Grendel

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Summary: Grendel
Review: "Grendel" was hard to understand. I guess one had to read "Bewoulf" to understand "Grendel". Towards the end, the book became interesting (somewhat).

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Summary: Beowulf's monster, child, philosopher!
Review: Earlier this year I read Seamus Heaney's excellent translation of Beowulf. Grendel is a retelling of this epic poem from the monster's eyes, versus the heros eyes. Darkly comic (laugh out loud), wildly surreal, a mixture of childish pranks and philosophical dissertations into the meaning of life. Gardner's prose is lyrical and finely wrought. Many stop-and-read-again lines. This version shows the side of mankind lingering in the back of my mind when I read Beowulf originally. The essence of man. Grendel stands nicely alone, but is also a tremendous compliment to the traditional poem. I se Grendel becoming a classic. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Hardcover is a Ripoff.
Review: Great book, but don't waste your money on the hardcover: it is a paperback edition pasted (not bound) into a hard cover. Save your money, buy the paperback.

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Summary: Beowolf in the Zodiac
Review: A marvelous novel. But has anyone noticed how John Gardner retells the Beowulf legend from within the context of the Zodiac. The twelve chapters of GRENDEL correspond perfectly to the twelve signs. They also correspond to Aristotelian truths. Amazing!

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Summary: Ever root for the bad guy?
Review: If you've ever wished the bad guy to win a battle, you might like John Gardner's Grendel. While he may not necessarily "win", Grendel is the narrator of the story. I picked up this book on the whim after taking a Graduate course which covered Beowulf. Needless to say, it was refreshing to read considering that the monster Grendel puts a new spin on the "heroic acts" and "boasts" and "songs" that were of the utmost importance to Anglo Saxon warriors. I definitely recommend this book if you're familar with story and want a book that you can read in a few days and get a few laughs out of.

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Summary: Grendel: A horrifying yet peaceful story
Review: Grendel is one of the best "monster" storybooks that I have ever read. The theme, all men possess evil, ties to the story very well.

Grendel starts right when Beowulf arrives and Grendel looks back on his past. He has been attacking Hrothgar's kingdom for 12 years when the story picks up.

Grendel puts the reader into the monster's shoes, not Beowulf's. We understand why Grendel acts the way he does and we see the world as he sees it. We think that it is the poor humans who are the ones that have suffered, but it is their fault that Grendel is always on a rampage. It is the humans who taught him to kill and to act violent.

Grendel's first encounter with the humans is disastrous. He gets his foot caught in a tree root and the humans mistreat him. At first they are friendly until he tries to speak, then they begin to shower him with swords and spears.

His second encounter was when he tried to bring a human body back, which had been slain by someone in Hrothgar's own kingdom. He wanted to give it to them so that they could bury it. He did not mean any harm but was attacked right away.

Grendel also learned all of his cuss words from the humans. He has listened to the humans and heard what they had said. Their speech influenced what he said.

Grendel, confused about humans and the world around him, goes and meets the dragon. He doesn't understand why humans make war and ravage. He says, "He can see mead halls on fire every night." The dragon fills him with propaganda, which influences him to start his 12-year killing streak. He also starts it because he is along in an indifferent universe in which he encounters humans and the Dragon.

A shaper, a singer, comes to Hrothgar's kingdom. Grendel is at first impressed with him, but he eventually grows tired of him. He does not kill him though. The Shaper sings of Kane and Able, which puts disgust into Grendel's heart, since Grendel is symbolic of evil (hatred, jealousy, treachery, etc.)

Grendel attacks the mead hall often. He loves the taste of blood and the feeling of being in control. He "snaps the door like a twig" every time he enters. Hrothgar's kingdom is falling apart until Beowulf arrives. Beowulf penetrates Grendel's invincible shield and kills him.

Grendel is a very good book. I recommend it to readers 10 and up (blood, violence). If you want to see that humans are not always the good guys and that we all possess evil, read Grendel.

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Summary: The Monster has feelings too
Review: I first read Grendel in the early '70's and it became the standard by which I judge all books. I just reread it again and it's as magic as it was 25 years ago. Grendel struggles to make sense of his role as a monster burdened with human longings. We are left to speculate about the parentage of this sad creature. Did his ghastly mother have a fling with the Dragon? And who are those mouldering shapes in his mothers cave? This wonderful book gets under your skin and stays. Grendel is simply great poetry with a very hard edge. This author wrote other good books that are worth a look if you haven't read them yet...The Sunlight Dialogues for one and October Light for another.

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Summary: Reality is a Function of My Eyeblinks
Review: There is little to say about this book (my second reading), which hasn't been said, except that its author's tracing of a philosophical development runs the gamut from Kant to Augustine (in the book's chronology, that is). It concerns human beings, and is based upon the Promethian premise, but at a meaningful reduction: Prometheus suffers because the gods have rejected him; Grendel suffers because humans have rejected him. The premise necessarily suggests hope for the human race, whilst the monster's nihilism protests too much. I especially loved the description of Beowulf, and that hero's visual hypnotic effect upon the monster. And the fight scene wherein Beowulf demands that the monster sing of walls. Chaos being bent to order. This is great stuff. In its own way, this is a better book than many of the other greats published in this century: it can be read at so many levels. I first read it in junior high school, and loved the story of the monster and his mother and the enigmatic hero Beowulf with shoulders rippling with horse-like muscles.

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Summary: Read it Now!
Review: Of all the novels on my bookshelf, John Gardner's Grendel is the most dog-eared, highlighted, and thorougly enjoyed book of the lot. After reading Beowulf for a high school british literature class, we read Grendel and I fell in love. Haunting, beautiful, captivating and at all times mysterious, Grendel is able to capture the essence of our collective struggle to understand - to understand our reason, purpose, and meaning (if we indeed have any). Life is Grendel's great burden and he draws the reader into his world of confusion and hypocracy. At times utterly heartbreaking, at others sublimely beautiful, Grendel should be read over and over and over again.

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Summary: Grendel by John Gardner The Monster's veiwpoint
Review: Grendel, a historical literary figure. John Gardner has created a powerful human piece from the monster's point of view. Grendel is the evil monster slayed by Beowulf. But in John Gardner's book, Grendel is the protagonist and the reader sees the story from his eyes. The monster is tormented by what he does to the people, but at the same time loves the delicious killing. It's what he has to do. He watches the Danes, speculates, kills and mames, but I think at the same time, he loves them. They give him purpose. Of course Grendel is a story about the powerful forces of light and dark within ourselves and finding meaning in life. Is there a higher power protecting the world? The monster endures great lonliness. He is an outcast. That is his role. He inflicts great pain and suffers pain. Grendel is more poetry than prose. The language captures the senses. Even when one is not always clear on the meaning, it is worth the read (and more than once).