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A review by abbywebb
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
3.0
I know many people will be disappointed with the lack of stars in which I attribute to this book.
It's not that Davidson's first novel was bad or anything. I just don't think I had a lot of the background knowledge that would be useful when reading this book. If you plan on reading this book in the near future, I would suggest either first reading or at least researching Dante's Inferno as this plays a major role in The Gargoyle. Also, there are a lot of biblical references, to which I have no knowledge whatsoever.
It remains evident to the reader that Davidson did a ton of research to write this book, and on a wide variety of topics. I commend him with his dedication to not only research all these unknown areas, but to also sit down and write a book about it.
He did a good job of bouncing back between the past and present stories, although I am not entirely sure of why some of the stories were included. Like many books that I have read of late, this one did not capture me until the end, and even then, I wouldn't necessarily say that I was "captured." I feel bad to say that as Davidson currently lives in my hometown and what if I run into him at Safeway or Chapters one day when I am visiting? How awkward.
Anyway, I recommend this book to bookish readers who do not mind devouring some heavy literature. When reading this book, I was reminded of several other books, including [b:The English Patient|11713|The English Patient|Michael Ondaatje|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166485607s/11713.jpg|3009869] and [b:Outlander|10964|Outlander (Outlander, #1)|Diana Gabaldon|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PXCSX5AKL._SL75_.jpg|2489796]. Although this book is completely different from those two, you may enjoy this one if you liked those ones.
It's not that Davidson's first novel was bad or anything. I just don't think I had a lot of the background knowledge that would be useful when reading this book. If you plan on reading this book in the near future, I would suggest either first reading or at least researching Dante's Inferno as this plays a major role in The Gargoyle. Also, there are a lot of biblical references, to which I have no knowledge whatsoever.
It remains evident to the reader that Davidson did a ton of research to write this book, and on a wide variety of topics. I commend him with his dedication to not only research all these unknown areas, but to also sit down and write a book about it.
He did a good job of bouncing back between the past and present stories, although I am not entirely sure of why some of the stories were included. Like many books that I have read of late, this one did not capture me until the end, and even then, I wouldn't necessarily say that I was "captured." I feel bad to say that as Davidson currently lives in my hometown and what if I run into him at Safeway or Chapters one day when I am visiting? How awkward.
Anyway, I recommend this book to bookish readers who do not mind devouring some heavy literature. When reading this book, I was reminded of several other books, including [b:The English Patient|11713|The English Patient|Michael Ondaatje|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166485607s/11713.jpg|3009869] and [b:Outlander|10964|Outlander (Outlander, #1)|Diana Gabaldon|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PXCSX5AKL._SL75_.jpg|2489796]. Although this book is completely different from those two, you may enjoy this one if you liked those ones.