Week #13: Gil Marsh by A.C.E. Bauer

I am still cringing from how awful Gil Marsh by A.C.E Bauer was. It seems like lately I either love what I’m reading or absolutely detest it.

I’ll give the author some credit: this book was an attempt to write a modern version of the 5,000+ year old tale of Gilgamesh, and there were some parallels. That doesn’t make up for the fact that this modern twist of the famous tale was underdeveloped and ridiculously fast paced to the point where it was unbelieveable.

It’s about a teenager named Gil Marsh who is a track star headed toward a National Competition when a new student from Quebec, Enko, moves to his school. Enko is extremely hairy like a beast (which is pointed out many times because it’s supposed to remind you of Enkidu, the man who lived with beasts in Gilgamesh) and also a runner. At first Gil hates him because he’s afraid Enko will steal his thunder, but he grows to become best friends with him. Soon thereafter, Gil is injured and cannot compete in the Nationals, but Enko is still going strong so Gil supports and roots for him. After the competition, Enko suddenly becomes very ill and dies. Gil’s parents do not let him attend his funeral, and Gil is so upset that he runs away to Canada where he’s determined to find the location of the grave (he can't ask Enko's parents because they will tell his parents where he is) and find the man who made Enko’s beloved ring; Enko had told him that the ring was a family heirloom and was made by a man who was immortal. Gil thinks the immortal man can bring Enko back to life.

I won’t give away the ending but I will make some comments about the plot and writing.

First, back to the pace. In the first 38 pages, Gil establishes himself as an athlete, Enko moves to town, Gil hates him, then Gil loves him, they get in trouble with the law, they bond, Enko gets sick, and Enko dies. Can you see how choppy and fast that little description was? Well that’s how it is in the book. It’s difficult to really buy into a strong bond between the two friends when deep and meaningful interactions are scarce and Gil goes from loving him to being best friends in like, 20 pages. Sidenote: Some of the cheesy texts Gil sends Enko right before the Nationals competition imply a bit of homosexual romance: “I’m w/U.” Barf-a-roni. There are other things Gil says later, too, that imply this. I think one time he even said he loved Enko.

Second, most of the story is realistic and Gil’s character seems fairly intelligent until he unbelievably leaves for this journey to find an immortal man in Canada who might be able to bring Enko back to life. Seriously?

Third, for being a fairly smart kid, Gil’s stupidity amazes me. He only brought approx. $200 on this journey to run away to Canada. How long did he think he’d last on this? And why was he buying other people food and not scrounging every penny for himself? This just bothered me. And then he spent all of his money and had no plan as to what he was going to do next besides “find a job somewhere” which any educated person knows would be nearly impossible when he was an illegal alien to Canada! AHHHHH I hate stupid characters who don’t get any smarter by the end!

Finally, the writing was extremely choppy and lacked imagery.

Good for: not much—I don’t even think I’d recommend it to a teacher to use as a companion novel in the classroom, since Gilgamesh is usually taught at upper grade levels and this writing and story are very elementary
Would interest: a boy or girl with a low (6-8th grade) reading level
Themes: immortality, friendship
My grade: D