Beowulf is a famous Anglo-Saxon poem from around the 9th century about a warrior (Beowulf) who slays three monsters - Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and a Dragon. This book by John Gardner is a postmodern retelling of the first part of the story from Grendel's point of view.
It's said that you need to have read Beowulf, or be familiar with it, to be able to follow Gardner's narrative. The writer certainly intends this, but I think only a passing familiarity is really necessary. The above paragraph of this very blog would probably be all the prior information you would need, I never really knew all that much about the poem/myth ahead of the first time I read this book and I don't think it hindered my enjoyment whatsoever - especially considering that Grendel is one of my all-time favourite novels.
It's a fairly slight book, more of a novella than a novel, but it's by no means a simple work - it has a certain density and complexity. Gardner uses the basics of medieval myth to deconstruct humanity and some of the philosophies that power the very essence of our civilisation. He does this with a sort of academic wryness that often comes across as blackly humourous.
Grendel is a brutish and crude figure. He is cruel and ugly and every bit the monster he is portrayed to be in other versions of the tale Beowulf. Gardner has gone to great lengths to keep his protagonist monstrous in both appearance and personality. Grendel is by no means stupid though, he is confused by his own existence and angered by the differences between himself and everyone around him. His own mother is a depraved and loathsome creature that he is unable to communicate with, the local Dragon is all-knowing but nihilistic and does little to help reconcile his point of view with the world, and the village of humans that Grendel spends twelve years of his life observing, molesting, taunting, and waging war on, are so far removed from his own understanding of life that they only fuel his confusion to the point of outright fury.
The 'hero' Beowulf himself doesn't turn up until the last sequences of the novel and remains unnamed, which is fitting considering this narrative has been re-centred from the monster's perspective. Grendel's confrontation with the village's saviour is resoundingly ambivalent and provocative. Grendel is a miserable and bored creature, neither superior or inferior to the little people he torments... he's like an ur-anti-hero, and this book really pulls apart the foundations of concepts like 'heroes' and 'villains' in a big way.
There's something highly engaging and amusing about Grendel's detached interpretation of the village's growth. His view of its advancement characterises humans as a parasitic and stupid species. The monster's prime motivation for wreaking so much havoc among them is boredom and curiosity, which is perhaps more relatable than most readers would care to admit.
In terms of style, Gardner uses a lot of stream-of-consciousness to explore Grendel's thoughts and the novel is written mostly in present tense. When I first read Grendel I was quite impressed by the way it sustained a present tense narrative - I'd never much liked present tense before but Gardner converted me into seeing how it can work and I've used it more often in my own writing since.
Anyway, I highly recommend Grendel. If there is such a thing as a canon then I would put this book in it as it has so much that going for it - it's entertaining, intellectually stimulating, intertextual, amusing, tragic, and subversive. I'm yet to find another book even remotely like it.
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