proceeds to tell N that she has known him for 700 years, that he has been burned before and that they were once lovers in medieval Germany where she was a nun and he was a wounded solider. It doesn't matter if he can't remember; she tells him, she will prove it to him. And so begins Marianne's tales of their past lives.
The book then begins to jump between time periods as Marianne Engel tells her life story which is set in the middle ages along with several other short stories about different tragic lovers. The flashbacks became my favourite parts of the book taking us to Germany, Japan, Italy and the Vikings of Iceland. The characters from these times are exquisitely interesting and the details of the era, amazing. The research Mr Davidson has put into this book is simply mind boggling.
N doesn't believe Maryanne, concluding that she is schizophrenic, nonetheless he comes to rely on her and in their own way the two begin a relationship. Throughout Maryanne's storytelling and hospital visits she continues her lifetimes work, that of carving stone Gargoyles. We are also introduced to several characters both within and outside the hospital all slowly becoming N's friends as he changes and becomes a man of worth.
The only part of the book that `lost me' a bit would be the several chapters during N's morphine withdrawal whereupon he enters the gates of hell and confronts all the characters from Marianne's stories and quotes Dante's inferno. This was bizarre and went on for too long but did tie up all the characters from Marianne's gripping stories. For me the ending was thought provoking and perfect. Cheers!
"Only after I was born into physical repulsiveness did I come to glimpse the possibilities of the heart"
I really liked this book and found myself absorbed in the world that Andrew Davidson has created. THE GARGOYLE is a multilayered tragedy within a love story and it will affect you on many different levels; horrific, sad and gruesome it is also complex, funny, thought provoking and redeeming. Unfortunately any summery you read won't really do it justice.
THE GARGOYLE has been written in a first person narrative and although we never learn the narrator's name he is self-consciously and sometimes humorously aware that he's writing a book. We begin with our good looking and self absorbed narrator (N) driving his car while high on cocaine and with a bottle of bourbon between his legs. He subsequently starts hallucinating and to avoid the burning arrows flying at his car drives off the road. N's car flips several times and catches fire, burning him alive. The next half of the book takes place within the burn ward as N begins his long road to recovery.
The car accident and most of the burn ward scenes are detailed, horrific and at times hard to read but they're also so well written that you'll be able to smell the hospital and really feel N's pain and suffering. N has been burned so severely that he no longer resembles anything close to the gorgeous porn star that he once was and as he begins his therapy it's only in the detailed planning of his suicide that he's able to get through the day. The shots of morphine that silence the snake living in his spine help too but you'll have to read the book to understand that.
One day a strange and wild woman known as Marianne Engel escapes from the psyche ward and sneaks into the burn unit. She proceeds to tell N that she has known him for 700 years, that he has been burned before and that they were once lovers in medieval Germany where she was a nun and he was a wounded solider. It doesn't matter if he can't remember; she tells him, she will prove it to him. And so begins Marianne's tales of their past lives.
The book then begins to jump between time periods as Marianne Engel tells her life story which is set in the middle ages along with several other short stories about different tragic lovers. The flashbacks became my favourite parts of the book taking us to Germany, Japan, Italy and the Vikings of Iceland. The characters from these times are exquisitely interesting and the details of the era, amazing. The research Mr Davidson has put into this book is simply mind boggling.
N doesn't believe Maryanne, concluding that she is schizophrenic, nonetheless he comes to rely on her and in their own way the two begin a relationship. Throughout Maryanne's storytelling and hospital visits she continues her lifetimes work, that of carving stone Gargoyles. We are also introduced to several characters both within and outside the hospital all slowly becoming N's friends as he changes and becomes a man of worth.
The only part of the book that `lost me' a bit would be the several chapters during N's morphine withdrawal whereupon he enters the gates of hell and confronts all the characters from Marianne's stories and quotes Dante's inferno. This was bizarre and went on for too long but did tie up all the characters from Marianne's gripping stories. For me the ending was thought provoking and perfect. Cheers!
"Only after I was born into physical repulsiveness did I come to glimpse the possibilities of the heart"
December 4, 2011
I am on a book roll this week! No I do not mean that I am the filling in some sort of papery sandwich (although for the really enthusiastic book lover this may have some kind of kinky appeal, paper cuts not withstanding), I mean I have been selecting books from my shelf which I have been thrilled to read, engrossed and spell bound by and this does not always happen.
I am constantly on the search for reading matter... in Liverpool I am probably the book equivalent of an overly tall Jawa (know your Star Wars people!) A forager always on the look out for reading material no matter how obscure the location and once a book has been tracked down it gets squirrelled away in my robes and whisked back to my space ship... er I mean flat. This weekend I've added Dante's Inferno (the illustrated version with the SE7EN-esque pictures by Gustave Dore), The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edward de Waal, Running Dogs by Don DeLillo, The Gun Slinger by Stephen King and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantle to my collection.
Will I read them all? Yes.
Will I love them all? No, probably not.
This brings me on, after a lot of digressing, to tell you how much I loved (loved LoVeD LOVED LoveD) The Gargoyle. Man, this is a good book. I've had it on my shelf for a while and picked it up once before when I read three pages and thought "nah", replaced it on the shelf and shuffled off with a different tome in my grubby paw. Why did I do that?!?!
The Gargoyle centres around a man, who before his physical disfigurement was (for reasons which are spoilers and therefore will not be revealed here), emotionally and morally disfigured. However, being BBQ'd upside down in your own car after suffering cocaine induced hallucinations and as a result swerving off a cliff side road, covering yourself in a bourbon flambe and then getting set alight is a fairly life changing catalyst which would force well, anyone, to change their perceptions of themselves and the world around them... presuming they survive anyway. Following his accident the protagonist meets the enigmatic, beautiful, mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Marianne Engel who comes to his bedside with a secret. This is not their first life together and she has come to find him. They will spend together while she releases her 27 hearts... the final heart is just for him.
As this hypnotic story unfolds you are drawn into the history of a love story which transcends historical periods and eventually one story spills over into five others with plot lines writhing together like the snakes of Medusa (Davidson got compared to David Mitchell for this and I am not sure how happy he should be with that comparison) each one more poetic than the last and all illustrating the point that great love is not restricted by the barriers of the corporeal world. Now before you all start sticking your fingers in your mouths and making "bleurgh" noises, you should know by now that I'm not a great fan of the slushy stuff and normally like my love affairs scandalous and hard-bitten. But this book is the exception to that rule and I'll stand by it. Brilliantly written, engaging, unusual and an unconventional introduction to Dante Alighieri!
I am constantly on the search for reading matter... in Liverpool I am probably the book equivalent of an overly tall Jawa (know your Star Wars people!) A forager always on the look out for reading material no matter how obscure the location and once a book has been tracked down it gets squirrelled away in my robes and whisked back to my space ship... er I mean flat. This weekend I've added Dante's Inferno (the illustrated version with the SE7EN-esque pictures by Gustave Dore), The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edward de Waal, Running Dogs by Don DeLillo, The Gun Slinger by Stephen King and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantle to my collection.
Will I read them all? Yes.
Will I love them all? No, probably not.
This brings me on, after a lot of digressing, to tell you how much I loved (loved LoVeD LOVED LoveD) The Gargoyle. Man, this is a good book. I've had it on my shelf for a while and picked it up once before when I read three pages and thought "nah", replaced it on the shelf and shuffled off with a different tome in my grubby paw. Why did I do that?!?!
The Gargoyle centres around a man, who before his physical disfigurement was (for reasons which are spoilers and therefore will not be revealed here), emotionally and morally disfigured. However, being BBQ'd upside down in your own car after suffering cocaine induced hallucinations and as a result swerving off a cliff side road, covering yourself in a bourbon flambe and then getting set alight is a fairly life changing catalyst which would force well, anyone, to change their perceptions of themselves and the world around them... presuming they survive anyway. Following his accident the protagonist meets the enigmatic, beautiful, mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Marianne Engel who comes to his bedside with a secret. This is not their first life together and she has come to find him. They will spend together while she releases her 27 hearts... the final heart is just for him.
As this hypnotic story unfolds you are drawn into the history of a love story which transcends historical periods and eventually one story spills over into five others with plot lines writhing together like the snakes of Medusa (Davidson got compared to David Mitchell for this and I am not sure how happy he should be with that comparison) each one more poetic than the last and all illustrating the point that great love is not restricted by the barriers of the corporeal world. Now before you all start sticking your fingers in your mouths and making "bleurgh" noises, you should know by now that I'm not a great fan of the slushy stuff and normally like my love affairs scandalous and hard-bitten. But this book is the exception to that rule and I'll stand by it. Brilliantly written, engaging, unusual and an unconventional introduction to Dante Alighieri!
July 21, 2018
4.5 stars - Incredible. I really loved it.
Probably the most unique love story I have ever read - one that takes the reader through the multiple hells of Dante's Inferno while being simultaneously horrific and profoundly beautiful. You have the most unlikely of heros - a cynical porn star that enjoys his drugs and struggles with his faith. After a tragic accident his life is completely changed once he meets a peculiar woman that tells him they have been in love for centuries.
It is an unforgettable story that shows humans at their best and their worst, one which moves boundlessly over 700 years and numerous lands, including Iceland and Germany. There is no mushy-gushiness or conventional romance to be found in this one, but a beautiful and passionate tale is revealed for the open minded reader from the most unlikely of dark and disturbing places.
-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: The urge is always with me to retouch yesterday’s canvas with today’s paintbrush and cover the things that fill me with regret.
First Sentence: Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love.
Probably the most unique love story I have ever read - one that takes the reader through the multiple hells of Dante's Inferno while being simultaneously horrific and profoundly beautiful. You have the most unlikely of heros - a cynical porn star that enjoys his drugs and struggles with his faith. After a tragic accident his life is completely changed once he meets a peculiar woman that tells him they have been in love for centuries.
It is an unforgettable story that shows humans at their best and their worst, one which moves boundlessly over 700 years and numerous lands, including Iceland and Germany. There is no mushy-gushiness or conventional romance to be found in this one, but a beautiful and passionate tale is revealed for the open minded reader from the most unlikely of dark and disturbing places.
-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: The urge is always with me to retouch yesterday’s canvas with today’s paintbrush and cover the things that fill me with regret.
First Sentence: Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love.
March 20, 2020
“Didn't anyone ever tell you that the mouth is the front gate of all misfortune?�
� Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle:
My one sentence review when I read thi said: 'The intriguing tale of Marienne's version of a 700+ yr long wait to be reunited with an ex-porn star drugs/drunk driving burns victim�' Hmmm! What I do recall about this read was that it started so full of interesting ideas which Davidson didn't really do enough around. 4 out of 12.
� Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle:
My one sentence review when I read thi said: 'The intriguing tale of Marienne's version of a 700+ yr long wait to be reunited with an ex-porn star drugs/drunk driving burns victim�' Hmmm! What I do recall about this read was that it started so full of interesting ideas which Davidson didn't really do enough around. 4 out of 12.
December 26, 2017
This book has been amazing. So amazing, that as usual, I let a half a year pass before I even thought of reviewing it. Months later, I still get vivid flashbacks from this unbelievably strong, beautiful, and yet visceral story. [to read this review with better formatting, please read it ]
A man suffers a terrifying car crash and ends up with serious burns, losing any kind semblance to who he looked life before the crash, or even a human being, for that matter. Deep in despair, he randomly meets a clearly unhinged, but genius sculptress, and what follows is their incredibly unlikely love story that spans not just the current lives they are living, but, regardless of any sense and sanity, their lives in the middle ages. It's an incredibly beautiful, touching, and yet also terrifying and heartbreaking story which will not leave you cold, whether you like it or hate it.
Reason #1.
A Love Story That Isn't Quite Like A Love Story
No, it's not a romance book. At all. How do you write romance completely outside of romance? The love story could only be called 'weird', and yet... Incredibly beautiful. Particularly touching because of the subtle magical realism element, how their love spans ages, how they are remembering each other. How feelings are translated into prose and poetry, and how you don't need to see things said outright to know they are true. Also? FEELS. Loads of feels. I cried. The end of this book is unbelievably beautiful, meaningful and heartbreaking. I can only wish to experience something like this in another book.
Reason #2.
The Prose In This Book Is Basically Poetry
I read it translated, but from what I've heard, the prose is just as beautiful in the original. It was mesmerizing... If not for the contents, I would have kept reading this book purely for the writing. It's probably what gives the story half its magic and colors. This is the kind of writer that plays with the sounds as much as the meanings, and it's amazing.
What's more, the writing is so refreshingly self-sarcastic (I mean, it's aimed at the self), at the same time so colorful and flowing. It's not easy to write trauma, pain and physical suffering so humorously, and at the same time � so fluently, so... harmlessly. It's so atmospheric, the writer knows how to craft a feel for something by using the right types of words, sticking to a certain theme. It paints a very vivid canvas. And despite that, I know that I snickered reading every second page. It was just written so well.
Reason #3.
Important Themes And Questions
This book ponders many important questions. Although some of them might be triggers, but they are also important to talk about: trauma, body image and the loss of it, religious symbols, being an orphan, faith, illness, self-expression, asexual love, trust, mental illness, repentance, suicide... What particularly resonated with me was the love without any sexual element. Is sexual love the only valid love? Can couples be couples without anything sexual between them? Whether they can't physically, or just don't want to? And why is this love so looked down upon in society, thought to be lesser than sexual love?
Reason #4.
It Seems Very Well Researched
Part of the story happens in the middle ages, and I felt like it was incredibly well researched. The lives of nuns in a nunnery, the beliefs in saints and saintly men, the way books were being preserved... Just the whole feel of that day. It was quite an experience to read it.
Reason #5.
Its Beauty Is Hard To Pinpoint
I don't understand what this book was doing to me, but it's as if I was being put under a spell. As if it was speaking to something behind me, beyond my body and mind as a shell � as if it was speaking to my soul. Like that dream that you can't quite place as you wake up, but you still remember how it spoke to you, although you don't read know what it said or what even happened. This book speaks to you in a secret language that is beyond you. It's so very strange to be observing a dialogue between the magical words and something in you, of you, but not consciously you, to be a bystander in this magical event. And you're absolutely baffled and mesmerized by it. At least I know I was.
However...
I must warn about the triggers. This is a very strong book, vivid and colorful, and I didn't say 'visceral' without a reason. This book talks about physical trauma, and does so in very much detail. For those of you who are sensitive readers, it might be uncomfortable. There are other triggers as well � talk of porn, drugs, suicide. For me though, all of this made the book only more colorful. I believe the author was playing with contrast between beauty and ugliness, pain and bliss, love and hate. While this works wonderfully for the story, keep in mind that it's not always easy to read.
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A man suffers a terrifying car crash and ends up with serious burns, losing any kind semblance to who he looked life before the crash, or even a human being, for that matter. Deep in despair, he randomly meets a clearly unhinged, but genius sculptress, and what follows is their incredibly unlikely love story that spans not just the current lives they are living, but, regardless of any sense and sanity, their lives in the middle ages. It's an incredibly beautiful, touching, and yet also terrifying and heartbreaking story which will not leave you cold, whether you like it or hate it.
Reason #1.
A Love Story That Isn't Quite Like A Love Story
No, it's not a romance book. At all. How do you write romance completely outside of romance? The love story could only be called 'weird', and yet... Incredibly beautiful. Particularly touching because of the subtle magical realism element, how their love spans ages, how they are remembering each other. How feelings are translated into prose and poetry, and how you don't need to see things said outright to know they are true. Also? FEELS. Loads of feels. I cried. The end of this book is unbelievably beautiful, meaningful and heartbreaking. I can only wish to experience something like this in another book.
Reason #2.
The Prose In This Book Is Basically Poetry
I read it translated, but from what I've heard, the prose is just as beautiful in the original. It was mesmerizing... If not for the contents, I would have kept reading this book purely for the writing. It's probably what gives the story half its magic and colors. This is the kind of writer that plays with the sounds as much as the meanings, and it's amazing.
What's more, the writing is so refreshingly self-sarcastic (I mean, it's aimed at the self), at the same time so colorful and flowing. It's not easy to write trauma, pain and physical suffering so humorously, and at the same time � so fluently, so... harmlessly. It's so atmospheric, the writer knows how to craft a feel for something by using the right types of words, sticking to a certain theme. It paints a very vivid canvas. And despite that, I know that I snickered reading every second page. It was just written so well.
Reason #3.
Important Themes And Questions
This book ponders many important questions. Although some of them might be triggers, but they are also important to talk about: trauma, body image and the loss of it, religious symbols, being an orphan, faith, illness, self-expression, asexual love, trust, mental illness, repentance, suicide... What particularly resonated with me was the love without any sexual element. Is sexual love the only valid love? Can couples be couples without anything sexual between them? Whether they can't physically, or just don't want to? And why is this love so looked down upon in society, thought to be lesser than sexual love?
Reason #4.
It Seems Very Well Researched
Part of the story happens in the middle ages, and I felt like it was incredibly well researched. The lives of nuns in a nunnery, the beliefs in saints and saintly men, the way books were being preserved... Just the whole feel of that day. It was quite an experience to read it.
Reason #5.
Its Beauty Is Hard To Pinpoint
I don't understand what this book was doing to me, but it's as if I was being put under a spell. As if it was speaking to something behind me, beyond my body and mind as a shell � as if it was speaking to my soul. Like that dream that you can't quite place as you wake up, but you still remember how it spoke to you, although you don't read know what it said or what even happened. This book speaks to you in a secret language that is beyond you. It's so very strange to be observing a dialogue between the magical words and something in you, of you, but not consciously you, to be a bystander in this magical event. And you're absolutely baffled and mesmerized by it. At least I know I was.
However...
I must warn about the triggers. This is a very strong book, vivid and colorful, and I didn't say 'visceral' without a reason. This book talks about physical trauma, and does so in very much detail. For those of you who are sensitive readers, it might be uncomfortable. There are other triggers as well � talk of porn, drugs, suicide. For me though, all of this made the book only more colorful. I believe the author was playing with contrast between beauty and ugliness, pain and bliss, love and hate. While this works wonderfully for the story, keep in mind that it's not always easy to read.
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April 4, 2015
"Accidents ambush the unsuspecting,
often violently, just like love."
The "Gargoyle" is about an unnamed man whose life isn't the best. He was mistreated and abused as a child, he's addicted to drugs and he ended up being a porn star which he's very good at it but doesn't complete him.
One day he's in a terrible accident and ends up in the burn ward with third degree burns all over his body.
He's completely unrecognisable.
In the hospital he didn't get many visitors and while being on his own he started to realise how bad he's life was before. Because of that he becomes extremely depressed and starts having suicidal thoughts.
That's until one day a woman from the psychiatric ward, starts to visit him. Marianne Engel is a mysterious tattoed woman. She claims that she knows him over a 700 years and that they were lovers. It doesn't matter that he can't remember any of it cause Marianne proceeds and tells him the story of their past lifes.
This book is NOT for the faint of heart.
The narrator was heart-breaking beautiful! In the first chapter, reading the way he described the feeling of being burned was unbelievable!!
I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to spoil anything. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone. Anyone who loves to read I'm sure will love this book.
~~ Now let me go cry in my corner cause I'm still not over this book. ~~
"You are mine, I am yours; you may be sure of this.
You've been locked inside my heart,
the key has been thrown away;
within it, you must always stay."
September 27, 2008
The unnamed narrator of Andrew Davidson's debut novel "The Gargoyle" may be beautiful to the world but internally, his life is a mess. Raised as an orphan by his two meth-addicted cousins and then in foster care, he's now a adult cinema star whose life is built upon looks and appearances rather than any real depth. He's addicted to drugs, drinks too much and all of this leads to him to a horrific car accident in which he is horribly burned over most of his body, even going so far as to burn and render virtually useless his primary source of fame and income.
Miraculously surviving the incident, the narrator is put through a brutal hell of surgeries with his only motivation to get well enough to leave the hospital so he can take his own life. His life is ruined by the accident in more ways than one. But then, a mysterious woman comes into his life, claiming the two have shared a love that spans history and transcends time. At first, the narrator can't believe something can or would exist or that anyone could love him in his burned state. But as the story progresses, he learns the true meaning of love from Marianne Engel's standing over him to her sharing their story from history.
Sure, it sounds like kind of a strange idea and very similar to another book I read recently, "Somewhere in Time" but it all works in this debut novel from Andrew Davidson. The narrator is dark and cynical to begin the story, but as we see him mellow under the guidance of Marriane and others in his life, we see him go from a shallow man to a human being with inner beauty that shines beyond his physical body. We see him slowly gain a soul, thus making the ending of the story all the more heartbreaking.
Miraculously surviving the incident, the narrator is put through a brutal hell of surgeries with his only motivation to get well enough to leave the hospital so he can take his own life. His life is ruined by the accident in more ways than one. But then, a mysterious woman comes into his life, claiming the two have shared a love that spans history and transcends time. At first, the narrator can't believe something can or would exist or that anyone could love him in his burned state. But as the story progresses, he learns the true meaning of love from Marianne Engel's standing over him to her sharing their story from history.
Sure, it sounds like kind of a strange idea and very similar to another book I read recently, "Somewhere in Time" but it all works in this debut novel from Andrew Davidson. The narrator is dark and cynical to begin the story, but as we see him mellow under the guidance of Marriane and others in his life, we see him go from a shallow man to a human being with inner beauty that shines beyond his physical body. We see him slowly gain a soul, thus making the ending of the story all the more heartbreaking.
December 31, 2014
Serendipity. I like that word. It means: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for.
The Gargoyle was such a pleasant surprise. I admit that I bought this book for the cover. First for the beautiful tattoo on the woman's back and second for the title. I figured that the flaming red heart indicated a love story and I was ready for that. I read stories of vampires and wearwolfs and zombies throughout the year. I was ready for a gargoyle story. I couldn't quite imagine what it would be, but I was ready.
I was not ready.
I was not prepared.
I was blindsided!
I was transported into a story that I had no idea could be so facinating.
The story is told in first person. I never got to know the man's name, but the rest of the characters are burned into my memory, even the dog.
This was a story told within a story and all wrapped up beautifully at the end. Great stories, stand-alone stories so well integrated together that I COULD HARDLY BELIE THAT THIS WAS THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK! Yes. It is true.
I learned many things. I learned about the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque. I learned about Italian and German literature translations of Dante's Inferno . I learned about modern medical practices in hospital burn wards and about schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorders. These things were parts of the story, but important. The rest was love.
Yes, it was a love story.
The Gargoyle was such a pleasant surprise. I admit that I bought this book for the cover. First for the beautiful tattoo on the woman's back and second for the title. I figured that the flaming red heart indicated a love story and I was ready for that. I read stories of vampires and wearwolfs and zombies throughout the year. I was ready for a gargoyle story. I couldn't quite imagine what it would be, but I was ready.
I was not ready.
I was not prepared.
I was blindsided!
I was transported into a story that I had no idea could be so facinating.
The story is told in first person. I never got to know the man's name, but the rest of the characters are burned into my memory, even the dog.
This was a story told within a story and all wrapped up beautifully at the end. Great stories, stand-alone stories so well integrated together that I COULD HARDLY BELIE THAT THIS WAS THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK! Yes. It is true.
I learned many things. I learned about the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque. I learned about Italian and German literature translations of Dante's Inferno . I learned about modern medical practices in hospital burn wards and about schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorders. These things were parts of the story, but important. The rest was love.
Yes, it was a love story.
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