Two New Books

I recently finished reading two new books, both of which were very good and very different.

The first, "Grendel" by John Gardner, I picked up at Borders on a whim because I liked the cover. This is something I have never done before, but it worked out this time. Grendel is the mythical villian from "Beowulf", the thing that creeps in the dark and gobbels up entire groups of men in a single attack. This book is written from the view point of Grendel as he watches the stupid humans form their civilizations and opinions. Grendel knows they need him because humans need to have an antagonist to fear in the night. Likewise, he also knows that he needs the humans because "If I eat them all, I would be nobody because nobody would know of me." The book is very philosophical, funny, and trite as Grendel watches the different characters (heros, priests, women) evolve and learn about themselves, only to eat them for the fun of it. If you have not read Beowulf, you probably will have no idea what is going on.




The second book was "Fight Club". Most of you have probably seen the movie. Well the book is just as good (it was a great movie) and has a better ending. The book is pointfully violent, fast, and provoking as Chuck Palahnuik takes jab after jab at our pathetic material existence. The book does a better job than the movie at making you feel bad about worrying over your clothes, your furnature, and all those other removable objects. I read it in like two or three sittings so do yourself a favor and pick it up.





Next, I think I might check out the Space Oddyse series, at least the first three cause I've read the rest are just terrible.