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A review by novabird
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
4.0
Saint Tinkerbelle f’ed with my mind with all that damn metaphysical/religious/cultish fairy dust, similar to how the bitch snake inhabited the unnamed burned man’s mind and spine. Religion is the opium of the people. Yet for some reason, I found that I became quickly addicted to, “The Gargoyle,” and I was able for the most part to just go with the flow with this fantasy by simply enjoying the excellent visceral writing style of Davidson. I know that if I start to analyze this book, it will lose its some of its magic for me, but I have to do so and go cold turkey.
I have only four moderate misgivings about, “The Gargoyle:”
First of all, was Marianne Engel ever incarnated as Marquis de Sade? Engel takes the Christian ethics behind pain too far, “I came to see your suffering. ... I envy all suffering, because suffering is necessary to become spiritually beautiful. It brings one closer to Christ. Those who suffer are the elect of God.” And, “That which is painful sharpens one's love.” Don’t get me wrong, I understand the necessity of pain in order to prevent injury, to instill health and to deter from wrong choices and even to better appreciate when one is pain-free. However, I do separate the boundaries between pain and pleasure quite clearly. Unlike Marianne who says, “If I get sick, I will rejoice because God has remembered me.” Like the burned man, I am “glad to be removed from this conversation.”
The most unbelievable part of the novel is the
Not too sure how some of Engel’s 1,000 hearts were redeemed previously in her 700 year history and I am even less certain how one can expend one’s heart in sculpting, even if “monsters are divine portents.”
The ending with Marianne
What remains is an amazing tale of combined belief systems that has a permanent sprinkling of gold dust that will remain long in memory, like a myth, a legend. It makes me want to read Marquis de Sade and the Inferno and any book that gently pushes me towards that which I am uncomfortable with is a winner with me.
I have only four moderate misgivings about, “The Gargoyle:”
First of all, was Marianne Engel ever incarnated as Marquis de Sade? Engel takes the Christian ethics behind pain too far, “I came to see your suffering. ... I envy all suffering, because suffering is necessary to become spiritually beautiful. It brings one closer to Christ. Those who suffer are the elect of God.” And, “That which is painful sharpens one's love.” Don’t get me wrong, I understand the necessity of pain in order to prevent injury, to instill health and to deter from wrong choices and even to better appreciate when one is pain-free. However, I do separate the boundaries between pain and pleasure quite clearly. Unlike Marianne who says, “If I get sick, I will rejoice because God has remembered me.” Like the burned man, I am “glad to be removed from this conversation.”
The most unbelievable part of the novel is the
Spoiler
divine anti-pregnancy that Marianne experiences. Once pregnant one cannot be made un-pregnant, even if a woman miscarries or has an abortion, she was once pregnant, and this is one idea that should have been edited out.Not too sure how some of Engel’s 1,000 hearts were redeemed previously in her 700 year history and I am even less certain how one can expend one’s heart in sculpting, even if “monsters are divine portents.”
The ending with Marianne
Spoiler
committing suicide runs contrary to the burned man’s experience of hell. As well he does not choose this as option to foreshorten his life in order to be with Marianne all that more sooner.What remains is an amazing tale of combined belief systems that has a permanent sprinkling of gold dust that will remain long in memory, like a myth, a legend. It makes me want to read Marquis de Sade and the Inferno and any book that gently pushes me towards that which I am uncomfortable with is a winner with me.