Vlemk: The Box-Painter

by John Gardner, Catherine Kanner (Illustrator)

One of 300 limited copies signed by Gardner on a special sheet at the beginning of the book.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1979

About the author

John Champlin Gardner was a well-known and controversial American novelist and university professor, best known for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth.

Gardner was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April of 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardner's fiction and criticism — most directly in the 1977 short story "Redemption," which included a fictionalized recounting of the accident.

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gar...

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I assume this standalone book is the same content as the longish short story (or the slim novelette) found in the Gardner anthology The Art of Living. If it is, then I've read it. Just finished it yesterday. Rarely have I ever read something that seemed so meticulously constructed to go somewhere specific and meaningful that failed to arrive any place specific and meaningful. Hogwash and hot air in the final analysis.

By my rough estimate, in the first third of the story, a spirit of "this is interesting and intense and somewhat delightful" had captured me completely. In the second third of the story a whining sense of "how long before we get there?" had replaced my initial verve. And when I finally finished, I think only "that's it? that's ALL you've got?" could sum up my feelings as a reader.

So you tell me (assuming you know): what darling and delicate allegorical messages did I miss? What precious observations about the holiness of true art by true artists eluded me in this tale of Vlemk? How did something that had such potential at first go completely off the rails because of the moribund intricacies of some self deluded philosophical pedanticism?

Great god slathered in gravy, Gardner could be such a pompous, vainglorious turd of a writer. Here he is that to such an extent that I can't think of a reason to forgive him. Being dead hardly excuses him from these critical accusations. Raise him from the grave, I say. I have a thing or two to tell him!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally have my own copy of this book! I'll be reading it, then it goes to Leane, then to Molly.
Hooray!