Grendel
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Grendel retells the story of Beowulf from the point of view of the monster, I think one of the first books to try this approach. It's obviously meant as satire - it absolutely eviscerates the human tendency to justify killing others while calling *them* killers - but unlike most satires, you get genuinely caught up in the story and with Grendel.
The monster Grendel is a huge, hairy mass of angst, with not much in the way of brainpower, but with a scathing wit and no tolerance for bulls**t. A born carnivore, he has nothing but contempt for puny humans and their need to create gods to justify simple power-grabbing. And yet, alone as he is, he craves the company of other sentient beings and is drawn to the transformative magic of human myth-making. His dilemma is unsolvable, but his frustration is comic gold.
The story does slow a bit in the middle as Grendel gets more interested in the metaphysics of history, but it's a short book and well worth pushing through to the end.
Many years after I read this book, I picked up "Wicked", which I thought would be a similar retelling of the Wizard of Oz from the monster's perspective, but I hated "Wicked". "Grendel" is much, much better.
The monster Grendel is a huge, hairy mass of angst, with not much in the way of brainpower, but with a scathing wit and no tolerance for bulls**t. A born carnivore, he has nothing but contempt for puny humans and their need to create gods to justify simple power-grabbing. And yet, alone as he is, he craves the company of other sentient beings and is drawn to the transformative magic of human myth-making. His dilemma is unsolvable, but his frustration is comic gold.
The story does slow a bit in the middle as Grendel gets more interested in the metaphysics of history, but it's a short book and well worth pushing through to the end.
Many years after I read this book, I picked up "Wicked", which I thought would be a similar retelling of the Wizard of Oz from the monster's perspective, but I hated "Wicked". "Grendel" is much, much better.
