THE GARGOYLE

Strange and fascinating, THE GARGOYLE wanders from a contemporary burn ward to medieval Europe, with plenty of stops in between. Marianne Engle, who claims to be over 700 years old, tells the narrator (who’s recovering from severe burns) of the love they have shared over the centuries, stopping only to disappear from the hospital for days at a time while she carves her grotesques and gargoyles in her basement. Hoppe’s narration is sedate, almost sleepy. But do press on—while the style might be irritating to some listeners, the effect is bewitching and completely appropriate. The long days in the burn ward. The endless days of recovery. The vast passage of time Marianne’s stories cover. Hoppe’s performance reflects the plodding nature of both the narrator’s struggle for life and his realization that his life is, after all, worth living. A.H.A. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2008]