John Gardner Paperbacks

Grendel, by John Gardner. “When I was in high school in the [late] 70's I read Grendel and I identified with it, because I felt monstrous and alone.” – Power of Babel. A classic, and maybe Gardner’s best book. I formed a special attachment to Gardner; he was an acclaimed modern writer who sometimes wrote what I would call fantasies (or at least ‘magical realism’). His standing among the literary community gave me what I considered a foot of land in enemy territory. At a time when fantasy sat at the children’s table, he reviewed “The Silmarillion” for the TLR. Grendel was the first book of his that I read, and then “In the Suicide Mountains”, and from there I gained impetus to read his more realistic work. He was scheduled to teach at SWTSU while I was attending when a motorcycle accident ended his life, so I missed the opportunity to meet him. There is so much more I could say about the book itself. The ambiguity of the last line is genius; “Grendel’s had an accident. So may you all.” A warning – or a malediction? The book I have is a replacement for an old paperback and has another’s bookplate. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Softcover.

The Wreckage of Agathon, by John Gardner. Now this work I really got into. Not a fantasy but set in ancient Sparta as a sort of metaphor, with the characters having a sense of fate or greater powers moving underneath. Agathon is an aged Greek poet and philosopher, driven a little mad by loss, using his privileged position as a seer and madman to criticize the government that caused his sorrows. In prison with his apprentice, he tells the story of his life and how things got to this point. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Paperback.

The Sunlight Dialogues, by John Gardner. Although still realistic, the jester figure of the Sunlight Man, with his magician’s tricks and philosophical conundrums, gives it a surreal enough feel to slide me through the entrance. But a forbidding, thick brick of a book, especially for me when in high school, used as I was to genre fiction. Had a hardback copy for a while. I must confess it took me years to finish it, pecking at it, leaving, coming back. Some interesting ruminations and a hopeful conclusion. Illustrations. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Novel. Paperback. The Resurrection, by John Gardner. I’ve never actually read this book (is now the time?); I sort of inherited it from Mike. The covers show it was from the early age when Gardner was still alive. Its completely realistic tone makes it hard for me to enter, but, as I said, perhaps now I could. Must have it for the collection and the potential. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Novel. Paperback.

The King’s Indian: Stories and Tales, by John Gardner. An elderly paperback, with illustrations. The best parts are the tales of Mad Queen Louisa, and how her crazy, artistic reactions to problems improve the kingdom. All fables about creativity, of course, but read so well as stories that they satisfy before you even realize the point. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Short Stories. Paperback. Jason and Medeia, by John Gardner. A re-telling of the myth in more or less modern language, an epic poem (Gardner once boasted, I think, that it was the first one in centuries) with enough side-trips and meditations to keep it nicely varied. Related (in my mind) with “The Wreckage of Agathon”. While it certainly repaid my attention, I’m not sure I would ever read it again. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Epic Poem. Paperback.

October Light, by John Gardner. A conservative old farmer’s more liberal sister comes to live with him and there is soon a clash of worlds which ends in a battle of wills that comes to involve all the family and neighbors. Published in 1976, this is said to be Gardner’s ‘bicentennial novel’, and partly a meditation on the Revolution and what it means to be American. An engaging book, with a beautiful title. Illustrated. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Novel. Paperback. The Art of Living and Other Stories, by John Gardner. For me, the most important story here is ‘Trumpeter’, which finishes the Mad Queen Louisa stories, and reveals, through a dog’s mind (impervious to the ameliorating madness of art) the reason for Louisa’s insanity. It is followed by the novella ‘Vlemk the Box Painter’, another meditation on art. This anthology came out soon after Gardner’s death. Illustrated. Ranking: Essential. File Code: Short Stories. Anthology. Paperback.

Freddy’s Book, by John Gardner. Within the short framing device, the main story here is ‘King Gustav and the Devil’, a fantastic tale taking place during the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern world. The Devil is shown to be a cunning if mindless idiot, intent only on chaos. In the end, King Gustav sends the hero Lars-Goren and Bishop Brask on a crazy quest to kill the Devil. The characters are more interesting than the story in the end, with their insights and conflicts, as one mode of existence transitions into another, with evil no longer personified by the Devil. Illustrated. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Novel. Paperback Nickel Mountain, by John Gardner. The story of Henry Soames, the fat owner of a drive-in diner who thinks his life is over, until he almost accidentally acquires a young wife and child, which changes his existence. Their ups and downs and their friends through the years. Notable (to me) for the appearance of Simon Beale, who demonstrates Gardner’s inaccurate assumptions about Jehovah’s Witnesses (he seems to confuse them with holy rollers). Always read the title to the tune of “Oh to live on Sugar Mountain …” Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Novel. Paperback.

The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers, by John Gardner. Exactly what the label says, edited together from lessons he gave in creative writing classes. Pretty technical (hard to keep all the guidelines in mind all the time); almost more interesting for his insights into the techniques used in classic stories, and a suggestion for what to read. Published post-mortem. Ranking: Technical. File Code: Non-Fiction. Instructional. Paperback. Writing.