I'm 172 pages into this and halfway through Chapter XII. After a shakey start where it seemed that Andrew Davidson's only object was to shock his readership this has settled down to become unputdownable.
I'm really enjoying the story and all of the historical details. I like the way the narrator talks to his readership and has his little jokes. A description of a meal including Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans (spelt correctly too).

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Médecins Sans Frontières

I finished this last night and I have to say it was utterly fantastic. It tells the story of an nameless ex-porn star who ends up suffering horrendous burns after losing control of his car. In the hospital he meets Marianne who tells him they were once lovers in medieval Germany and over the course of time tells him their story and also other tales of love. Not a single word was wasted in this book and the writing was perfection. I loved the way all the stories connected together and the reader really had the chance to get to know all the characters in depth. The beginning was gruesome but I felt it was necessary as it gave a wonderful insight into how the narrator came through his horrific injuries to how he was at the end of the book. I know many people say they wished a book would never end but in this case, for me, it's 100% true, I could of gone on reading this forever. I really can't wait to see what Andrew Davidson writes next and if its 1/2 as good as this it would be brilliant. Thankyou Canongate, this is one of the best books I have read in a very very long time. 5+ stars from me.

I've made a start on this, breaking my immense enjoyment of "A Fraction of the Whole", which is a compliment in itself!
The grisly start does do it's job well, and I loved the fact that the author refers to his plot ploy within the narrative, thought that was a nice touch. The story is skipping about quite a lot to begin with though, gives the impression that the narrator doesn't really know how to begin telling his story (I believe this is a deliberate style choice), maybe it will settle down as the storyteller settles into his tale.

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Wait till you meet Marianne and she starts telling her stories! I enjoyed them immensely!

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Yes I have been enjoying Marianne's company. She's quite a mixed up interesting character, but she also seems to have a purposeful manner that overrides all of her strange conflicts.
I can't decide if I actually like the burns victim character yet...
The story has me hooked though, and I think it's beautifully written so far, at one moment quite flowing and easy the next jarring and uncomfortable.

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Still going strong! In fact it's turning into one of those books you think about when you can't spend your time reading it. So being at work is more annoying than usual.

And I agree fully with Marianne's stories, they are beautiful in so many ways, but at a guess I think they have more to do with the overall story than mere interludes.

Another surprise it that I'm beginning to enjoy he relationship between our burn victim and Gregor, the shrink. Might just be a male thing though, would be interesting to hear others thoughts on that relationship.

I'm about 170 pages in and everything seems a little bit too rosy with his recovery going well, so I'm expecting things to go downhill again.

Another question for other readers: Do you find yourself accepting Marianne's "madness" because the narrator accepts it easily?

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Yes! I am totally ignoring her madness and just accepting the fact that it happened.

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Médecins Sans Frontières

I agree Billybob, a quite exceptional book. Certainly one of the best I have read in a long time. Just finished and need some time to get my thoughts in order, but wow, definitely wow.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...son-926531.html


http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/fea...-you.4465199.jp

A couple of newspaper reviews..

Just picked up my copy today, moved to top of TBR.

I finished this last night, I know I enjoyed it but I need a little time to gather my thoughts.

Can I assume that when I do post my thoughts that I don't have to spoiler every little thing I say. Can we assume that if people are reading this thread that they are here to discuss things openly? It will make things a little easier I think.

There is quite a lot to discuss! Including those newspaper reviews in the post above. A little harsh I thought, but I'll get into that properly later.

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Having a look at the other Canongate threads, I note that spoilers weren't used, so yes, I think it is appropriate to the nature of this thread that it should be a free-flowing discussion.

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By the way, if you go to http://www.the-gargoyle.co.uk/ and look around the forum (click on the book), you can see what Andrew Davidson has to say on some things other readers have mentioned.

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Still thinking about this and trying to order my thoughts. Marianne's "madness", her stories (especially Sei which I found incredibly moving), her method of sculpting are all haunting my mind.

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I don’t have too much access to a computer at the moment (only at work sadly) so I have written my thoughts separately and have just pasted them into the thread – this does mean that as yet I have not had the chance to read everyone else’s posts but I will, I promise and will then join in with the discussions. First and foremost however I wanted to get my thoughts posted……
The Gargoyle – Andrew Davidson

I have to admit then when I first received this book I doubted very much that it was going to be “my cup of tea”. However, the first pages immediately grabbed my attention as they were very hard hitting and graphic.

The description of the process a burns victim has to go through was detailed and had obviously been researched a lot. I didn’t find it horrid or gratuitous – in fact it helped me empathise with the arrogant, hedonistic main character. So much so that I did actually feel sorry for him!
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I loved Marianne, I thought her storytelling was superb and I could almost imagine her narrating each story to me. I found her stories very moving and in some way they felt real!

Whether or not everything she said was true or whether she believed it to be so I’m not sure. I’ve pondered on this thought for a while now. I’d like to think that it wasn’t all her “madness” and that she had lived for 700 years. Marianne’s sculpting left me ragged – I almost felt as if I’d been up for days with her.

Once I’ve read everyone else’s posts I’ll know what everyone else thought.

To sum up, I loved this book. I found myself wishing I was reading it whenever I wasn’t, wishing my commute was longer so I could carry on reading. The book grabbed me, pulled me in and carried me along with it and I was sad to finish it.

I have now passed it onto MOH and I hope that he enjoys it as much as I did.
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A great first novel and five stars from me, without a doubt *****</o>

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Very impressive novel, doubly so for being a 1st published
challanging on a few different levels
5 stars from me