Thoughts on The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Yes, i agree with the blurbs on the back cover:
"Engrossing. A spectacularly imaginative journey." Washington Post Book World
"Mixing romance, classic allusion and reality. Davidson's debut is a bravura performance." Marie Claire.

The protagonist, who is not a nice person when the novel begins, a porno star/film maker, has an accident and is horribly burned and disfigured. His old life is literally and metaphorically burned away. His recovery is extremely painful, as it is for most, if not all, severely burned patients. Enter Marianne Engel, a sculptor, another patient, in the hospital for mental illness, and she recognizes him: they were lovers in another life, in the 1300s. Madness, dreams, another reality ... This love story, this adventure story, this study of illness and recovery, this story of the connections between creativity and mental illness, will keep the reader reading, turning the pages.

The author has done his homework: the details of life in a medieval German monastery and town, medieval mysticism, schizophrenia, recovery for the severely burned, gargoyles, Japanese and Icelandic culture--are impressive, no, amazing. Yes, all those seemingly disparate element work.

Recommended.



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