Grendel
The first and most terrifying monster in English literature, from the great early epic Beowulf, tells his own side of the story in this frequently banned book. This classic and much lauded retelling of Beowulf follows the monster Grendel as he learns about humans and fights the war at the center of the Anglo Saxon classic epic. This is the book William Gass called "one of the finest of our contemporary fictions."
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8recommend
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2008–2024years
89% recommend11% neutral
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What Hacker News says
- Grendel by Gardner (so playful and creative), Jane Eyre (a classic with wonderful language and intense story), Sapiens (extraordinarily interesting survey of human history)
- Grendel by John Gardner - The epic of Beowulf from the perspective of the monster. A Clockwork Orange - Dystopian novel following a twisted youth named Alex.
- White Noise, by Don Delillo. It's a great story in general and reading it helped me acknowledge my fear of death and how it affected me.
Edit: oh, and since I don't think anyone else has mentioned them yet ... Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, and Grendel by John Gardner. Their impact on me was less specific so harder to explain, but they're great books that get mentioned on HN now and then. Another one that kind of blew my mind is The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffmann by Angela Carter.
- I always preferred Grendel by John Gardner. But if Zach Snyder directed the original with Ben Affleck as Beo.... oh, hell, I'd hate that.
- Grendel - John Gardner
It is the story of Beowulf, told from the monster's point of view. It underscores the constant internal struggle between nihilistic despair and finding meaning in life (for yourself and others). It strikes a chord with Ozymandias[0].
It is primarily responsible for me abandoning my strong Catholic upbringing (and, ironically, despite John Gardner himself being a Christian).
- You might enjoy On Moral Fiction by John Gardner, who argues that good literature is about the characters, especially their decisions and transformations, rather than cleverness in language and plot. His model is Anna Karenina, and I think it's people like Pynchon he has in mind for his critique. And he was not just a stodgy critic, but a flowering author himself. His book Grendel is short and fun---the story of Beowulf from the monster's perspective. Sadly he died young in a motorcycle accident, so we didn't get many examples of his approach. Another modern writer that I think he would have approved of is Wallace Stegner. Crossing to Safety and Angle of Repose are both wonderful.
