Holy moley, what a book! I thought of Cormac McCarthy when I was reading it, just because of the exuberance and occasional inventiveness of language, but this is way better than anything I've read by McCarthy except maybe The Road. Even just on that score, the little words Gardner invents here and there, the lightness and ease of it puts McCarthy's plodding gothic laboredness to shame.
Anyway this note shouldn't be all about a writer I dislike, because I really liked Grendel, a book and a character I will need to come back to. Magnificent, funny, lots to chew on. I should probably re-read Beowulf at some point. Gardner is on record as saying that the monster in his book is basically a vector for poking fun at the moral horror of Sartre. But man he's an appealing horror show.
Anyway this note shouldn't be all about a writer I dislike, because I really liked Grendel, a book and a character I will need to come back to. Magnificent, funny, lots to chew on. I should probably re-read Beowulf at some point. Gardner is on record as saying that the monster in his book is basically a vector for poking fun at the moral horror of Sartre. But man he's an appealing horror show.
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