MADreads

Not my Valentine’s Day pick

February 11th, 2009 Kylee

I somehow missed a very important aspect of Andrew Davidson’s debut novel The Gargoyle when I skimmed some blurbs about it: the protagonist is a former porn star/director/producer.  I’m not usually easily offended, but I almost put down the book after the first few chapters, which detail the narrator’s history and the tragic end of his career due to a disfiguring car accident.  The book wasn’t outrageously scandalous, but I just didn’t like the narrator. I didn’t think he had any redeeming qualities, despite his amusingly arrogant delivery.  I kept reading, though, and I ended up getting pretty engrossed in the story.  Once our hero ends up in a burn ward, anticipating a new life of celibacy, he meets Marianne Engel, a sculptress from the psych ward down the hall. Marianne Engel (who is consistently referred to by her full name throughout the book) claims that she has known the narrator since they were first lovers in the 14th century.  As she becomes a frequent visitor, she tells tales of her own history, as well as stories of other lovers throughout time and space, whose lives seem to intersect with each other, as well as Marianne Engel’s.  When Marianne Engel’s 14th century past collides with the present, the narrator is forced to come to terms with this woman and his relationship with her.

While I’m usually quick to buy into any fantastical setting or premise, I just didn’t love this book.  I liked that it’s incredibly ambitious, and many of the historical flashbacks are fascinating stories in themselves, but I didn’t see the relationship between the two main characters as the tragic romance I felt I was supposed to.  Their love that had supposedly lasted for hundreds of years seemed rather shallow to me, and the character’s conversations left something to be desired, especially in the scenes of their modern-day romance, a fault made more noticeable by the often eloquent prose detailing the historical scenes.  For a really great time travel love story, I’d recommend The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, a book that may not span more than a single lifetime, but in which the dialogue generally doesn’t make me cringe.

Entry Filed under: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction