The Gargoyle Hunters – John Freeman Gill
Knopf | Paperback | March 6, 2018
In 1974 New York City is crumbling around thirteen-year-old Griffin Watts who is caught in the middle of his parents’ less than civil, but certainly peculiar separation. Everywhere Griffin looks buildings are being demolished or renovated or half-assed restored. But the only thing he cares about is connecting with his father, an architectural enthusiast who is in the “liberation” business.
Like Griffin, he is smack in the middle of the action. Snagging pieces of buildings from demolition and restoration sites throughout the city. But his passion for saving the priceless pieces quickly escalates into madness and his obsession threatens to destroy not only him but Griffin as well.
When Griffin starts to work with his father and his misfit crew of liberators you hope that he will come to his senses and be the father Griffin so desperately wants. And Gill certainly provides windows of opportunity for the switch to flip on. But, as expected it all culminates at the very end of the novel in earthshattering fashion. That said I’m not entirely certain the ending was worth the amount of will power it took to get through the first two hundred and eighty pages.
The fact that Griffin is caught in the midst of a bad divorce you can’t help but feel bad for the kid, and it is clear that underneath all the bravado he is a sensitive character. However, for such a sensitive character he consistently does “jerky” things only to regret them later, which often leaves you incredibly frustrated as a reader. Then again, if it wasn’t for Griffin’s unpredictability and his wit I probably would not have been able to finish the novel…
Griffin’s peculiar view of the city’s richness and the oddities of the people who live within in are without question stunning—Gill’s talent for description allows him to turn New York City into the living, breathing, cannibalistic thing that it is. The novel is as much a love letter to New York as it is a coming-of-age narrative. Gill shines a spotlight on a New York that in many ways no longer exists and it is this idea of destruction and rebirth that was so intriguing to me as a reader. However, I felt that this aspect of the novel was only built to highlight the relationship between Griffin and his father and therefore never thoroughly explored. Griffin was a bright enough character, with enough bravado to dive deeper into the “liberation” business and culture, but like so many iconic, historic buildings throughout the novel, the opportunity was lost.
