The Gargoyle

Written by:
Andrew Davidson
Narrated by:
Lincoln Hoppe

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
20
Narrator
12
Release Date
August 2008
Duration
19 hours 16 minutes
Summary
An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time

The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes 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.

A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love. He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.

Already an international literary sensation, the Gargoyle is an Inferno for our time. It will have you believing in the impossible.
Reviews
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B

This is one of my all time favorite books!!

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Trackman 9.

I love this book.

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Anabel G.

I love this book. I read it 10 years ago. The story remains with me to this day ❤️

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Anonymous

an amazing book! this piece of art is within the realm of Hesse Steppingwolf, Requiem by Mozart and the visual beauty lof starry night.

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Brenda B.

I first read this book a few months back, and found the story so compelling, I listened to it as well. I think the audio genre suits it better, with its many verbal storytelling sessions. To be sure, it’s a little out there, particularly near the end, when magical realism gets swallowed up at times by sheer magic. In the hands of a lesser writer, it would have fallen apart. But Andrew Davidson’s sure band and clear voice kept things going. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, a tragic romance spanning the centuries and heavily infused with arrows, flames, and the church. But I loved it.

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Katie C

First impression: Beautiful writing I don't know why I tend to flock to ridiculously long novels like this one that take forever to read. I also thought, for some reason, that this was going to be an erotica and was glad I was wrong. The stories Marianne told were so beautifully tragic and I ended up enjoying them more than the main story line. I didn't get the feeling of immense love between the narrator and Marianne. Considering that the whole novel is based on the love between them and their souls, I felt unsatisfied. It also left some important questions unanswered.

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