Start reading The Gargoyle on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
The Gargoyle
 
 

The Gargoyle [Kindle Edition]

Andrew Davidson
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £7.99
Kindle Price: £4.74 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £3.25 (41%)
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £4.74  
Hardcover --  
Paperback £5.99  
Audio, CD, Audiobook £37.54  


Product Description

Review

"'Mixing romance, classic allusion and reality, Davidson's debut is a bravura performance.' **** Marie Claire"

Publishers Weekly

'Once launched into this intense tale of unconventional romance, few readers will want to put it down.'

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1146 KB
  • Print Length: 482 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0385525974
  • Publisher: Canongate Books (9 April 2008)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002RI9UCM
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #16,062 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  •  Would you like to give feedback on images?


More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
228 of 254 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Gargoyle 28 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover
After the slight disappointment earlier this year from Nick Harkaway's debut novel The Gone-Away World, I was a little skeptical about reading another new writer because I often find too many flaws ridden throughout the pages. However, The Gargoyle is another case entirely. In fact, the book is so well told that I just can't find a single fault. It really is quite possibly the most "perfect" of books I've ever read - and I'm not one to lavish praise on just anything. It's so rare that I will read and not try to change sections for my own personal endeavor, but reading The Gargoyle was refreshing - a strange word to use perhaps considering Davidson's knack for graphic description, particularly on his delineation of how the human body burns. It was refreshing because it was original, and even now a week after reading I am finding it hard to start another book because I am still emotionally involved with The Gargoyle. Our nameless narrator happens upon a vision while being high on drugs and booze where a swarm of burning arrows are heading towards his car as he drives along the cliff edge. He crashes down the gauge and eventually catches fire, leaving him a monster but alive albeit in the care of the burn ward at the hospital.

The story entails the once beautiful man during his hospital rehabilitation after the incredible survival of the burning wreck. Along the way he meets Marianne Engel - a woman who he initially believes to have come from the psychiatric ward. She is a carver of Gargoyles, tattooed, eccentric and scraggy and she comes to visit regularly telling him stories of long ago, from ancient Japan to medieval Germany, Italy and the vikings of Iceland. She also claims that the two of them were lovers in the 1300s - her being a nun at Engalthal Monastery and him a warrior wounded from battle (no wonder he thought she was crazy). As our narrator is brought back to life by his newly found friends at the hospital he is also brought to love and so his story goes much deeper than the tales he "believes" to have been weaved.

I've tried not to give too much away, so that you can read it for yourself because you really must. A truly remarkable piece of work; ambitious and taunting, yet so beautifully told. If you don't believe in love now you will after this, and you might even get the urge to buy a gargoyle... though I doubt it. A modern masterpiece.
Was this review helpful to you?
71 of 79 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A strong debut 23 Oct 2008
By R. E. Quinn VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This was a well written debut novel from a talented writer.

The interesting device of never revealing the identity of the narrator is a quirky plot point.

The Gargoyle of the title is the narrator, a handsome young man who while driving stoned and drunk one night crashes his car into a ravine and is burned in the resulting fire. He finally awakens in a burns unit to find his body has been ravaged by the flames and he has entered his own version of hell. It is during this period that he meets Marianne Engel, a renowned sculptor who stuns him by suddenly annoucing they were lovers seven hundred years ago in Germany and she has been searching for him since then.

The narrator is sure that Marianne is delusional and the fact that at their first meeting she is actually a patient in the physicatric ward does support that but after her release she continues to visit him and their relationship grows.

It is during these time that she begins to tell him the story of their first meeting and also occasionally seems to throw in seemingly random other stories as well. Even after his release from the unit when he goes to live with her the stories continue until finally they all come together and they both complete the journeys they have been on him to self redemption and her to final peace.

The author has chosen a large subject to tackle for his first novel, the question of what is love and how it endures and what one is prepared to do for it, mixed in with self realization and redemption, can one persons love be so strong as to drive them on through endless lifetimes for seven hundred years searhing for the one they lost?

Was this the best book I have ever read? Well no. Will it change my life for having read it? Again no. Is it a well written absorbing read with well drawn characters? Yes. Would I recommend it? A definite yes.

The measure of an author for me is whether they have engaged me enough to want to read other work by them and I can say that Andrew Davidson has done that with the Gargoyle.
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic 19 July 2009
Format:Paperback
Both myself and my 16 year old daughter loved this book. A real page turner. It centers on a man who loses everything that matters to him, including his ability to make love, but finds a whole other side of life he's never know. Very moving and quite graphic in places.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Story That Stays With You
The Gargoyle tells the story of an un-named protagonist who at the beginning of the story crashes his car and is severely burned. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Lesley70
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent.
Don't usually go for fantasy but this book had me hooked. So descriptive, from being burnt to carving stone you are there with them. Would make a great film!
Published 9 days ago by Londondreamer
4.0 out of 5 stars Story-telling to challenge your cynicism
I loved this book! It was actually recommended to me by a very good friend about a year ago. I guess something registered. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Catherine Kilmister
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
This novel is the best book I have read in recent years. Just a fantastic, fantastic read and I really hope that Davidson pens another. Read more
Published 1 month ago by shonagh mudie
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
I`ve read it twice!! Wonderful boog, a very good story. You`re going to be hooked up until the end. You could not put it down.
Published 1 month ago by giusy la bella
5.0 out of 5 stars the gargoyle
I first read this book shortly after it was published in the UK and fell in love with it. Every now and then you find a rare book that stays with you forever, the gargoyle is one... Read more
Published 1 month ago by violet
5.0 out of 5 stars This book stays with you long after reading
When I started reading this book I hated the narrator. Hate is not too strong a word, either. He is not a nice person and when he had his accident I admit that I felt that he... Read more
Published 1 month ago by V. M. Finnegan
5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone needs to read this book.
Beautifully written, a fantastic balance of present and past and gripping to the end. I'm just sorry it's over now, I didn't want it to end.
Published 2 months ago by Laura Louise Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars What a book!
This is quite possibly the best book I have ever read - fascinating, confusing and thought-provoking. I would recomend to all who enjoy a good read
Published 3 months ago by v m evans
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read.
Bought this on the recommendation of a friend who'd already read it and was immediately hooked. Very strange story but totally gripping and very satisfying to read.
Published 3 months ago by Gardengirl47
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Popular Highlights

 (What's this?)
&quote;
“You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.” &quote;
Highlighted by 10 Kindle users
&quote;
The urge is always with me to retouch yesterday’s canvas with today’s paintbrush and cover the things that fill me with regret, &quote;
Highlighted by 7 Kindle users
&quote;
“You are mine, I am yours; you may be sure of this. You’ve been locked inside my heart, the key has been thrown away; within it, you must always stay.” &quote;
Highlighted by 6 Kindle users

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
The Gargoyle 8 22 Mar 2010
See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
   
Related forums


Look for similar items by category


Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Privacy Statement Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Delivery Information Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Returns & Exchanges