contemplative
finished reading The Gargoyle a little while ago. I haven't had so much fun curling up with a good book for awhile. I can't remember how I stumbled onto it. I must've been browsing books by subject: calligraphy, paleography, medieval, german, scribes, scripts, dante, etc. It's the first published book ever written by Andrew Davidson.
This book has everything that makes my world go round and the fact that the main character is burned nearly to death makes for an appealing metaphor on the subject of heartbroken people. I'm told everybody get's their heart broken, so why not analogize being burned?
I think what I enjoyed most is the reader friendly way a certain point in medieval history is put in perspective for me. One of the events I find fascinating about the Inquisition occurred in the year A.D. 1314. I believe the exact date was October 13, a Friday, but I'm not too sure. In novels, it's easy to discard 'dope' information as fallacy which the author puts in for the sake of stimulating interest, and so, whether or not Dante's Inferno was first published around this time (1314 A.D.) is something I hadn't yet realized.
Without giving too much away, the story begins with the careless concern for life which an auto accident victim endures. It was very convincing the way the author describes the details of his injuries. This part alone had me thinking of another book I'd read called Covenant of the flame by David Morrell. Why? The main character sustains serious 3rd degree burns. You don't know serious until you read this book and you're male.
Another character that keeps your interest is an artisan who works in the nude. The way her body structure is described also maintains interest in the reader, but I hope this book is never made into film. Movies always cheapen the fantasy, and while I think it would be great to see who plays the part of the stone sculptor, my vision of her seems more goddess-like than any actress I know of who would be willing to shoot scenes like the ones Andrew writes about her.
I'm passing my copy of the book over to my sister, though I have second thoughts whether it's something she'll enjoy. I liked it because, again, the plot included the stuff I like. The love aspect of the story seems to be what I'm referring to when I say this book has psychological torment for the reader. The last twenty pages, I spend reading at the local eatery and I find myself feeling emotional for these two lovers in the story. It's heartbreaking tragedy for people who enjoy black heart relationships.