/lit/ - Literature

I suggest Beowulf and then Grendel.

“O the ultimate evil in the temporal world is deeper than any specific evil, such as hatred, or suffering, or death! The ultimate evil is that Time is perpetual perishing, and being actual involves elimination. The nature of evil may be epitomized, therefore, in two simple but horrible and holy propositions: 'Things fade' and 'Alternatives exclude.' Such is His mystery: that beauty requires contrast, and that discord is fundamental to the creation of new intensities of feeling. Ultimate wisdom, I have come to perceive, lies in the perception that the solemnity and grandeur of the universe rise through the slow process of unification in which the diversities of existence are utilized, and nothing, 'nothing' is lost.”

-John Gardner, Grendel.

Amazing book btw.

Do you have any historical fiction writers like the Anglos Bernd Cornwell, Ken Follet and Rosemary Sutcliff?

For Germany it's Wolfgang Holbein. He writes pure Fantasy as well as gritty historical fiction mingled with (rationalised) bits taken from medieval epic poetry.

I thought this was really good.

Hey \lit\, I need some help with my homework tonight.

Alright, my assignment requires me to compare the characters Grendel, and Edward Scissorhands using some of the questions as follows:

"In what way does each work engage existentialism?
How are the human communities (the Danes/Geats and the neighborhood people) responsible for driving Grendel and Edward to more “monstrous” behaviors?
How do Grendel and Edward both try to integrate into their respective cultures? Why aren’t they successful?
How does Grendel construct his identity? Is it based on the actions and reactions of others?
How does Edward construct his identity?
What is the maturation process like for each character?
Why do some people accept and love Edward, but no one seemingly accepts Grendel?
What role does isolation play in making each character a “monster”?
Why is it necessary that Grendel is killed at the end of the novel and that Edward remains isolated and alone? Why can’t the characters ever assimilate into their respective cultures?
In what ways do the attitudes of others help inform each character’s attitude about himself?"

I have to write 2 pages (MLA) and can't seem to come up with a thesis statement for the life of me. I also have to keep the three philosophical ideas of nihilism, existentialism, and solipsism in mind along with using them in my paper for each character.

If anybody has any knowledge of these fictions, please help me get ideas for a thesis along with a few responses to some of the questions listed above.

Just finished this.

icantbelieveitisntcamus.jpg

John Gardener's Grendel

Phenomenal.

Hey /lit/

I'm looking for some good books on Solipsism and Nihilism. Recommendations?

Picture related: Had to read it back in high school and really enjoyed it.

Opinion on the parallel novel of 'Beowulf' which is 'Grendel'........GO!

What does /lit/ think of this novel?

I just got done reading this for my lit class. What does /lit/ think of it? I kind of disliked the beginning, but after the dragon I really liked the way Grendel started... behaving I guess. His philosophy changes and junk. Kthxgo.

relevant

I read this alongside Beowulf in high school. Shit was cash.

Opinions?

Grendel is a whiny bitch, then a nihilistic bitch, then he gets his ass kicked and realizes theres more to lifohwaithedies

ITT: god-tier high school lit

pic related. just picked this up at the bookstore today

>:3

soup /lit/

I'm designing Unit Plans in my Teaching Literature in High Schools class. My current idea is to do "Postmodernism and the Classics."

So far, I've paired:
-Beowulf and John Gardner's Grendel
-William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

I'd to add one more pair, but I can't think of anything. Could you help?

Also, let me know if this sounds like something you would've enjoyed in high school.

True-to-life or juvenile nihilism?

> I thought this book would be kinda cool to read since I'm a big fan of Beowulf and have read it several times. Man was I wrong. The writing is terrible. Grendel isn't a monster, he's a cry baby. A story from the "other perspective" has so much potential, but this author didn't use any of it. After reading this book, I wondered if John Gardner read Beowulf at all.

as a bonus, the book cover is mon visage quand I read that review.

What does /lit/ think of this?

ITT books they made you read in high school, but you ended up liking them anyway

So im reading Grendel and I'm really digging it. Can /lit/ provide me with some recommended reading for when I'm done? I was gonna just go back to rereading my Tolkein stuff and finishing Children of Hurin, but I'm really on this Grendel track and going right back to my tolkein reading after would just not be satisfying

thanks /lit/

Try reading this, OP.

Anybody on /lit/ read John Gardner's "Grendel"? If so, what did you think of it?

Grendel.