Welcome to the place where I rant, rave and discuss books, writing, the town of Cobourg Ontario and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Personal Story/Review of The Gargoyle By Andrew Davidson

I can say straight up, this is going to be an odd post. Anyone who has read my bio, or who has followed me for a while, knows my sister was murdered. But what I have not shared up until now, is that she was murdered by her son, my nephew. From here on in I’ll refer to him as CB. Yes you could easily Google my name and find out his, he was a minor who was sentenced as an adult, so his name has been released, but for some reason, I feel weird using his name here. I’m constantly squashing the urge to go into explicit detail about everything that’s happened regarding this event over the last 3 years so that the full extent of pain and suffering and surrealism can be understood – and I will be squashing that urge today as I get to my point.

Because I was a witness for the Crown Attorney (District Attorney) I was not able to speak to my nephew for the 2.5 years from the day of his arrest to the day of his sentencing. We started exchanging letters in the past few months. We discussed books, and he recommended I read his favorite fiction novel The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I rushed to the library and got it right away. Let me tell you, it was so worth it.

The writing is superb, the characters are fleshed out so very beautifully and the storyline is spell-binding, horrific and beautiful all at the same time. I don’t want to give away any of the plot because simply, I couldn’t do it justice anyhow. That’s pretty much the same way CB described it to me. He said “it’s about a burn victim who meets a crazy chick in the hospital and she tells him stories. I’m not doing it justice, but I can’t explain more without giving anything away”. I agree with his statement 100%.

This book is a must-read folks, especially if you read and enjoyed Dante’s Divine Comedy (though it’s not a requirement.)

Have you read The Gargoyle? What did you think?

Posted by Unknown at 10:58 AM
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6 comments:

  1. Jennie BennettJuly 20, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Hum, I'll have to give it a look.

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  2. Sharon - inspiring non-fictionJuly 20, 2011 at 3:07 PM

    From just the title, it doesn't sound like a book I would pick up to read, but I trust your recommendation. Thanks.

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  3. AngelaJuly 21, 2011 at 9:36 AM

    You never know how good a book is until you actually take the time to read it. Time to look this one up.

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  4. UnknownJuly 21, 2011 at 11:18 AM

    @Jen -let me know what you think of it!

    @Sharon - There are no living Gargoyles in it, I know, I thought the same thing :P

    @Angela - I've never read anything like this book before, and would never have picked it up on my own. Please let me know what you thought of it:)

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  5. Chris AlliniotteAugust 4, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    Nina - I've read this one, and you're absolutely correct - the characters are so beautifully drawn, and the peculiar obsessions that cause self destruction, in the midst of true love, is wrenching.

    So worth the read.

    As a last point, I've only recently learned a little more about you and what you've come through, and so, without making you say anything else about it, I'll just say "holy f*cking sh*t", and tell you that I admire you a lot for pouring so much of yourself into what you're writing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. playbazaarFebruary 26, 2020 at 7:04 AM

    play bazaar Satta King i like it

    ReplyDelete

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