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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Note: why do some many of the other reviews of this book seem like they were written by 12 year olds? |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Well, it's not terrible, but even as a huge Beowulf-lover, I didn't like it that much. |
Newest Reviews
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“A tiresome book. I liked the monster much better when he didn't talk so much.”
Tia M wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I had read this book as a requirement of my 9th greade literature class and it was pretty good. It had put a new perspective of the story Beowolf as it focused on the monster Grendel and had told about his life. It sort of follows the idea that everything has two sides to it and this was in the prespective of the monster.
MICHELLE T wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Grendal was a monster who didn't want to terrorize the humans at first, he wanted to befriend them. He had watched them, observed them and what they did. But Grendal had taken the wrong appoarch and had ended up as a hated monster and he knew it. Grendal had saw a man being mugged and killed and thinking that it was a nice gesture, he had brought the corpse to the mead hall and wanted to return him but then the humans had attacked the monster thinking that he wanted to eat them. He had tried to shout "friend" but they didn't listen and just saw him as a threat so he had killed in self-defense. After that incident, he would go to the mead hall and terrorize them every Spring. His killing sprees were ended as he was injured by Beowolf but instead of making it to be the glorifeid killing that Beowolf had put it, John Gardner has made it so that the killing was only possible because Grendal had slipped in blood and Beowolf took advantage of that.
i had thought that this was a good book and I would recommend it to anyone who read Beowolf to put a new perspective on things. ”
“I thought Grendel was an extremely moving book. Told from the point of view of the monster from the ancient story Beowulf, Grendel is a tale of a sad monster who was never loved. Grendel is the name of the monster that seeks to create havoc and destruction on the humans surrounding him. Grendel's mother did not love him, and left him crying in a tree for several days in the beginning of the story. Grendel turns out to be a very philosophical creature, which is surprising. This is surprising because in Beowulf, he is portrayed as a stupid creature who just wrecks havoc. It was interesting to see the same story of Beowulf from the point of view of the monster. Grendel turned out to be a nihilist whom in which was deceived by the dragon in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read Beowulf. I say this because it made the book much more interesting seeing the same plot from a different point of view. ”
CHARLES C wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It gives an emotional insight to the "monster" from Beowulf”
Mallary W wrote this review Wednesday, November 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I can say I've read it.”
Michele C wrote this review Friday, October 30 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I didn't know what to expect going into this book, but I finished it with a very similar sentiment. There are some great moments in the novel, but it seems as though Gardner can't decide whether or not he is modernizing the character of Grendel or leaving him as a "Dark Ages" character. The dragon acts as a god character that spews issues of perception and philosophy for a chapter, and then Grendel returns to bathing in the blood of the Danes. The transitions between the classic conception of Grendel, the humanizing of Grendel (which is actually very effective and fits the novel well), and the modernizing of Grendel are incredibly abrupt and fragmented. I enjoyed several moments in the novel too much to say that I disliked it, but I also questioned several parts too much to praise it. Overall, it was a great effort and an interesting concept, but the experimental fragmentary prose of the 1970s and 1980s seems vaguely out of place.”
Mr. Scott wrote this review Wednesday, October 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A great book, and I had a great teacher to introduce me to it. ”
Nora E wrote this review Friday, October 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book is called Grendel, written by John Gardner, it is a story about the life of the monster, Grendel, in the book/movie Beowulf. His mother has no name so in the book he just calls her his mom. Grendel has a sick sense of humor, and finds the blood and braking of bones poetic. His mother is a shy and fat monster, nothing like Grendel. The time is kind of mid-evil time, the place is the same place as in Beowulf, and I just don’t know the name off hand. The point of the story is that grendel likes to kill and consume human beings, well every one in town hate him for that and I can understand why. The only place grendel seems to attack is the mead hall on top of a hill, he only attacks at night and when he does he only seems to kill two people if he is in a bad mood, if he is in a bad mood the deaths very. Some things that happen is when grendel is sitting on a hill or small mountain, and a mountain gout is heading his way and grendel ends up throwing a tree at him in anger, and killing it. I would most likely recommend this to every one because it’s a great book if you like fiction and stories about monsters life, struggles, how they die if they do, and if you like hearing about how people are murdered and consumed. I would rate this, out of 10, a 9 1/2. ”
Gabe O wrote this review Wednesday, October 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It's been a while since I've read this, but I remember enjoying it quite a bit. I've always liked stories that "look through another's eyes", so to speak, especially when the original story is as well known as Beowulf. This really makes you sympathize with Grendel, who truly turns out to be more misunderstood than monstrous in a way that's very Frankenstein-esque.”
Carrie Nolan wrote this review Thursday, September 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
