Grendel

[EliminateHRN]

Anyone heard of Beowulf? Well, if you have, you know Grendel. Have anyone read the book written by John Gardner that tells the story of his life? It's really, really good. However, you might want to know something about Beowulf before reading it, it can get confusing at times.

Anyone read it? Discuss Grendel (and Beowulf too, if you want).

[Yankee]

I love Grendel. A lot.
We had to read it for English class.
I was happy I did o_o

[Yang Xiao-Long]

English classmate of mine is related to John Gardner.

[u]Grendel[/u] is incredibly deep.
He has no one to talk to. The only way we know of how he learns of the world around him is from his thoughts, his conversations with himself. He is basically alone in a world he doesn't understand, and likewise the world doesn't understand him. Grendel doesn't know what the purpose of his life is, and so he goes around trying to figure out the meaning of life.

The book itself is full of philosophy and symbolism. The dragon that Grendel meets represents existential nihilism. In the book's 12 chapters, which represent the last 12 months of Grendel's life, Gardner has placed 12 objects which represent a certain figure in the zodiac.

From reading [u]Grendel[/u], I've felt like I learned a bit too much about life. And THAT is what makes it such a great book to read.

[Face McShooty]

I remember reading Beowulf (the older one AKA Beowulf & Grendel) in Senior English last year, i really liked it, it was one of those books I couldn't put down, after we read it, we watched the movie, and I must say that the movie closely resembled the book... i can't think of any other movie that came CLOSE to being like the book