Grendel

I first picked up this book in grade school and loved it so much. I have a copy floating around somewhere but as it’s October (at the time of me posting this), I have to read my favorite “scary” story (sorry, Dracula). I’m buying this now and will hopefully have two copies to display in my future library. :)

What if you could see into the mind of Grendel, the terrifying creature of the night from Beowulf? Well, with this book by John Gardner, you can. Brutal at times, irreverent at others, and very cynical at others, Grendel wanders around for many years watching the development of the various human tribes and the emergence of Hrothgar as a sort of king among them. He spends twelve years in a unique relationship with the king, trying first to make friends with the Danes (he is attacked) and later making raids and killing the most drunken of Hrothgar?s thanes. The notorious coward Unferth (the one who later insults Beowulf) is also developed here--Grendel has such contempt and pity for Unferth that he will not kill him (thus giving him a hero?s death) despite Unferth?s repeated attempts to fight him. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is a very flat character. He is, in fact, the epitome of evil, unfeeling and cruel. He comes, he kills and eats people, he leaves. Then he comes back. This book gives Grendel a personality. He knows he is a member of the fallen (Cain?s) race, and accepts that fact. He is lonely, and cannot even get companionship from his mother, who has long ceased to communicate. In fact, his only real ?friends? are the Danes he kills. Still, he knows he is dependent on Hrothgar?s survival. ?If I murdered the last of the Scyldings,? he muses, ?what would I live for?? This book gives excellent insight into the character of Grendel, and will definitely change the way you look at the poem Beowulf. Gardner?s Grendel is a creature who determines to kill Beowulf for the honor of Hrothgar, so that his thanes will not have been outdone by a newcomer. I highly recommend this short work for anyone interested in the great old English epic.

I recently read Grendel for a high school course and found myself shocked from the beginning at the quality. The normally distasteful nature of reading assignments aside, Grendel was a stunning book. Though Grendel is always physically described as a monster, I know people whose mental state is very nearly the same as his. Reading the pain of such a despicable creature that hits so close to home was stomach-wrenching and breathtaking-- unlike the epic poem, Beowulf, Grendel made it difficult not to see the characters as real. Despite Grendel's purportedly evil and inhuman nature, I couldn't help but see him as someone I knew, feeling what he went through. By the end of the book I loved and hated him, and was given a good bit to think about with the Danes and Geats, and especially the dragon. A definite must-read for would-be philosophers (no, not that annoying high talk you may have been forced to read while "studying philosophy") and anyone intrigued by the darker side of human nature.

I was required to read Beowulf in school, but not Grendel; I found it in a bookstore and picked it because I was intrigued by an alternate Beowulf, especially since the villian is a monster with nothing but bloodlust and brute strength, and I wanted to see what Gardener would do.Grendel is interesting in many ways: the style, which is very modern and of course a great contrast with Beowulf's epic poetry; the way the characters are remade; and the way the theme and message of the book depends largely on your outlook while reading it (as you can tell from these reviews). And even though it does spring from that epic Anglo-Saxon poem which students have come to love and hate, you can love Grendel even if you're more in that "hate" area. I actually liked Beowulf while I was studying it, even though I was a little put off by the theme of heroism (in other words, fighting and killing) as the great aspiration. This just made me enjoy Grendel, with its nihilistic musings and criticism of the Dane's beliefs, a little more.I can't really describe all the different themes and nuances of this book, but the thing that impressed me most was that Grendel, despite being a monster who lives for the kill, is more human than anything else. His ultimate quest is to define himself, and a meaning to life, and this stays with him until the surreal scene in which he dies. His voice is also a very young one; like a teenager, as someone pointed out. He feels like the only thinking being in the universe, and that it it in fact revolves around him and is only an illusion created by his mind. Not new thoughts, but it's the context that makes this book interesting.The best review I can give is just: read it for yourself.

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.

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).