The Gargoyle
It is a common thing for me to choose to read an author’s first novel, and this book is no exception. I recently read the novel “The Gargoyle” by Andrew Davidson and oddly enough this is one of the books you can judge by its cover. If it hadn’t been for the cover art I may not have taken off the shelf, it stood out to me because it shows large angel wings tattooed onto a woman’s back, and body art is a huge interest of mine. And then when I started into it I found out that the books was full of ideas to interest me, so I was absolutely right to purchase it based on the cover.
I should note that I love publishers who really try to do something with the outer portions of a book. While it is the writing that will hold the precedence in the end since new editions will most likely be published in the future, I can still appreciate a beautiful design. The cover is telling you some of the story on its own, but you wouldn’t know it at first glance, as you read more into the story if you close the novel and look at the cover again you will see the symbolism that relates to the story. On the dust cover there is also a cut out of a flaming heart, and when you remove it, encircling the heart it reads “All things in a single book bound by love.” If the cover hasn’t gotten your attention yet, let’s get into the story a bit!
I am impressed that “The Gargoyle” is Andrew Davidson’s first novel, he shows no lack of confidence and commands respect for his work. He developed strong, memorable characters and a driving and yet complex plot. There are elements of grotesque, fantasy, romance and a strong sense of realism along with all that which makes you believe that the fantastical plot elements could be true. “The Gargoyle” tugged at my heart strings, made my stomach turn, and made me think and reflect on my own life. I really don’t want to give away any of the plot, but I would love to intrigue you because it really does have a lot to offer. You can read into it as a love story, but the story is also one of addiction and the struggles that come along with it. It can be read as a fantasy, but the realism is too strong to dismiss. The narrator communicates directly with you, the reader, as an active participant in the story he is telling. He helps you to tie together themes and if at anytime you reach the point of feeling it is hard to believe he works with you to help try and find the meaning. It is a really interesting tactic to keep the reader completely tied up in the story. With all of these tools and dichotomies it really does take a talented writer to work all of these plot lines into an intertwining and smoothly communicating story, Davidson definitely shows the needed talent for creating fluidity between narratives.
I must also credit Davidson on the extensive research he must have completed before even beginning to write his novel. But it is the research that allows for the realism. I would love to go into all the details but I will just glance over a few because I do not want to divulge any of the plot! The extensive research gone into treating extensive burns, the origin of ancient texts, the lives of artists and most interesting to me the idea behind the giving of hearts in creating gargoyles and grotesques in art.
Andrew Davidson has created a wonderful piece of work for an author whom is just breaking through, and it will be interesting to see where this novel takes him next. I really recommend “The Gargoyle” to anyone who is looking for something new and different. The story is a melting pot of ideas and themes that really blend well together into a complex story of the ways in which people can have a cause and effect relation within each others lives above all of its genre bending.
Happy reading!
The Life and Times Story
I began gaming at a young age, around 4 or 5, my family and I lived in Austria at the time. My dad had always been big into games and one Christmas decided to introduce his girls to the wonderful world of gaming. The three of us opened up matching grey GameBoy monstrosities! Looking back, I’m not even sure how a 4 year old could even hold on to one of those things. The idea behind them was so my sisters and I could link together with those too short cables so you were within punching range and play Vs. Tetris, but my two sisters grew out of it. Keeping true to my tomboy roots I however stuck with the flashing colors and storylines this new world had to offer.
My first console also came to me just when we moved back to Canada from living in Europe, which explains why a Sega Genesis was welcomed into my home and not an NES or SNES. Sega was really big in Europe, all of our friends had Sega consoles. My dad and I would play together, on solo games he would play and I would watch and oooh and aaah and screech when we came near to death. Then we’d pop in Streets of Rage and there would be father and 5 year old daughter kicking the crap out of all those baddies in co-op mode! No matter what we were playing we found a way to make it cooperative, especially when we first were introduced the Zelda series.
But before I go there I’m feeling the need to digress on the dynamics of my family, which is the only source of understanding I have for my love of gaming. In general the family is as follows: My mom (that’s one girl), me and my two sisters (that’s four), my Oma (that’s 5!) and my poor dad who must deal with us all, even the dog is a girl! He is severely outnumbered so I guess one of us was bound to be the tomboy and being the youngest after two girls (with my dad obviously hoping for a boy)… that’s me! My sisters come and go from games, but since the Christmas we got the Nintendo 64, I haven’t seen them touch a game until the Wii then they all took a shot at Guitar Hero III, even my mom called me to ask how to set it up while my dad was at work. And here’s the best part, my Oma has a Gameboy color to play Tetris on, she’s 78!
So I guess we do appear to be a regular gaming family, but my dad and I are the only ones who stick with it consistently and can spend hours together working on a game. It became ‘our thing’ and still is. Yes I am a daddy’s girl.
Back to the 64 and our intro to Zelda! We had this new system and did our usual research which involved us standing by a wall of games talking out what we’d like to try and both of our eyes stopped on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This was when our new favorite way to play together really expanded. I couldn’t handle the bosses, I think I took games too seriously then, thinking it was me getting stomped on not a pixilated character. So my dad would navigate and I would use my brain to suggest what to try next. We had a lot of fun and felt so accomplished when it was done because we really had done it together.
But times change, my nerves have settled and I’m able to tackle these games on my own. But that didn’t stop me from getting my dad Twilight Princess for Christmas last year to play like we used to.
As much as the past sometimes gets left behind and forgotten, a little nostalgia never hurt anyone.
