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Title: Grendel by John Gardner ISBN: 0-679-72311-0 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 14 May, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (102 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Inventive, intelligent and convincing
Comment: Alternating between the sublime Orwellian double-talk of the minstrel Shaper and the cold, condescendingly bleak philosophy of the Dragon, Grendel struggles for meaning. Told that his life and energies exist only for man to define himself against, he finds small consolation. Still, Grendel throws himself on the mercy of the men in a Frankenstein's monster effort to be accepted... to no avail, deciding after that 'why should I not' destroy them . At times darkly humourous, and touching, the creature muses on the beauty of Hrothgar's placid, sacrificing wife before attempting to kill her, and plays with the fallen hero Unferth before Beowulf's arrival. As those familiar with the epic know, Beowulf in the original poem arrives from across the sea to save Hrothgar's hall by doing battle with Grendel, his mother, and eventually the Dragon. Grendel senses Beowulf's arrival and marvels at the concept of fear. Familiarity with the story makes the inevitability of the conflict all the more delicious when Grendel finally realizes his purpose and observes 'I cannot believe such monstrous energy of grief would lead to nothing' the reader is left to answer that it did not lead to nothing, it was a necessary component in an incredible story, told from the historical antagonist's point of view.
Another great read is The Price of Immortality, I highly recommend it.
Rating: 4
Summary: John Gardner's Grendel
Comment: This novel is a retelling of Beowulf from the monster Grendel's point of view. In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is seen only as the evil monster and not the feeling and sensitive individual that he really is. We learn from John Gardner's novel that Grendel starts out as a relatively innocent being who just wants to fit in with the humans. He makes many attempts to do this, but he gets rejected every time. The humans do not even think of allowing Grendel a chance to explain himself. Grendel starts to become depressed by all these fruitless efforts and begins to believe life is pointless. Grendel doesn't want to be the monster and doesn't understand why the humans are afraid of him. He wants meaning and purpose to his life. However, he begins to feel hatred towards the humans because of all these negative emotions they are causing him to feel. This is when Grendel takes a trip to the evil dragon's lair where he receives some advice that sends him even farther in the wrong direction. The dragon tells Grendel that he should be the humans' representative of evil because he says if Grendel wasn't, then someone else would be. At this point, Grendel is very vulnerable and therefore believes the dragon's wayward advice. The dragon also puts a charm on Grendel, without Grendels knowing, that protects him from weapons. Grendel begins attacking the humans' mead halls more frequently and soon discovers the charm. He begins to feel invincible and powerful, which in turn cause his death. Gredel begins to feel as though he is better than the humans and is not afraid to take on any of them in battle. So when the legendary Beowulf crosses the sea to help defend the Danes, Grendel thinks nothing of fighting him...However, Grendel then discovers a flaw in the dragon's charm, which is that he is only invincible against weapons and not in hand to hand combat. Grendel discovers this flaw too late and is completely overpowered by the potent soldier. Grendel's death is a sad and gruesome one, and it seems as though Grendel too has mixed feelings on his departure from the world. This last scene of the book also sums up the whole novel, which is full of uncertainties on Grendel's behalf. He is never quite sure of his role or what he wants his role to be.
The main reason I liked this novel is because of the way the character Grendel relates to people in today's society. He is very life-like and because of his compassionate views, he is easy to relate to. There is a well-developed theme that is implied to show us how powerful human emotions can be and what they can cause individuals to do. Grendel is a very original novel, and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Grendel should have been cute
Comment: This book made the wings of my nostrils flare like an angry priests.
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Title: Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney ISBN: 0393320979 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title:John Gardner's "Grendel": A Study Guide from Gale's "Novels for Students" ASIN: B00006G3IJ Publisher: The Gale Group Pub. Date: 23 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $3.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $3.95 |
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Title: Beowulf by Burton Raffel ISBN: 0451527402 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Beowulf (Cliffs Notes) by Stanley P. Baldwin, Elaine Strong Skill ISBN: 0764585800 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 30 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ISBN: 0553212478 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 May, 1984 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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