I thought that this was a great novel when I read it back in the late 70's, and it has only gotten better with age. Grendel's character is hard to deal with much of the time, but what would you expect from a nihilist who is driven by forces that he cannot control and has trouble comprehending? At times Grendel comes off as a petulant little boy who destroys because he cannot have his own way, and he calls for his uncomprehending mother a lot when he runs into trouble. He is so taken in by the poet and the stories of common humanity that it wounds him deeply when he realizes that the stories were all lies and fabrications that thrust him into the outer darkness.
The dragon is an interesting creature who can see past and future and finds all of it meaningless except for the hoarding of gold. Beowulf then comes off as something of a prig, even as he restores order to the human realm of things.
Author: Gardner, John
Date Published: 1971
Length: 5hr 31min
Narrator: Guidall, George
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