Gardner, John (Vol. 8) - Gardner, John 1933–
Gardner, John 1933–
American novelist, short story writer, and critic, Gardner, an Old and Middle English scholar, is a superb storyteller, intertwining modern-day realism with medieval fantasies. Frank McConnell credits Gardner with creating the genre of "protest fantasy" in The Wreckage of Agathon. (See also CLC, Vols. 2, 3, 5, 7, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 69-72.)
[In John Gardner's novels and stories] there is an element of the arbitrary, of the willed, that too often interrupts the natural momentum of his material and produces an odd dryness in those very places where the flow of feeling should be most spontaneous and life-giving. Gardner's work gives the impression of having proceeded from a too well-stocked mind, a mind that cannot resist the temptations arising from its own cultivation, that must bring to bear the whole weight of Greek mythology, Western philosophy from Plato to the present, medieval...
[The entire page is 6218 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
