Grendel

• Title: Grendel
• Author: John Gardner
• Published: New York: Vintage Books, 1989

I’m back.  For the last three hours I have been Grendel.  Caught up in the story by John Gardner.  From its opening page it held me spellbound.  My heart is racing.  I am caught up in the story.  I close the book, lean back in my recliner and take a deep breath.  Slowly my breathing returns to normal.  I hear the clock ticking on the wall.  The sounds of birds outside.  The faraway sound of highway traffic.  Reality returns to me. 

Gardner weaves a spellbinding story of the creature Grendel from the story of Beowulf.  From the first page I was hooked.  The many anachronisms just seemed to naturally fit and become part of a mystical weave that Gardner created.  It is a philosophical work, one that is sure to bring questions.  I wrestled with Grendel as he struggled to understand and give a meaning to his life.  He covers a wide scope of Western philosophy over the ages.  I feel it would be a good conversation starter for a class of students.  Let them all read it and discuss what they identified with, what they struggled with, and perhaps what appeared to have meaning but somehow never seemed to become recognized. 

I like the story and the style.  I like the fact that he took a classic story and told it from a different angle.  And yet, he still kept it about learning something more about yourself and the world around you.  I feel it is an important concept to keep in mind. That a story, even a fictional, or maybe especially a fictional story, should teach you something.  Yes, it should be entertaining.  But it really needs to teach you something.  Gardner does that wonderfully.

About the Author

John Champlin Gardner Jr. was born July 21, 1933 in Batavia, New York and died September 14, 1982, from a motorcycle accident, in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.