Grendel review

[alobear]

I'm not sure what I was expecting from Grendel by John Gardner.  All I knew about it before I started reading was that it was a version of Beowulf from Grendel's point of view.  I certainly wasn't expecting philosophy, science, political theory and discussions of the nature of good and evil, mostly in stream of consciousness.  I can't say it was really my kind of book, but it was an interesting read, using the basis of the Old English poem to explore many complex themes, particularly the question of whether or not one's nature is defined by one's heritage.

Definitely weird, definitely challenging, and not a Grendel I would ever have recognised from reading the poem - but then that was at least partially the point, since the poem was written from the point of view of the humans, who never gave Grendel a chance to be anything other than a monster.

Comments

[prunesquallormd.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Grendel. I read that so many years ago that I barely remember it. I was 20, I think, and I do remember not really understanding a lot of it. Like you, I think, I was kind of expecting a simple rewrite from Grendel's point of view. That was especially the case since I first heard of the book through Marillion's 18 MINUTE LONG PROG-ROCK EPIC (LOL self-indulgent? Fish? How could you even suggest that? :D ) which I loved as a teenager (still do, if I'm honest, Marillion are kind of guilty pleasure of mine). I could only find a live version, and it's so long that they had to cut it in half to upload it, but here it is in all its glory, to clutter up your LJ :p