ccc@bu-cs.UUCP (Cameron Carson) (05/13/85)
>>I've been an enthusiast of epic verse since reading Beowulf way back when, >>and I'm eager to read Tolkien's efforts. >Anyone who has read Beowulf would probably be interested in reading >_Grendel_ by John Gardner. (I think.) It's the whole story from the >monster's point of view, and I found it far more entertaining than >the original, possibly because the style of the latter was so wooden. I read _Grendel_ as a junior in high school at the recommendation of an english teacher and enjoyed it for its entertaining perspective. However, upon re-reading it in college several years later, I received the impression that the author's intent was not that of storytelling, but rather that of social comment. The Beowulf saga is portrayed inter- estingly enough, but the monster embarks on several monologues and "dialogues" with non-speaking creatures, the subject and style of which seemed to me to be too modern for the setting and too distant from the narrative to serve a storytelling purpose. However, they do allow Grendel, an outsider as far as humanity is concerned, to make several observations on the "human condition." Caution: this most recent reading took place several years ago, and this writing is based on impressions left over from that reading, which could conceivably change by reading it once again. -- Cameron C. Carson Distributed Systems Group Boston University ACC UUCP: ...!harvard!bu-cs!ccc ARPA: ccc%bu-cs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa
rob@osiris.UUCP (Robert St. Amant) (05/17/85)
> >Anyone who has read Beowulf would probably be interested in reading > >_Grendel_ by John Gardner. (I think.) It's the whole story from the > >monster's point of view, and I found it far more entertaining than > >the original, possibly because the style of the latter was so wooden. > > . . . . The Beowulf saga is portrayed inter- > estingly enough, but the monster embarks on several monologues and > "dialogues" with non-speaking creatures, the subject and style of which > seemed to me to be too modern for the setting and too distant from the > narrative to serve a storytelling purpose. However, they do allow Grendel, > an outsider as far as humanity is concerned, to make several observations > on the "human condition." > > Cameron C. Carson One reason that the monster engages in the dialogues with the various creatures is to advance a strange device that Gardner uses in the story. There are twelve chapters (I think) and in each chapter Grendel encounters the appropriate sign of the zodiac. It's fairly well done-- at least, not obtrusive. Rob St. Amant