Grendel

And

Through Grendel's eyes we see the good people of Hrothgar in new light. We see the young drunken king consolidate his lands through a brutalizing reign of terror on near-by peoples. We see him age and wizen--from blood thirsty rogue to political king. We (as Grendel) see them grow through the years. We see their souls and know their folly. It is ours also; no one escapes it.

None of this does any justice to the book. However, more than anything else, it shows that life is meaningless--lest you give it meaning. And even that does not matter in the end.

Gardner, an English professor, decided to take the (first) monster from Beowulf, and flesh it out into a full-blown character.

Beowulf's Grendel lasts about 5 minutes. He terrorizes the Danes for 12 years--breaking into their mead-hall by night and eating selected warriors--for no other reason than that he is evil (descendant of Cain) and hungry.

Then Beowulf and the Geats show up, and, in good Clint Eastwood fashion, Beowulf dispatches Grendel bare-handed--tearing off his arm and shoulder and sending him bleeding home to die in his swamp.

This takes longer for me to write than it does to happen.

In short, in Beowulf, Grendel is a bit player.

Gardner gives him a childhood and a psyche full of angst and neuroses that would make Hamlet seem straightforward and decisive.

The book, having not much subject, is vastly overwritten--many too many adjectives, and many too many attempts at Anglo-Saxon "kennings" (pithy two-word constructions like "world-rim-roamer").

The character of the Dragon is interesting, if overwrought. But Grendel himself is simply teenagerish: narcissistic, constantly complaining over nothing, excruciatingly self-aware and self-important.

Beowulf is great poetry but a dull plot. This book is dull poetry and an inflated, equally dull, character.

Gardner, by the way, was emboldened by the commercial success of this to write several other novels.

Pity.

As a critic, he was great. As a novelist, wordy and empty.

Grendel is unlike any other novel I have ever read. I was drawn to it largely because of its controversy--I have a special spot in my heart for banned books--and found a justly famous novel that was, nonetheless, deeply disturbing.
The novel works--and is so disturbing--because it thrusts the reader into a completely alien mind. Gardner's Grendel is a self-absorbed devil, as in Beowulf, but he has psychological depth, which is the book's greatest strength. He sees human foibles with an unforgiving eye and hates humanity for its perfection. He hates himself for being himself.
I found myself really unnerved when I began to understand what Grendel was thinking. And after the feeling of shock wore off, I felt awe at the novelist's ability. Gardner gives us an absolute monster and makes us understand him, and that is what makes this a great book.
Highly recommended.

If you have not already read the great epic Beowulf, you are defeating the intentions of John Gardener. Grendel takes you on a philosophical journey through issues like the meaning of life and acceptance among the majority in the mind of a lonely "monster". Throughout Grendel's journey, he encounters many schools of philosophical thought trying to piece together his beliefs of the world around him. Gardener truly captivates the reader with Grendel's perspective on all sorts of issues while making the reader ask the question "Who is the real monster?" Gardener does a superb job of making Grendel seem so human and even gathers sympathy from the reader when it is obvious that Grendel just wants to be accepted by any means necessary. This piece of metafiction is very creative indeed, but at times hard to grasp because of the very contemporary style of writing, but this should not stop anyone from picking up a copy.

Grendel is a must read book if you have already read Beowulf. This is for the simple reason that Grendel offers another point of view and more background. Through an interesting philosophy, the book reasons that Grendel attacks the Danes only because he wants to be part of their group, even if his only part is to attack and kill. He does his job with a vengeance as soon it becomes clear that no Dane can kill him. Only through a foreigner, Beowulf, is Grendel finally destroyed. This book brings new theories and background to the classic Beowulf. However, I do not recommend this book to anyone who has not already read Beowulf. Grendel is a complementary book and cannot be as understood as it should be without the reader's former knowledge of Beowulf.