Journal Entry 1 by cheesygiraffe from Florence, Alabama USA on Wednesday, September 03, 2008

An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time.

The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. As the book opens, he is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and suffers horrible burns over much of his body. As he recovers in a burn ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned, he awaits the day when he can leave the hospital and commit carefully planned suicide—for he is now a monster in appearance as well as in soul.

A beautiful and compelling, but clearly unhinged, sculptress of gargoyles by the name of Marianne Engel appears at the foot of his bed and insists that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly injured mercenary and she was a nun and scribe in the famed monastery of Engelthal who nursed him back to health. As she spins their tale in Scheherazade fashion and relates equally mesmerizing stories of deathless love in Japan, Iceland, Italy, and England, he finds himself drawn back to life—and, finally, in love. He is released into Marianne's care and takes up residence in her huge stone house. But all is not well. For one thing, the pull of his past sins becomes ever more powerful as the morphine he is prescribed becomes ever more addictive. For another, Marianne receives word from God that she has only twenty-seven sculptures left to complete—and her time on earth will be finished.

Already an international literary sensation, The Gargoyle is an Inferno for our time. It will have you believing in the impossible. 

Journal Entry 2 by cheesygiraffe from Florence, Alabama USA on Monday, September 15, 2008

First off, wow what a book. This happens to be the best book I've read all year.
This book is not one dimensional. It tells a story of many levels. There is the love of Marianne and the narrator, a severely burnt person,drug addiction, schizophrenia, reincarnation, God, and gargoyles.
I can't explain and I've been putting this post off for days trying to sum up why I like this book so much. It's well written of course and the subject matters aren't knew but putting them all together like the author did it worked well. I must say this book is very sad and it's gross in ways because you have to read about the narrator's extensive burns and the surgeries he endures. But the package as a whole is beautiful. I want to recommend this to everyone to read. 

Journal Entry 3 by cheesygiraffe from Florence, Alabama USA on Sunday, October 19, 2008

I think this would be good for the Paranormal Swap. Reserving for that and hoping people think this will be a suitable offer. 

Journal Entry 4 by KathyB25 from Arlington, Texas USA on Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Received today from Cheesygiraffe. Thanks so much. Loved your review - guess it needs to be up pretty high on the ole Mt TBR :) 

Journal Entry 5 by KathyB25 at Arlington, Texas USA on Saturday, September 17, 2011

On it's way to Nimrodel 

Journal Entry 6 by nimrodiel at Evanston, Illinois USA on Wednesday, September 28, 2011

this got here safe. It looks great