Grendel | John Gardner

Grendel | John Gardner | Walk with me...

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Grendel

	Grendel John Gardner Vintage, 1989 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 164 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

loves it

John Gardner's "Grendel" is a fictional story based on fiction. The storyline in this book of what Grendel encounters and what his fate will be is based on the storyline of Beowulf but from Grendel's point of view and experience. Throughout this book you get a sense of man's search for meaning through Grendel's experiences, which is interesting because Grendel is no man, he is a monster.
In this book you find out about Grendel's childhood, his relationship with his mother, and his interactions with man and his thoughts to all of this and how he deals with it. His childhood experiences taught him that man was dangerous, his mother represented his innocence, and his interactions with man showed him heroism, love, search for meaning, politics and government, religion and faith, and death.

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Walk with me...

Grendel... ah, where do I begin? Grendel is a lavish novel that will transcend the great echoing halls of classic literature for eons. John Gardner's piece puts you, the reader, in a front row seat to one of the finest orchestrations of the classic beast's, Grendel, mind and method to madness.

As the story progresses, we follow closely along with the maturation of the mind of that paradoxically enigmatic, yet so familiar mind that represents the nature of man. Grendel is forced to confront classic ideas in areas such as epistemology (the power of perception), government (the tyranny of despotism, the nature of revolution), theology (the purpose of religion as a metaphysical limit), and many others.

As great pieces of literature have transcended the wear of time into the glorious mead hall of classics, they have all shared something in common; they have all spent years and years of their pre-existence to their conception fermenting and nourishing themselves within the mind of the author in hopes to one day question and console man's great journey and epic tale of self-awareness. Grendel accomplishes this perfectly.

If you are in search of a novel that will question and push your mind and perception to new heights, I would most certainly recommend John Gardner's Grendel.

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Great work of meta-fiction

I have read a large number of traditional literary works and a few items of modern writing in recent years. And, of the many works of contemporary literature, the work Grendel stands out as one of the most interesting and innovative in construction and plot.
Gardner has created a work with an interesting variation of style. At various points, the work goes from standard narration into modes of poetry and play. This can make for a more interesting read but it can also cause a degree of confusion for less experienced readers. But, on the whole, this feature adds positively to the book. The book has a somewhat interesting way of going about telling the original Beowulf tale. It is completely narrated by the primary villain of Beowulf, Grendel, and follows him from his birth, to his early life, to his inevitable demise at the hands of Beowulf. It is also interesting that the work has twelve chapters with one representing each period of the zodiac.
The book is written on a very deep level. If one wants to pick something up for a light read, I would recommend that he chose something else. But the work is relatively short and "word efficient" and goes by quite fast so it doesn't seem at all tedious. Because of all of these factors, I would highly recommend the work to any advanced reader who wants to try meta-fiction.

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A Great Piece of Metafiction

A different perspective on an old classic, an interesting story, and insight into a very interesting character is what makes John Gardner's spin off the classic Beowulf definitely worth reading. Grendel is a great example of a piece of metafiction, (fiction based on fiction) which follows the previously unexplored character of Grendel, the monster slain by Beowulf in the original classic, from child hood, through his 12 year war with the Danes, all the way too his death by the hands of Beowulf. The entire work is from the perspective of Grendel and begins with Grendel already in the 12th year of his war with the Danes, then flashes back to his childhood and his first encounters with the Danes. Then the work returns to the present and follows Grendel till his death. One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is the development of the character of Grendel throughout the work. In the beginning Grendel is innocent and does not hate the Danes but rather believes they are ignorant and is just confused by what he considers their strange behavior. Over time however Grendel's view of the Danes and the world in general undergo major transformations. After a meeting with a mysterious dragon and being rejected by the Danes, Grendel begins to hate the Danes, despise them for their ignorance, and becomes increasingly nihilistic. At this point in the work Grendel has decided to embrace the role of the villain and begins his raids on the Danes. I thought that the most interesting factor of the book was the relationship between the Danes and Grendel. Which becomes increasingly complicated and intriguing throughout the work. After Grendel has become very nihilistic he becomes very jealous of the Danes as he sees them insert meaning into their lives in various ways from heroism, religion, love, etc...What makes this so interesting is that despite the fact Grendel envies the Danes because they are ignorant and have found ways to insert meaning into their lives, they are the only thing that inserts any meaning into his own, and he realizes this. Although I do believe to fully appreciate the book you have to read Beowulf first, overall I believe Grendel is a great book definitely worth reading that makes you think, possesses an interesting story and that can be read quickly as Gardner does not waste any words.

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Grendel

The novel, Grendel, written by John Gardner, is a meta fictional literary work which details the mental and physical life of Grendel, the monster discussed in Beowolf. Gardner describes Grendel's life in detail giving the reader a story barely touched upon in Beowolf. This story details his journey, starting from early life in a cave with his mother and ending with his last battle against Beowolf. Each chapter Grendel must confront a new conflict whether external or internal, the nature, he must overcome them or lose. Many of the conflicts he face are internal and deal with his role in regard to mankind and how he correlates to them. Many of these internal conflicts occur after Grendel visits the dragon and the dragon defines Grendel's role to mankind as the brunt force behind their progress and a cog in the machine that leads to evolution. However there are some physical conflicts such as mankind vs. Grendel, the most visible of these conflicts being between Grendel and Hrothgar. After the first chapter, the chapters all document a random year of Grendel's war with Hrothgar. The climax of this novel occurs after Grendel talks to the dragon and he tries to come to terms with his newly defined role in mankind. This is where Grendel truly loses his innocence and starts the downhill spiral to his death, encountering on his way many occasions in where he tests his thoughts and becomes confused. Gardner uses this novel as a side commentary on his views of politics, religion, and social caste mentality. A very intense, emotional, and descriptive novel, that I believe, deserves 4 Gold Stars.

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