Beowulf By John Gardner Summary
Gardner: The Letter
In, "A Letter from John Gardner: 'Dear Susie West and Students'", Gardner discusses several topics including; his opinions about, Beowulf the epic, Beowulf the hero, what a good author does, what a good reader does, and Grendel.
John Gardner starts out his letter speaking very highly of the epic poem Beowulf. Going as far as to call it, " the greatest single work in (loosely) English." (Gardner 1) Gardner then moves into his opinions of the epic. He believes that Beowulf is a pessimistic tale. He argues, "Surely, the fact is that in Beowulf the hero does everything he can to be a perfect hero, and in the end he's killed... thinking he has saved his people when in fact... his people are certain to die. [is] very grim indeed." (Gardner 1) John Gardner uses his letter to …show more content…
Gardner believes a good reader must read slowly, often too many a reader read "too quickly, too innocently" (Gardner 2) Readers
must not take anything for granted because, authors have " an infallible gift of mimicry" (Gardner 3) meaning that the author can tell how you would react and make you feel that. You must read nonobjectivity, and keep an eye open for hidden treasure along the way.
Finally, Gardner discusses his novel Grendel. Gardner likes his novel because everyone who reads it walks away with a different understanding of it. Gardner says, " A book like Grendel takes experience and sophistication, which means that different readers will find in it different things." (Gardner 5) Gardner hopes everyone enjoys his novel regardless of comprehension. However, he understands some readers only scratch the surface of what he wants them to understand while others delve much deeper.
In conclusion, Gardner discusses many things in, "A Letter from John Gardner: 'Dear Susie West and Students'", including; his opinions about, Beowulf the epic, Beowulf the hero, what a good author does, what a good reader does, and
In, "A Letter from John Gardner: 'Dear Susie West and Students'", Gardner discusses several topics including; his opinions about, Beowulf the epic, Beowulf the hero, what a good author does, what a good reader does, and Grendel.
John Gardner starts out his letter speaking very highly of the epic poem Beowulf. Going as far as to call it, " the greatest single work in (loosely) English." (Gardner 1) Gardner then moves into his opinions of the epic. He believes that Beowulf is a pessimistic tale. He argues, "Surely, the fact is that in Beowulf the hero does everything he can to be a perfect hero, and in the end he's killed... thinking he has saved his people when in fact... his people are certain to die. [is] very grim indeed." (Gardner 1) John Gardner uses his letter to …show more content…
Gardner believes a good reader must read slowly, often too many a reader read "too quickly, too innocently" (Gardner 2) Readers
must not take anything for granted because, authors have " an infallible gift of mimicry" (Gardner 3) meaning that the author can tell how you would react and make you feel that. You must read nonobjectivity, and keep an eye open for hidden treasure along the way.
Finally, Gardner discusses his novel Grendel. Gardner likes his novel because everyone who reads it walks away with a different understanding of it. Gardner says, " A book like Grendel takes experience and sophistication, which means that different readers will find in it different things." (Gardner 5) Gardner hopes everyone enjoys his novel regardless of comprehension. However, he understands some readers only scratch the surface of what he wants them to understand while others delve much deeper.
In conclusion, Gardner discusses many things in, "A Letter from John Gardner: 'Dear Susie West and Students'", including; his opinions about, Beowulf the epic, Beowulf the hero, what a good author does, what a good reader does, and