Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Anchor (2009), 528 pages
Description
A very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, crashes his car into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide--for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul. Then a beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and tells him that they were once lovers in medieval Germany.--From publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member hoosgracie
Stunning. A beautiful combination of modern fiction, historical fiction, love story and folk tales - all tied together with Dante's Inferno. One of my favorite books on the year
LibraryThing member elbakerone
Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle begins with an unnamed narrator - a drug addicted pornography star - who is hideously burned and disfigured in a car accident. With his looks and life ruined he contemplates suicide but is pulled from his dark thoughts by Marianne Engel, an eccentric but charming
The Gargoyle can best be described as bizarre yet thoroughly captivating. The narrator was not a particularly likable character, but as the book progressed, his redemption amidst Marianne's historical love stories becomes a driving force in the tale. Davidson does an excellent job of weaving the different narratives together so that all of them are intriguing and none slow the pace of the main plot. The last portion of the book draws an interesting parallel to Dante's Inferno and the theme of love and redemption leaves the reader with much to ponder after the last pages are read. Overall, this was a really well-written and unique book.
Show More
sculptor of gargoyles. The strange artist insists that she knew the narrator in a previous era - medieval Germany - when he was burned "the first time" and arrived as a patient at the monastery where she was a nun. Though suspecting her to be mentally ill, the narrator is inexplicably drawn to Marianne and as she assists with his rehabilitation, he allows himself to be enchanted by her stories of love that span the globe and all eras of history. The Gargoyle can best be described as bizarre yet thoroughly captivating. The narrator was not a particularly likable character, but as the book progressed, his redemption amidst Marianne's historical love stories becomes a driving force in the tale. Davidson does an excellent job of weaving the different narratives together so that all of them are intriguing and none slow the pace of the main plot. The last portion of the book draws an interesting parallel to Dante's Inferno and the theme of love and redemption leaves the reader with much to ponder after the last pages are read. Overall, this was a really well-written and unique book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member phoebesmum
The narrator of the book (it possibly doesn’t bode well that I read the whole thing without ever realising he never gives us his name), a handsome but amoral porn actor and producer, is driving down a mountain, off his head on booze and Coke, when he goes over the edge, the car crashes in flames,
Into his hospital room one day comes a stranger, Marianne Engel – and, where the narrator is nameless, Marianne Engel is always referred to by both her names – a sometime psychiatric patient, and an artist who specialises in carving grotesques, more commonly known as gargoyles. She tells the narrator that she carries multiples hearts in her chest, and passes them into her gargoyles as she releases them from the stone. She also tells him that he and she have met before: that they were lovers sometime in the 14th century; he was a mercenary, and she was a nun who left the cloister for him. He died, and she had been waiting ever since for him to return and their story to complete itself.
All of which makes for a perfectly adequate novel, if you don’t expect too much. Its research shows something shocking – the author might as well just have printed up a couple of articles on burn treatments and a few more on 14th century Germany from the internet and had done with it – and the characters, as I may have hinted previously, are straight out of stock. The narrator does have something of a sense of humour, though, which redeems both him and the book to some extent.
It also suffers from Annoying Artiness; the page edges are tinted black, and portions of the text are also blocked out in black. All this actually means is that the pages stick to one another. Which is just ... well. Annoying.
Show More
and he’s hideously burnt and mutilated. Luckily for him, he’s rich enough – see above re ‘porn star’ – to be able to afford exemplary medical treatment; at a hospital, furthermore, which appears to have been staffed by Central Casting: he has a grimly dedicated woman surgeon working on him, a badly-dressed and nerdy psychiatrist, a smiling and irrepressible Japanese physical therapist, and three nurses: Serious Nurse, Perky Nurse, and Enigmatic Nurse. Into his hospital room one day comes a stranger, Marianne Engel – and, where the narrator is nameless, Marianne Engel is always referred to by both her names – a sometime psychiatric patient, and an artist who specialises in carving grotesques, more commonly known as gargoyles. She tells the narrator that she carries multiples hearts in her chest, and passes them into her gargoyles as she releases them from the stone. She also tells him that he and she have met before: that they were lovers sometime in the 14th century; he was a mercenary, and she was a nun who left the cloister for him. He died, and she had been waiting ever since for him to return and their story to complete itself.
All of which makes for a perfectly adequate novel, if you don’t expect too much. Its research shows something shocking – the author might as well just have printed up a couple of articles on burn treatments and a few more on 14th century Germany from the internet and had done with it – and the characters, as I may have hinted previously, are straight out of stock. The narrator does have something of a sense of humour, though, which redeems both him and the book to some extent.
It also suffers from Annoying Artiness; the page edges are tinted black, and portions of the text are also blocked out in black. All this actually means is that the pages stick to one another. Which is just ... well. Annoying.
Show Less
LibraryThing member steffiek
So here's a rehash of the English Patient on mescaline and there's the surreal nonsense of the magic mushrooms and the suffocating images charred burn victims 1 million book advance for what must be the greatest literary swindle in town heard of the Sex pistols well this book is an over indulgent
Show More
bad , bad rehash of something worse . It was fuzzy and confused and no that's not art it's just sloppy execution . Sit pretty on the money cos the next one's probably going to be worse . Yeah did not think this book was better than the second coming and have read better graffiti on toilet cubicles in the inner cities . Show Less
LibraryThing member taz_
The nameless (and, actually, mostly faceless) hero of "The Gargoyle" is a hard-bitten yet oddly passive cynic victimized by a particularly horrific physical tragedy, unlikeable and unpromising.
Here is our raw material, burned by life both figuratively and literally, and fire is the theme
So there is fire. And stone - the stony heart of the narrator, of course... and massive slabs of it, from which emerge the relentless gargoyles of Marianne's art and obsession. But you will find other elements here as well: water, earth, and wind all play their roles in the romances she weaves to distract and soothe our hero. But are her stories fancies or histories? Is she merely manic and under-medicated, or is she blessed by divine fire? This is the central mystery that moves the story along, and like the narrator himself, one feels rather swept up by the insistence of her passion - and for better or worse we find ourselves in her hands, trying to determine the form the finished creation will take.
For me it was an enjoyable ride; I liked the oddness of the pair, the fine line between supernatural suggestion and reality, the slipping back and forth in time and character. It was fresh and unusual and it kept me up reading far too late, and thus gets my bleary-eyed stamp of approval.
Here is our raw material, burned by life both figuratively and literally, and fire is the theme
Show More
throughout: the fire that consumes his flesh, the fiery explosion that has claimed his neglectful foster parents, the spiritual flame that burns inside the mysterious, compelling, increasingly febrile - and possibly utterly mad - Marianne Engel who appears from nowhere to claim a fantastic bond with him, and the flaming arrow at the heart of her bizarre story... and of course, the granddaddy of all fiery tales, "The Inferno" by one Signor Alighieri, the book whereby this tale is hung.So there is fire. And stone - the stony heart of the narrator, of course... and massive slabs of it, from which emerge the relentless gargoyles of Marianne's art and obsession. But you will find other elements here as well: water, earth, and wind all play their roles in the romances she weaves to distract and soothe our hero. But are her stories fancies or histories? Is she merely manic and under-medicated, or is she blessed by divine fire? This is the central mystery that moves the story along, and like the narrator himself, one feels rather swept up by the insistence of her passion - and for better or worse we find ourselves in her hands, trying to determine the form the finished creation will take.
For me it was an enjoyable ride; I liked the oddness of the pair, the fine line between supernatural suggestion and reality, the slipping back and forth in time and character. It was fresh and unusual and it kept me up reading far too late, and thus gets my bleary-eyed stamp of approval.
Show Less
LibraryThing member stonelaura
If a book can be both compelling and frustratingly unbelievable at the same time The Gargoyle might be at the top of that list. It is to author Davidson’s credit that he has the ability to reveal this story in a way that makes it somewhat of a page turner, even while including elements of
Show More
reincarnation, gory burn recuperation details, a diffident narrator, and a lack of true passion between the protagonists. That said, it is amazingly easy to barrel through the story in record time, and quite a story it is. Our nameless narrator is a handsome and solipsistic porn star, (is there any other kind?) who is severely burned in a car crash. During recovery a beautiful, unusual woman visits him in the hospital, bringing gourmet banquets and fantastic stories of their shared past. Madeline believes they were lovers in the 14th century when she was former nun and he a lapsed mercenary. While remaining suitably skeptical the narrator is, nonetheless, enthralled into a more rapid recovery, which in the end, only results in the beginning of Marianne’s decline into, either schizophrenia or reincarnate truth, depending on one’s interpretation. The story is closely tied to Dante’s Inferno, both in the past and present lives, and the narrator suffers through his own personal hell, not only through his burn recovery, but from morphine withdrawal. Occasionally heavy-handed with soft-core philosophy and gooey romantic platitudes the story is original and the narrator’s metamorphosis is the expected and satisfying reward. As reviewed by Roz Kaveney of Independent Books, “Though completely crackers, this is a powerful and engaging book, partly because the narrator has a robust capacity to get past self-pity and a good eye for people around him. This is an insane but well-crafted book, as grotesque as its heroine's carvings.” Show Less
LibraryThing member meganreads
Things I loved about this book:
(1) You never know until the very end exactly what Marianne Engle's deal is.
(2) The heavy historical and literary allusions -- Inferno, Mythology, etc.
(3) The seamlessly crafted frame stories
(4) the variety of times and cultures the frame stories take place in
(5)
(6) The interconnectedness of characters in various parts of the novel - each permeates different levels.
(7) The fact that the narrator speaks in the first person about writing the book, getting help from translators, etc.
(8) the variety of snippets in foreign languages -- Japanese, German, Latin, Italian, and even Icelandic
(9) This is the author's first novel. Seriously?! At the end he credits several books he read for inspiration... I would love to hear how this story line took root in his mind
As a final note, some other reviewers have commented that parts of the novel feel contrived or cliche. I agree. However, I did not find those aspects to be annoying -- in context it felt as if the author did it on purpose to demonstrate how much parts of our lives, no matter how strange they may seem, can be hackneyed and tired in the end.
I highly recommend this book.
(1) You never know until the very end exactly what Marianne Engle's deal is.
(2) The heavy historical and literary allusions -- Inferno, Mythology, etc.
(3) The seamlessly crafted frame stories
(4) the variety of times and cultures the frame stories take place in
(5)
Show More
The fact that despite the fact the main character is a porn star and drug addict, that is NOT the dominant part of his character. He is deliciously dynamic in his transformation. He does not consciously try to leave his former lifestyle (and never does fully), but is immersed so fully in his new life that change does happen. (6) The interconnectedness of characters in various parts of the novel - each permeates different levels.
(7) The fact that the narrator speaks in the first person about writing the book, getting help from translators, etc.
(8) the variety of snippets in foreign languages -- Japanese, German, Latin, Italian, and even Icelandic
(9) This is the author's first novel. Seriously?! At the end he credits several books he read for inspiration... I would love to hear how this story line took root in his mind
As a final note, some other reviewers have commented that parts of the novel feel contrived or cliche. I agree. However, I did not find those aspects to be annoying -- in context it felt as if the author did it on purpose to demonstrate how much parts of our lives, no matter how strange they may seem, can be hackneyed and tired in the end.
I highly recommend this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Jacey25
Read Dante's Inferno either before or after reading this- it will greatly enhance what you take away from this novel. I know this is billed as a love story for me but it was so so so much more than a love story. A novel of redemption more than anything else this was simply the best book I've read
Show More
in years... my copy is currently on loan; I get it back for a few minutes and someone else seeks it out. The writing & crafting of the stories is exquisite- it flows naturally between past and future. I know that the writing has been mocked- infamously the cheese on her breast line and while I will say that the line was a bit lame it is the one "beauty mark" that completes a masterpiece. Early into the novel when he is talking about the grafts of cadaver flesh being laid onto his skin like sod.... it was such a good paragraph I read it to myself like three times and aloud to my signifigant other as well. Truly a masterpiece that reminds me of why I rarely read a book by an author who has only published one novel.... I have an unfufilled yearning to read more of Mr. Davidson. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book. Overall this book delivered a story that was much more than I as expecting and much broader. The research that had to have gone into this book is amazing and the story both sweet and bitter. I listened to this on audio book and it was a great
The story starts out with the narrator telling about the car crash that left him recovering in the burn ward. From there we take part in his recovery in the burn ward, learn about his past, and meet Marianne, a woman from the psychiatric ward. Marianne befriends the narrator and aides in his recovery by recounting stories of friends in her past. Eventually the narrator leaves the burn ward and moves in with Marianne; they struggle both with the narrator's morphine addition and Marianne's psychosis. This is a quick synopsis; but the book is about so much more than that.
Let me start by saying I really loved and enjoyed this book. Let me also say that this is not a book for the faint at heart. The descriptions of what happens in a burn ward will have your stomach turning with nausea and your knees weak in sympathetic pain. The descriptions of the narrators' former career (as a porn star) may also be too much for some. I should also mention that the pace of this book is deliberate, it kindly of gently winds itself around you while slowly creating tension and making you wonder what will both happen to the narrator and to Marianne as she gives up her hearts to the gargoyles she carves.
The worst part of the book for me was the pace; sometimes I wished the book would pick it up a little bit but this was also part of the beauty of the book. This slower pace really conveyed how the narrator dealt with the expanses of time he spent recovering from his burns.
There were a number of things I absolutely loved about this book. Marianne for one. Marianne was such a gracious and interesting character. She had equal parts toughness, madness, wisdom, and vulnerability. Yet, she was so certain in her destiny.
I also loved the detail that the author put into certain aspects of the story. I enjoyed the detail about how burn victims recover, the detail spent on how people are diagnosed with schizophrenia or manic depression, and the detail on the history of Marianne's supposed abbey.
I loved Marianne's stories. Marianne's stories were like small novellas in and of themselves. The stories were creative, always bittersweet, and always filled with interesting historical detail. I, like the narrator, always looked forward to one of Marianne's new stories.
Best of all I loved the story itself. The narrator deals with so much pain and changes dramatically throughout the novel. He makes a comment at one point of how ironic it is that when he was beautiful he acted ugly and now that he is ugly he has learned how to be beautiful. The narrator and Marianne deliver a story of pain, hope and incredible history tinged with a bit of fantastical mystery.
All I can say is that whatever you think this book is from the synopsis; it will be different from what you think. It will be both more beautiful and more gruesome. If you start the book and are irritated with the pace; I can only suggest that you hang in there because the journey is worth it. I will definitely be checking out more of Davidson's book; even though this book was outside of what I normally read.
Show More
story to listen to; it had a very lyrical quality to it and I think listening to it added to the beauty of the story.The story starts out with the narrator telling about the car crash that left him recovering in the burn ward. From there we take part in his recovery in the burn ward, learn about his past, and meet Marianne, a woman from the psychiatric ward. Marianne befriends the narrator and aides in his recovery by recounting stories of friends in her past. Eventually the narrator leaves the burn ward and moves in with Marianne; they struggle both with the narrator's morphine addition and Marianne's psychosis. This is a quick synopsis; but the book is about so much more than that.
Let me start by saying I really loved and enjoyed this book. Let me also say that this is not a book for the faint at heart. The descriptions of what happens in a burn ward will have your stomach turning with nausea and your knees weak in sympathetic pain. The descriptions of the narrators' former career (as a porn star) may also be too much for some. I should also mention that the pace of this book is deliberate, it kindly of gently winds itself around you while slowly creating tension and making you wonder what will both happen to the narrator and to Marianne as she gives up her hearts to the gargoyles she carves.
The worst part of the book for me was the pace; sometimes I wished the book would pick it up a little bit but this was also part of the beauty of the book. This slower pace really conveyed how the narrator dealt with the expanses of time he spent recovering from his burns.
There were a number of things I absolutely loved about this book. Marianne for one. Marianne was such a gracious and interesting character. She had equal parts toughness, madness, wisdom, and vulnerability. Yet, she was so certain in her destiny.
I also loved the detail that the author put into certain aspects of the story. I enjoyed the detail about how burn victims recover, the detail spent on how people are diagnosed with schizophrenia or manic depression, and the detail on the history of Marianne's supposed abbey.
I loved Marianne's stories. Marianne's stories were like small novellas in and of themselves. The stories were creative, always bittersweet, and always filled with interesting historical detail. I, like the narrator, always looked forward to one of Marianne's new stories.
Best of all I loved the story itself. The narrator deals with so much pain and changes dramatically throughout the novel. He makes a comment at one point of how ironic it is that when he was beautiful he acted ugly and now that he is ugly he has learned how to be beautiful. The narrator and Marianne deliver a story of pain, hope and incredible history tinged with a bit of fantastical mystery.
All I can say is that whatever you think this book is from the synopsis; it will be different from what you think. It will be both more beautiful and more gruesome. If you start the book and are irritated with the pace; I can only suggest that you hang in there because the journey is worth it. I will definitely be checking out more of Davidson's book; even though this book was outside of what I normally read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member emania
Okay...so this book was really very good. BUT, I gotta tell you, it’s so intense and overpowering, I sometimes felt like looking up from the pages and taking a deep breath. I haven’t read a book that made me feel like that since I read Anne Rice’s Violin way back when.
The plot? A very
And then, Marianne walks into his room. She tells him that they’d been lovers in medieval germany and many other lifetimes before that as well. She tells him she’s been alive for 700 years. She starts telling him stories...their stories. And really, that’s only the beginning.
Marianne is part Scheherazade, part fanatic, part lover, part crazy...but all of those parts are so beautifully and wonderfully described. This is a very deep, moving book. It’s not easy to get through, since the narrator goes into quite graphic detail about what happens to him in the burn ward, but it’s good. Really good. There was an intense satisfaction when I finished it. And, to be truthful, even the darker parts with the graphic, sometimes gruesome detail about his wounds and what he goes through, those are told in such a way, that you really get his voice - his cynicism, and in some parts, I definitely got his self-depreciating humor. And that made it a little easier to read through those parts (but I still winced). STILL...it’s definitely worth reading. Definitely.
The plot? A very
Show More
narcissistic male porn star narrates this tale, that starts with the moment his car careens over an edge and erupts into flames, burning him beyond recognition. It’s first person, which adds to the sense of being completely overwhelmed by the emotions he’s going through. He’s a cynic, and before his accident, was beautiful and rich and sexually adept, even if he was still a cynic inside. After the accident, he figures he’s got nothing left to live for, and plans to survive his stay in the burn ward, living only for the time when he can leave the ward and commit a very carefully planned suicide. It’s what he lives for, because he figures he’s got nothing else. And then, Marianne walks into his room. She tells him that they’d been lovers in medieval germany and many other lifetimes before that as well. She tells him she’s been alive for 700 years. She starts telling him stories...their stories. And really, that’s only the beginning.
Marianne is part Scheherazade, part fanatic, part lover, part crazy...but all of those parts are so beautifully and wonderfully described. This is a very deep, moving book. It’s not easy to get through, since the narrator goes into quite graphic detail about what happens to him in the burn ward, but it’s good. Really good. There was an intense satisfaction when I finished it. And, to be truthful, even the darker parts with the graphic, sometimes gruesome detail about his wounds and what he goes through, those are told in such a way, that you really get his voice - his cynicism, and in some parts, I definitely got his self-depreciating humor. And that made it a little easier to read through those parts (but I still winced). STILL...it’s definitely worth reading. Definitely.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MCG1975
I really liked this book - it was beautifully written. The relationship of the 2 main characters grew and changed throughout the story, weaving in stories from their history and stories of those they knew along the way. The author did a really good job of bringing them to life and making them
Show More
likeable in spite of all of their flaws. I found myself thinking about them even after I finished the last page and moved on to another book. I have highly recommended this book to friends and coworkers. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
Whatever you think about The Gargoyle, positive or negative, you can’t say that it won’t leave an impression. Both the writing and the story are strong. The first few chapters are cringe-inducing; bringing into sharp relief all the reasons why being burned is my oldest, greatest fear. On his
So he’s a drug addict and porn star, why should that make him hateful? That fact alone didn’t do it for me and none of his cool reporting of prior sins did either. And how could complete strangers give themselves in such a devoted fashion if he were such an asshole? Not just Marianne, who cannot escape him, but the other caregivers go above and beyond professional duty. If we readers were supposed to hate him and for his reclamation to be more deserved, we needed to be shown more evidence of his evil.
But that’s my only real complaint about this novel. Other than the narrator’s lack of personality, it is a very interesting story full of allegorical and historical details. Ultimately it is about the transcendent power of love to bind souls together; apparently forever. It is about the body’s willfulness and willingness to forget that bind and try to be fashionably free. When released from the guiding tether we do get lost and it takes something horrific and physically incapacitating for us to be brought to heel once again.
Strangely, the story of Marianne and our unnamed hero is not very clear. I mean in romantic detail. Supporting characters are given depth that these two are not. For instance the story of Siguror and Einarr is gritty with the reality of their struggle not to be drawn together. The violence, sacrifice and restitution at the end brought things home very effectively. As did the story of Francesco and Graziana. But I never got so solid a grip on Marianne and her endless love. Strange.
I did quite like the thread of the books and the arrowhead that wound itself into many of the tangent stories. Our narrator’s latent ability to carve stone was another one that tied things back and gave us some closure. The ambiguous and very open ending didn’t bother me much as the whole novel set up for that. The story of Vicky and Tom continued even after their deaths and still hasn’t ended. Our narrator’s mimicry Vicky’s vigil on the seashore was a nice touch. And Siguror seems to be caught in the hamster wheel of eternity; endlessly trekking to his unknown destination. So the fact that we readers are set loose upon the wind is fitting.
Show More
spiritual journey, our unnamed narrator goes from a cutting, clinical style to a more poetic, romantic one. This was, unfortunately, the greatest window to his character we were given. It was really difficult to cast him as bad guy when he was already punished; when he so painstakingly describes his every waking, tortured moment. So he’s a drug addict and porn star, why should that make him hateful? That fact alone didn’t do it for me and none of his cool reporting of prior sins did either. And how could complete strangers give themselves in such a devoted fashion if he were such an asshole? Not just Marianne, who cannot escape him, but the other caregivers go above and beyond professional duty. If we readers were supposed to hate him and for his reclamation to be more deserved, we needed to be shown more evidence of his evil.
But that’s my only real complaint about this novel. Other than the narrator’s lack of personality, it is a very interesting story full of allegorical and historical details. Ultimately it is about the transcendent power of love to bind souls together; apparently forever. It is about the body’s willfulness and willingness to forget that bind and try to be fashionably free. When released from the guiding tether we do get lost and it takes something horrific and physically incapacitating for us to be brought to heel once again.
Strangely, the story of Marianne and our unnamed hero is not very clear. I mean in romantic detail. Supporting characters are given depth that these two are not. For instance the story of Siguror and Einarr is gritty with the reality of their struggle not to be drawn together. The violence, sacrifice and restitution at the end brought things home very effectively. As did the story of Francesco and Graziana. But I never got so solid a grip on Marianne and her endless love. Strange.
I did quite like the thread of the books and the arrowhead that wound itself into many of the tangent stories. Our narrator’s latent ability to carve stone was another one that tied things back and gave us some closure. The ambiguous and very open ending didn’t bother me much as the whole novel set up for that. The story of Vicky and Tom continued even after their deaths and still hasn’t ended. Our narrator’s mimicry Vicky’s vigil on the seashore was a nice touch. And Siguror seems to be caught in the hamster wheel of eternity; endlessly trekking to his unknown destination. So the fact that we readers are set loose upon the wind is fitting.
Show Less
LibraryThing member schmadeke
For weeks, the subject matter of this book put me off. I knew the main character suffered severe burns in a horrible car crash, and I was afraid this book would be depressing, maybe even frightening. It languished on my To Be Read pile until, feeling the pressure of a review deadline, I finally
It's not depressing. In fact, The Gargoyle is a story of redemption. But first things first: the initial part of the story does contain vivid detail about the car accident, the narrator's burns, and the treatment he received in the burn ward during his subsequent hospitalization. All of this creates a certain mood, a tone, a levity that probably wouldn't exist without the gory details. So yeah, it's gruesome, but necessarily so.
Davidson's incredible character development quickly overshadows all of this. The main character ... we never even know his name, yet we come to know him intimately. Over the course of the story, he goes from being a vain, selfish, drug-addicted porn star to a loving, caring human being who is capable of seeing his life as better after the accident than before, despite the fact that his body is permanently scarred and disfigured. If this sounds like a bunch of soppy sentamentalism, fear not. The narrator is also hilariously cynical, clever, and sarcastic. I never thought I would laugh while reading this book, but in fact, I did.
The professionals who assisted the narrator in his recovery grew on me as they did on him. He started off his hospital stay determined to hate his doctor, physical therapist and the hospital psychologist. But in the end, all three became his friends, and the friendships reached beyond the hospital walls.
Marianne Engel, the woman with whom the narrator eventually falls in love, was an enigma throughout the story. I spent the entire book trying to decide if she was merely a schizophrenic who refused to take her meds or truly, as she claimed, a medieval German who had known the narrator seven hundred years ago. Her stories about their lives together all those years ago, as well as the love stories of other ancient couples whom she claimed to have known sucked me in, even though each was only a chapter long.
It's not always easy to read a book that shifts constantly between past and present, between fantasy (or in this case, what might be fantasy, although it might be truth) and reality. In this case, it worked. I found the medieval portions of the story just as absorbing as the present, if not more so. The only section that almost lost my interest and that I wasn't particularly fond of was the detailed account of the narrator's dream about descending into Hell as he experienced withdrawal from morphine.
The Gargoyle deserves the accolades it has been receiving. It is not an easy book to read because of the graphic nature of certain subject matters, but somehow that fades into the background and what stands out, what is overpowering about this story is its redemptive nature and, most of all, its unforgettable characters.
Show More
picked it up a few days ago.It's not depressing. In fact, The Gargoyle is a story of redemption. But first things first: the initial part of the story does contain vivid detail about the car accident, the narrator's burns, and the treatment he received in the burn ward during his subsequent hospitalization. All of this creates a certain mood, a tone, a levity that probably wouldn't exist without the gory details. So yeah, it's gruesome, but necessarily so.
Davidson's incredible character development quickly overshadows all of this. The main character ... we never even know his name, yet we come to know him intimately. Over the course of the story, he goes from being a vain, selfish, drug-addicted porn star to a loving, caring human being who is capable of seeing his life as better after the accident than before, despite the fact that his body is permanently scarred and disfigured. If this sounds like a bunch of soppy sentamentalism, fear not. The narrator is also hilariously cynical, clever, and sarcastic. I never thought I would laugh while reading this book, but in fact, I did.
The professionals who assisted the narrator in his recovery grew on me as they did on him. He started off his hospital stay determined to hate his doctor, physical therapist and the hospital psychologist. But in the end, all three became his friends, and the friendships reached beyond the hospital walls.
Marianne Engel, the woman with whom the narrator eventually falls in love, was an enigma throughout the story. I spent the entire book trying to decide if she was merely a schizophrenic who refused to take her meds or truly, as she claimed, a medieval German who had known the narrator seven hundred years ago. Her stories about their lives together all those years ago, as well as the love stories of other ancient couples whom she claimed to have known sucked me in, even though each was only a chapter long.
It's not always easy to read a book that shifts constantly between past and present, between fantasy (or in this case, what might be fantasy, although it might be truth) and reality. In this case, it worked. I found the medieval portions of the story just as absorbing as the present, if not more so. The only section that almost lost my interest and that I wasn't particularly fond of was the detailed account of the narrator's dream about descending into Hell as he experienced withdrawal from morphine.
The Gargoyle deserves the accolades it has been receiving. It is not an easy book to read because of the graphic nature of certain subject matters, but somehow that fades into the background and what stands out, what is overpowering about this story is its redemptive nature and, most of all, its unforgettable characters.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TheCriticalTimes
A reprehensible man, but not uninteresting, drives off a cliff and burns to a crisp but lives. We follow his survival in gruesome detail as he comes to terms with his new completely altered existence. Helping him in his recovery is a mysterious women who claims to have known our unfortunately
A fundamentally interesting aspect of this novel is how on the surface it appears to show women in a new light. To do this the author introduces us to a headstrong women with plenty of skills and natural talents. So far we're still on board with modern stereotypes. Modern novels seem to portray women in strong roles to be accepted by all layers of society but mostly those novels have women act in a masculine way as a means to show gender competitiveness. In other words women take on those trades they are mostly riling against. Ironically however the way women are portrayed in Gargoyle is exactly the same as women have been portrayed all throughout literary history (certainly strong). The behavior is put in different words and the inherent feminine strength has been accented in Gargoyle but the novel also acknowledges nothing has changed, as in women were never weak to begin with and tend to be more nurturing than men, which is one of their strengths.
From a narrative point of view the author pulls an extreme Werther as it could be described. Which is something that Dickens tried but didn't want to apply because he felt it was a cheap trick. There are other things that Gargoyle and works by Dickens have in common but let's look at the Goethe connection first. The Gargoyle begins by immediately immersing you in one of the most extreme human experiences you can imagine. In that sense it's confrontational and feels like a Hollywood big screen opener where the producers are concerned they catch your attention in the first ten minutes of the movie. The first one to do that was Goethe with The Sorrows of Young Werther who started the famous novel with: "I'm glad I'll never have to go back again". It both puts you right in the story and it sets you up for what is to come. In the case of Gargoyle it's the strongest point and the weakest. The author could not make the reader any more uncomfortable than he did after the first few chapters. And as a reader you know that so you're waiting for that relief. It's a form of reverse cliffhanger. Unfortunately since you've already had the worst the rest of the novel could not possible compete and as a result the ending isn't as dramatic and world shattering as it could be since you've already been desensitized.
The second thing the book has in common with a typical Dickens story is that every sentence is both a promise that something interesting is coming as well as a teaser that sets up the next line. It's like small pushes forward, which is something that Dickens perfected but did it in a completely different way, he used the suffering of other characters as a tease. My main problem with The Gargoyle is that it undermines those promises. If you write a book that is constructed like an Agatha Christie novel then you have to make the reveal fit the premise. You couldn't have a ghost be the murderer because the entire story is designed around earthly facts. Similarly if you write a paranormal story you couldn't end with 'the butler did it' because you're comparing apples and oranges. I think in Gargoyle the author mixed the two too much so that the ending did not quite work for me.
Show More
monster from about 500 years or so when they were married. Over the next few months his saving angel by the name of Marianna Engel (Engel means Angel in Dutch and German) both tells our protagonists stories about his alleged former life and helps him through the painful process of recovering from extreme burn wounds. Marianne turns out to be a psychiatric patient who goes through manic phases where she chisels gargoyles (nee Grotesques) out of large slabs of stone. As both deal with the hideousness on their insides and outsides they help each other survive. Until ...A fundamentally interesting aspect of this novel is how on the surface it appears to show women in a new light. To do this the author introduces us to a headstrong women with plenty of skills and natural talents. So far we're still on board with modern stereotypes. Modern novels seem to portray women in strong roles to be accepted by all layers of society but mostly those novels have women act in a masculine way as a means to show gender competitiveness. In other words women take on those trades they are mostly riling against. Ironically however the way women are portrayed in Gargoyle is exactly the same as women have been portrayed all throughout literary history (certainly strong). The behavior is put in different words and the inherent feminine strength has been accented in Gargoyle but the novel also acknowledges nothing has changed, as in women were never weak to begin with and tend to be more nurturing than men, which is one of their strengths.
From a narrative point of view the author pulls an extreme Werther as it could be described. Which is something that Dickens tried but didn't want to apply because he felt it was a cheap trick. There are other things that Gargoyle and works by Dickens have in common but let's look at the Goethe connection first. The Gargoyle begins by immediately immersing you in one of the most extreme human experiences you can imagine. In that sense it's confrontational and feels like a Hollywood big screen opener where the producers are concerned they catch your attention in the first ten minutes of the movie. The first one to do that was Goethe with The Sorrows of Young Werther who started the famous novel with: "I'm glad I'll never have to go back again". It both puts you right in the story and it sets you up for what is to come. In the case of Gargoyle it's the strongest point and the weakest. The author could not make the reader any more uncomfortable than he did after the first few chapters. And as a reader you know that so you're waiting for that relief. It's a form of reverse cliffhanger. Unfortunately since you've already had the worst the rest of the novel could not possible compete and as a result the ending isn't as dramatic and world shattering as it could be since you've already been desensitized.
The second thing the book has in common with a typical Dickens story is that every sentence is both a promise that something interesting is coming as well as a teaser that sets up the next line. It's like small pushes forward, which is something that Dickens perfected but did it in a completely different way, he used the suffering of other characters as a tease. My main problem with The Gargoyle is that it undermines those promises. If you write a book that is constructed like an Agatha Christie novel then you have to make the reveal fit the premise. You couldn't have a ghost be the murderer because the entire story is designed around earthly facts. Similarly if you write a paranormal story you couldn't end with 'the butler did it' because you're comparing apples and oranges. I think in Gargoyle the author mixed the two too much so that the ending did not quite work for me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mitabird
This was a very interesting novel. It's about a man who gets severly burned in a car accident. The story details his recovery and his relationship with an unusual woman named Marianne Engel. He meets her while in the hospital and discovers that she is a psychiatric patient. She proceeds to tell him
It took me a while to get into this story, but I am so glad that I stuck with it. The description of his recovery was horrific. I would never have expected it to occur the way it did nor the length of time it would take. Marianne, however, was the shining star in this novel. She told her stories with such conviction, that it leaves the reader wondering if her tales could actually have happened. I would definitely recommend reading this. 4.5 stars
Show More
fascinating stories of when they first meet in the 14th century. According to her, her purpose is to create gargoyles (she carves them) and give them the extra hearts that she has.It took me a while to get into this story, but I am so glad that I stuck with it. The description of his recovery was horrific. I would never have expected it to occur the way it did nor the length of time it would take. Marianne, however, was the shining star in this novel. She told her stories with such conviction, that it leaves the reader wondering if her tales could actually have happened. I would definitely recommend reading this. 4.5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member indygo88
This is one of those books you can't help but judge by its cover. I read the hardcover edition with the fiery heart on a black background, subtly accented with golden arrows, with blackened page edges as an especially nice touch. I enjoyed holding it and looking at it almost as much as I did
For those who have trouble with gruesome but realistic detail, the beginning of the book might be a bit difficult to digest, as the author goes into quite a bit of detail about the specifics of fire and its effects on human flesh. But I found it rather morbidly fascinating & very engaging, and soon I was hooked. The remainder of the novel is much less gruesomely vivid, yet still very compelling. There are a lot of reviews out there which go into detailed plot, so I won't. But it's a novel of many layers, interweaving history with present-day in an allegorical storyline. As the reader, you're left wondering what is real and what is figurative or imaginary, and even by the end of the book things aren't black or white. I can't say that I was completely satisfied by the ending, nor was I disappointed. Perhaps I just wanted the story to keep going & wasn't ready for it to end.
Show More
reading it. And to be totally honest, I alternated between the hardcover & the library borrowed audio version so that I could read both at home & on my work commute. It's one of those books that you don't want to put down for any length of time because you're anxious to see what happens next.For those who have trouble with gruesome but realistic detail, the beginning of the book might be a bit difficult to digest, as the author goes into quite a bit of detail about the specifics of fire and its effects on human flesh. But I found it rather morbidly fascinating & very engaging, and soon I was hooked. The remainder of the novel is much less gruesomely vivid, yet still very compelling. There are a lot of reviews out there which go into detailed plot, so I won't. But it's a novel of many layers, interweaving history with present-day in an allegorical storyline. As the reader, you're left wondering what is real and what is figurative or imaginary, and even by the end of the book things aren't black or white. I can't say that I was completely satisfied by the ending, nor was I disappointed. Perhaps I just wanted the story to keep going & wasn't ready for it to end.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amachiski
I read through the first few chapters in horror and awe, wanting to, but unable to look away. Within that period of time the narrator described his horrible car accident that leaves him horribly burned and disfigured while doing this he fills the reader in on his train wreck of a life up to that
Show More
point. Despite the gruesome start, this is a actually a profound love story. Love is shown as a feeling so powerful that it endures through time and space. As far-fetched as the idea is, Davidson does persuade us that it could logistically happen. I loved the reconstruction of their long ago love affair thru Italy, England, Japan and Scandinavia. This weaves in and out of the main story, forming tentative connections. Literary classics are alluded to as well, most notably Dante's Inferno. After finishing the book, I couldn't get it out of my mind. The author's use of religious and cultural motifs was thought-provoking. It is a very difficult book to try to explain in detail so I’ll just tell you to read it! Show Less
LibraryThing member HeatherLINC
This book has had a huge amount of positive media attention over the past couple of months so I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to expectations! While it had a gripping beginning and some of Marianne's stories/flashbacks were interesting, overall I found the story to be
Show More
very mediocre. I had trouble relating to the main protagonist who I found to be egotistical and shallow and I still haven't decided if Marianne was a manic depressive, schizophrenic or just plain weird. Should have spent my holidays reading something more entertaining. Show Less
LibraryThing member JOANNEE
An amazine book and can imagine it taking seven years to come to fruition. It is his first book and look forward to his next. This is the story of a porn star who is in a disastrous car accident that sets hime afire. He is rescued and spends eight months in the burn unit of a hospital where he
Show More
meets a woman from the mental wing of the hospital. They become friends and she takes him home to live at her place. She tells stories of her life in the fourteenth century. Fascinating! Show Less
LibraryThing member Jaie22
I didn't really expect to like this book, but it's become one of those works that sticks with me. Something about it reminded me of The Lovely Bones, although I couldn't tell you why.
Well-written enough that the very unusual plot didn't bother me; I hardly noticed how mysterious Marianne's story
Well-written enough that the very unusual plot didn't bother me; I hardly noticed how mysterious Marianne's story
Show More
was until further reflection. I had to return it to the library today, but I almost started rereading it first. Show Less
LibraryThing member kmaziarz
A cocaine-using pornographer and all-around shallow, unpleasant man is driving home late one night when a sudden hallucination of burning arrows arching towards his car causes him to lose control of the vehicle. He plunges off the road and is horribly burned over most of his body in the crash. His
Skeptical of her story, with good reason – not only is the story itself improbably if not impossible, but Marianne herself has spent significant time in the psych ward – the narrator soon finds in the quirky, giving, and magical Marianne a new reason for living. Marianne takes the narrator into her home after his release to take care of him, but soon the tables have turned. Marianne is a gifted sculptor, focusing her efforts on bringing forth gargoyles and grotesques from the stone which had prisoned them. She believes that she has been given a multitude of extra hearts and that each time she completes a sculpture, she gives one of those hearts away. Rapidly approaching her last few hearts, however, she throws herself frenetically into her work, neglecting food, sleep, and everything else around her in an effort to complete her life’s work and penance. She herself ends up in the hospital, but is soon released to her efforts once again as the narrator and Marianne’s friends watch helplessly. In between manic sculpting episodes, Marianne continues to regale the narrator not only with stories of their previous life together, but with the stories of four great love affairs across the world and in different centuries.
Caught up in Marianne’s orbit and wrapped tightly in her stories, the narrator finds ultimate redemption and a new identity, discovering that “…only after [his] skin was burned away did [he] finally become able to feel." He himself is Marianne’s greatest and final creation, as she slowly chips away at the self-absorption, shallowness, and depravity in which he was prisoned.
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The description of the narrator’s injuries and recovery is not for the faint-hearted, but it is to the author’s credit that the horrific passages are also strangely beautiful. Well-crafted characters, including the sympathetically flawed narrator, and beautifully sculpted imagery combine to sweep you away. I frequently re-read sentences and paragraphs to savor each little masterpiece. Highly recommended!!
Show More
recovery is slow and painful, and he lays in bed cursing his doctors and bitterly plotting suicide as soon as he is released from the burn ward. But into the wreckage his life has become walks Marianne Engel, a beautiful and mysterious young woman whose first words to the unnamed narrator are, “You've been burned. Again.” She begins to tell him about her childhood in a medieval German monastery and about their first meeting, when he was a member of a mercenary band who was badly burned by flaming arrows and brought to her monastery to recover.Skeptical of her story, with good reason – not only is the story itself improbably if not impossible, but Marianne herself has spent significant time in the psych ward – the narrator soon finds in the quirky, giving, and magical Marianne a new reason for living. Marianne takes the narrator into her home after his release to take care of him, but soon the tables have turned. Marianne is a gifted sculptor, focusing her efforts on bringing forth gargoyles and grotesques from the stone which had prisoned them. She believes that she has been given a multitude of extra hearts and that each time she completes a sculpture, she gives one of those hearts away. Rapidly approaching her last few hearts, however, she throws herself frenetically into her work, neglecting food, sleep, and everything else around her in an effort to complete her life’s work and penance. She herself ends up in the hospital, but is soon released to her efforts once again as the narrator and Marianne’s friends watch helplessly. In between manic sculpting episodes, Marianne continues to regale the narrator not only with stories of their previous life together, but with the stories of four great love affairs across the world and in different centuries.
Caught up in Marianne’s orbit and wrapped tightly in her stories, the narrator finds ultimate redemption and a new identity, discovering that “…only after [his] skin was burned away did [he] finally become able to feel." He himself is Marianne’s greatest and final creation, as she slowly chips away at the self-absorption, shallowness, and depravity in which he was prisoned.
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The description of the narrator’s injuries and recovery is not for the faint-hearted, but it is to the author’s credit that the horrific passages are also strangely beautiful. Well-crafted characters, including the sympathetically flawed narrator, and beautifully sculpted imagery combine to sweep you away. I frequently re-read sentences and paragraphs to savor each little masterpiece. Highly recommended!!
Show Less
LibraryThing member Marlissa
I read the eReader version of this book. Not for the squeamish! The descriptions, in first person, of the character's experience in being horrifically burned and of his painful and soul-shattering recovery are totally graphic and unflinching. While I liked the honesty, I did have trouble reading at
Show More
times and skimmed quickly through some parts. But I am a sucker for multiple timelines, and this book made excellent use of that device. I also loved the relationship(s) between the main characters. A fascinating story I'll probably reread at some point. Show Less
LibraryThing member zibilee
After a terrible accident leaves him burnt beyond recognition, the narrator of The Gargoyle begins to receive an odd visitor in the hospital where he is convalescing. Her name is Marianne Engel, and she seems to be mentally ill. Before long, Marianne is visiting frequently, spinning intricate tales
I found this book completely immersing. The atmosphere was deliciously dark and the author's handling of the plot was extraordinarily deft. The story pulled me in and never let up until the stirring ending. The graphic depictions of the narrator's severe burns and subsequent treatment was a little unsettling, but it was extremely well researched and related with an uncommon elegance as to be informative and interesting, as well as shocking and horrific. Though serious in nature, the book also had moments of sardonic humor and exceptional moments of insight. The main story was folded among various other smaller stories, with particular focus on the story of fourteenth century Germany. Each successive story in the narrative grew in focus and detail and all were extremely captivating.
The narrator, who remains unarmed throughout the book, was a bit churlish and cynical, yet I had no problems relating to him or finding sympathy for his character. The talent of the author in his ability to make an unlovable character moving and sympathetic was impressive. I rooted for him to find his way and learn to accept the myriad changes that he must learn to deal with. His eventual bravery in the face of overwhelming obstacles was a heartening change from the self-pity and suicidal despair that first enveloped him. It was as though through each successive chapter I could see the character growing and changing, his mind becoming more resolved, his heart opening and becoming more accepting. It was a tremendous feat to witness. Marianne was also an alluring and compassionate character whose inconsistencies and frailties were depicted in a tolerant and open-minded way, something that is not afforded to most eccentrics. Her struggles with her artistic vision and her fantastical beliefs were never overplayed or too dramatic. Her certainty and determination were admirable, and the passion with which she drove herself was both frightening and formidable. It was interesting to see the two of them react to each other's differences, and to watch their growing attachment unfold. A more unlikely pair could scarce be imagined.
This story will appeal to a wide audience, but the vivid detail of the burn information may be off-putting to some. I feel that the story was actually enhanced by this level of detail. It was extremely believable and accurate, and it heightened the story's impact and made me understand the character's situation all the more readily and believably. The information regarding mental illness was also authentic and informative. As well as advancing the plot, it provided a wealth of character description and enhancement that would have been laborious done any other way. The story was as compelling as the style in which it was written. Some of the passages were downright conspiratorial and secretive, while others were flowing and beautiful. This book had no easy answers. The subject matter was difficult, but ultimately rewarding and thought provoking.
This is a book that I can see reading over and over again, and taking away something different each time. I have not enjoyed a book more than this one in a long, long while. I was amazed to find out that this is Davidson's first novel. He strikes me as an interesting man who has a uncommon perspective on many things. As a writer, he is very impressive. I think this book is destined to be a big hit, and deservedly so. I consider it an instant favorite. Highly recommended.
Show More
to the fascinated narrator. Her fables involve gifted artists, hardworking landowners, outcast orphans; all ill-fated lovers, all with stunningly touching stories. One story though, seems more puzzling than most. Marianne reveals the story of the past. It is the story of the love between the burnt man and Marianne herself, lovers long ago in Medieval Germany. As he begins to heal, the narrator becomes more involved in the stories of the strange woman, not knowing whether to believe in her mental instability, or in the impossible story she tells. Gradually, the lines of perception begin to blur, and the curious story begins to take on its own life, leading the injured man towards the realms of the unimaginable that will culminate in the cataclysmic bowels of hell.I found this book completely immersing. The atmosphere was deliciously dark and the author's handling of the plot was extraordinarily deft. The story pulled me in and never let up until the stirring ending. The graphic depictions of the narrator's severe burns and subsequent treatment was a little unsettling, but it was extremely well researched and related with an uncommon elegance as to be informative and interesting, as well as shocking and horrific. Though serious in nature, the book also had moments of sardonic humor and exceptional moments of insight. The main story was folded among various other smaller stories, with particular focus on the story of fourteenth century Germany. Each successive story in the narrative grew in focus and detail and all were extremely captivating.
The narrator, who remains unarmed throughout the book, was a bit churlish and cynical, yet I had no problems relating to him or finding sympathy for his character. The talent of the author in his ability to make an unlovable character moving and sympathetic was impressive. I rooted for him to find his way and learn to accept the myriad changes that he must learn to deal with. His eventual bravery in the face of overwhelming obstacles was a heartening change from the self-pity and suicidal despair that first enveloped him. It was as though through each successive chapter I could see the character growing and changing, his mind becoming more resolved, his heart opening and becoming more accepting. It was a tremendous feat to witness. Marianne was also an alluring and compassionate character whose inconsistencies and frailties were depicted in a tolerant and open-minded way, something that is not afforded to most eccentrics. Her struggles with her artistic vision and her fantastical beliefs were never overplayed or too dramatic. Her certainty and determination were admirable, and the passion with which she drove herself was both frightening and formidable. It was interesting to see the two of them react to each other's differences, and to watch their growing attachment unfold. A more unlikely pair could scarce be imagined.
This story will appeal to a wide audience, but the vivid detail of the burn information may be off-putting to some. I feel that the story was actually enhanced by this level of detail. It was extremely believable and accurate, and it heightened the story's impact and made me understand the character's situation all the more readily and believably. The information regarding mental illness was also authentic and informative. As well as advancing the plot, it provided a wealth of character description and enhancement that would have been laborious done any other way. The story was as compelling as the style in which it was written. Some of the passages were downright conspiratorial and secretive, while others were flowing and beautiful. This book had no easy answers. The subject matter was difficult, but ultimately rewarding and thought provoking.
This is a book that I can see reading over and over again, and taking away something different each time. I have not enjoyed a book more than this one in a long, long while. I was amazed to find out that this is Davidson's first novel. He strikes me as an interesting man who has a uncommon perspective on many things. As a writer, he is very impressive. I think this book is destined to be a big hit, and deservedly so. I consider it an instant favorite. Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member heidialice
Our "hero" is a porn star and director, addicted to drugs, and is driving under the influence when he swerves off the road, crashes and the car goes up in flames around him. Miraculously, he survives, very badly burned, and spends months recuperating in a hospital, surrounded by a cast of colorful
This was, to my great surprise, a story of hope and recovery, humanity and love. Our hero starts out worldly, cynical, and values his life not at all. But even he is won over by the enthusiasm, vigor, faith and innocence of Marianne. While whimsical, I don't consider this fantasy exactly, since it is never clear whether Marianne is actually from the 14th century, or whether she is a deeply delusional schizophrenic. With memorable characters, beautiful language, haunting details, and an imaginative plot, this is one of those books that will stay with the reader.
Show More
characters, including Marianne, a psychiatric patient who believes she is a nun from 14th century Germany, and that they were lovers in that time. As he recovers, he gains the will to live, and Marianne takes over his care, telling him the story of their former life together, and other stories of love from all over the world.This was, to my great surprise, a story of hope and recovery, humanity and love. Our hero starts out worldly, cynical, and values his life not at all. But even he is won over by the enthusiasm, vigor, faith and innocence of Marianne. While whimsical, I don't consider this fantasy exactly, since it is never clear whether Marianne is actually from the 14th century, or whether she is a deeply delusional schizophrenic. With memorable characters, beautiful language, haunting details, and an imaginative plot, this is one of those books that will stay with the reader.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Shannon29
I've got to say, I wasn't expecting a lot from this book. I've read other books with the "I live in the present, but have had a medieval past life" story before. This one was a bit different, though. The narrator, who is never named, was terribly unlikable... he was a drug addicted porn star before
Show More
the accident that left him with 3rd degree burns on most of his body. This burn changes his life and does so for the better. He meets Marianne, a woman who claims they loved each other in 14th century Germany. The book is a mixture of present and past. But it's done well and with characters that actually did exist in the 14th Engelthal monastery. I think overall, the book was done really well. It was the first one I really enjoyed in a while. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2010)
Sunburst Award (Winner — Adult — 2009)
British Book Award (Shortlist — shortlist — 2009)
Quill and Quire Book of the Year (Fiction — 2008)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2008)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
528 p.; 5.18 inches
ISBN
0307388670 / 9780307388674