Grendel review

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.