82 pages 2 hours read

Grendel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1971

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Summary and Study Guide

Overview

John Gardner’s 1971 novel Grendel is a retelling of the story of Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem from the 6th century, from the perspective of the villain, the monster Grendel. In Grendel, the monster Grendel is an anti-hero, challenging the conventions of traditionally heroic behavior as he tries to understand the world in which he lives. In 1982, an animated Australian film adaptation of the novel called Grendel Grendel Grendel was released in major cities in America, appealing primarily to art house moviegoers.

The events of the novel are nonlinear, and the characterization of the protagonist is vivid. The novel also reveals rivaling philosophies as Grendel tells his side of the story and describes his encounters with other creatures and with humans. Grendel is a deep thinker and a sensitive feeler, and he describes his state of adult existential anxiety with self-deprecating humor, poetry, and, at times, a violent rage that befits one of mythology’s most dreadful monsters.

The American novelist Gardner lived from 1933 to 1982, and many of his novels, including Grendel, concern philosophical ideas and the inner worlds of his characters. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, and he went on to teach fiction writing at several American universities including Oberlin College and Binghamton University.

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