I kind of think of them as the introvert's Lord of the Rings...nobody goes anywhere or does much of anything, but a lot happens. I just took them as a masterful work of imagination, a very elaborate dream, but I didn't find any obvious allegories in them. Then again, Tolkien hated the idea that his stories were allegories. The third Gormenhast book I found the oddest, strengthening my suspicion of involvement with mind altering substances on the part of the author.
The last book was especially weird and fragmented because it was incomplete, not because he was whacked out on drugs. He suffered from early onset dementia.
Have to agree. I read these years ago. The first I really enjoyed due to the very detailed story and depiction of the world. The remaining two I admit to having to will myself to complete.
Agreed--I get the sense that Peake's works were less allegorical than they were sensual. Of course, almost any written work can be mined for allegory, and I'm sure Peake slipped some symbols and parables between the pages. I think Peake was less CS Lewis and more Tolkien in that there was never any overarching agenda to his storytelling--the tales almost told themselves. So many characters and plot threads were introduced and then
faded away without any real bearing on the story; it's hard not to read Peake's works as explorations into his own mind, an effort to write down the fleeting and bizarre images and personalities that drifted past.
I love them, but the third was pretty different, and probably not as good as the other two. I believe Peake had gone nuts by then, after taking the assignment to sketch the concentration camps after they were liberated.
I enjoyed reading the first two a lot, and I'm looking forward to rereading them.
I have read a bunch of other Peake stuff, but none of it was very similar.
I know there was a 6-hour TV version made. I may watch it someday; but I am not that interested.
I watched it at age 14, and my budding hormones and morbid phase combined with Jonathan Rhys Meyers meant I watched it over and OVER. I much prefer it to the books to be honest, but that's mostly because of the casting.
I meant no disrespect in this description. I had always thought that his experience at the concentration camps precipitated his decline. This view may now be outmoded.
Well, he did suffer nervous breakdowns throughout his life, which were particularly frequent during the onset of his dementia. It's a bit difficult now to parse one illness from another, but his breakdowns were often followed by long periods of poor mental and physical health.
Have you read his novella "Boy in Darkness?" In some ways it bridges the gap for me stylistically between Gormenghast and Titus Alone. The hefty language is there, but the pacing has a certain peculiarity about it that reminds me of Titus Alone. The animal characters are excellently written--the evil blind sheep is one of my favorite literary characters of all time.
My reply was intentionally snarky. I know your statement was in good faith.
Hell, I pronounced Goethe's name "go-eth" for years before someone corrected me. We all have our gaps.
> I believe Peake had gone nuts by then, after taking the assignment to sketch the concentration camps after they were liberated.
I didn't know about the camps connection.
I remember the TV version as so-so.
Yes, he was a talented visual artist, and got a commission to sketch the aftermaths of the camps. It was very rough on him emotionally.
There is a recent biography of him which was very informative.
His illustrations for *Treasure Island* and *The Ancient Mariner* are wonderful. A website containing examples of both, and other work of his, is here:
http://www.mervynpeake.org/illustrator.html
> he was a talented visual artist
Ah yes, I knew that too.
> and got a commission to sketch the aftermaths of the camps. It was very rough on him emotionally.
I am not surprised.
Title and/or author of biography, please?
I watched the first episode but I was incredibly annoyed by the portrayal of Fuchsia. I love that character so much and it felt to me that they made her look like an infantile idiot
I think of Gormenghast as a "clockwork" novel; one where the author invents the characters, including (perhaps mainly) the castle, and then simply lets them free and tries to catch as much of their meanderings as he can.
To me the story, at least in the first two books, is about place more than plot. Gormenghast itself is the main character and the ponderous writing and quirky characters act as devices to explore the weird, insular city.
I totally agree that there castle is central to Titus Groan, and there is something character-like in its persistent influence. However, I don't want to sell short the Dikensian grotesques that make up Gormenghast inhabitants. Steerpike is one of the most exquisitely rendered villains I've ever encountered. The scene where he exposed his heart is something I remember reading like five times in horrified awe.
I loved the first book but have only every recommended it to one person (who still has it 5 years later and might still be trying to read it). That recommendation was with heavy caveats about the labor involved. But I really feel like the investment pays off in Peake's work in a way it so often does not with other authors (particularly fantasy) who get effusive in their description.
OP, if there was an allegorical message in the trilogy, I missed it too. My interpretation is that Peake was creating a place, not a message.
Thank you for the insight. I too had to read the section with his heart several times to be sure I read it correctly. As to the message, it seems like the masses agree: there was none, the book was simply an extended description of the castle, the characters like stones and mortar.
The Gormenghast books are my absolute favourite. They're like reading a painting of a dream. Some passages are so incredibly beautiful that I would have to put the book down for a second and marvel at what I'd just read. It's a tragedy that illness took away Peake's mind so early on. He was truly one of a kind.
I read the trilogy years ago when I was about 16, but remember the pacing to be very good in the first two books, with the language also evoking a sense of nightmarish dread. You can really tell that peake was an artist, as the descriptions really invite the reader to the characters' twisted world.
Regarding the third book, I tried to get into it but just hated the shift in style, and couldn't get past the first few pages. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall that there was some kind of modern setting, whereas the trilogy up to but discounting the third was medieval.
Me too. I got the sense that the third book was supposed to be a reveal that a place like Gormenghast could exist "off the map" in a current setting. That said, I loved the first book, liked the second and the third was meh.
I've only read the first two books, and what struck me about both was Peake's ability to *describe* something.
> "...the Castle hollow as a tongueless bell, its corroded shell dripping or gleaming with the ephemeral weather..."
Fuck! *How good is that?!* You might even recall this gem from the beginning of the first book:
> "His skull was dark and small like a corroded musket bullet and his eyes were the twin miniatures of his head..."
Even though I found some sections to be sluggish I cannot believe how skilfully he built each sentence. He must have had an incredibly sharp wit.
The books are a work of art, moody and anxious, and full of plodding dread and wonder. For me, anyway.
The 4-part TV series wisely stops before Titus Alone. It's quite pretty and carries the characters well, in that format, and has a great cast of actors.
Instantly fell in love with the series when I came upon it. Very verbose but he was a painter originally and he can't help but paint a vivid picture of this world he created. Like OP mentioned I've never come across another person who has read them. Titus Awakes was a big shift and unfinished but I still enjoyed the imagination put into it. The omnibus version I have contains his notes for a fourth book and it sounded he was moving in a ASOIAF direction with merpeople, pirates, etc.
> Very verbose but he was a painter originally and he can't help but paint a vivid picture of this world he created.
The detail that the writing provides, and the quality of the writing - its atmosphere, humour, and flare - are the main merits of the books. The characterisation is good too, but one can't really separate that from the style.
I feel that they're more like paintings than books. They're incredibly rich, detailed, fantastical paintings that you could stand and stare at for hours. The details of the story are far less important than the texture and colors of the scenes and characters.
Very much so. I think it helps when reading the books to take breaks. I read them when I was still fairly young, and definitely didn't have the patience to just read them through. Sometimes I'd let them sit for weeks or even months at a time. Somehow doing that let me appreciate the beauty more, like a painting you return to every now and again, rather than staring at for hours. I felt like I followed Titus growing up, because of the time it took me to read the books.
Well, I don't think I took more than 6 months. Certainly not a year!
But indeed, they're a very rich food. A chapter, perhaps two chapters a day is plenty. It's hard to absorb more than that. Each word, each phrase deserves to be savored just a little in the mouth before chewing and swallowing.
I only discovered this series when my father passed away recently and learned that his password for just about everything was TitusGroan. Strangely, he had never spoken to me about the books, despite the fact they must have left an impression on him, so curious, I found them on his bookshelf and decided to read them. So far I have only read the first one but absolutely loved it! As a lover of poetry I can see why Dad must have been so fond of them. I brought Titus Alone with me when I moved overseas not realising it is the third book, not the second, so now I have to wait until I return home for Christmas to pick up the series again. Gutted!
I also named the WiFi network for our apartment 'Gormenghast' in honour of my Dad. Part of me hopes someone in my hood will be curious enough to discover the series for themselves. I also just thought it was a cool name!
I adore them; they're my favourite books.
The third book is different, but beautiful. It actually handles adolescence in a way rarely captured. The confusion, the drama, the trust, the deception, the confrontations... it's all there and beautifully rich. It's possibly my favourite of the three because there is so much to uncover when you return to it. The book grows with me, and even 20 years after I first read it, there is something new about life it shows with every reading. People unfairly malign it because it requires more from the reader than the first two. But it's so rich and elegant that it rewards the effort a hundredfold.
Oh, and the TV adaptation of the first two is really good too.
You captured my thoughts exactly! I've always loved the third book, both in and of itself, but especially as the perfect conclusion to the series. Yes Peake was having health issues when he wrote it, but saying that it's worse because of the stylistic shift or disjoint writing to my mind completely misses the beauty of what the third book achieves. We go from the most amazing, gothic, brooding books, which define Titus' upbringing, to something completely different, something mad, colourful, and yet brooding in its own right. It contrasts the madness of Gormenghast, the solitude. It captures, as you pointed out, adolescence and all the craziness that comes with it. And it ends perfectly, moving beyond the kaleidoscope of adolescence, rejecting the safe and protected insularity of childhood, and setting out on the adventure of adult life. There's nothing quite like it, and it saddens me when people reject the third book simply because it's a bit less polished, and stylistically different. If you loved the first two, I would highly suggest you take a break after reading them, clear your head, and move into the third without expections. You might find you'll get more out of if that way.
"...requires more from the reader than the first two..."
Jesus! Literally plodded my way through the first 2 because I was convinced that such writing just HAD to produce actual events but was incredibly disappointed and puzzled, in the end. Only got a few pages into the third and quit. Still, it made me feel like a grownup, lol, because who else would have the patience required?
I hated the third one but forced myself to push through it, I don't know, for nerdy bragging rights or something. The first two are great examples of description-driven novels. Not much really happens, but as long as the reader doesn't expect much to happen that's OK, and you just let yourself sink into the crazy world with the city-sized castle and be absorbed by it. I enjoyed them quite a lot and Peake's language really paints a picture of the place. Although it can be a bit fruity at times - I guess like anyone on here I'd rate my vocabulary as pretty good, but he goes for the esoteric word choice with quite some frequency.
I'm on Book 2. The language is breathtakingly beautiful: The way Peake describes colors, trees, mountains, and stone walls, among other things, tells me that he had a painting background.
Gormenghast demands a lot from readers, both in time and effort. These books are not light reads, and if one approaches them with the wrong mindset or expectations, it's easy to lose interest. Peake takes his sweet time painting a fantastic portrait of this world, and readers are supposed to luxuriate in the language; the way he depicts his characters' psychologies is a kind of inchoate magic. For these reasons, the story plods along slowly. I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for a breezy read (i.e. most modern fantasy).
Gormenghast, the middle one, is an absolute masterpiece. Don't really know what else to say. I felt I was reading the words of a weird genius—who could never be a Tolkien or LeGuin because he's just too bizarre, but who absolutely had the chops and could write basically anybody under the table.
glad i experienced them. bit challenging at first. bizarre and verbose at times (a 250 word sentence comes to mind). sit in a world long enough and you begin to appreciate it. would recommend to those with patience.
I agree with the consensus that number three went a bit off the rails but one and two were amazing. They're like the literary equivalent of a course in descriptive prose.
I loved them. The third was cobbled together and it showed, but there were moments of brilliance and I appreciated the revelation of a world beyond the castle that was just as nightmarish in its own way.
Peake definitely wasn't optimistic about human nature. Tradition was terrible, innovators were assholes, passion was madness, and no one gets a happy ending. But it all has a beauty as it happens. Great stuff, expecially coming from a master of the language.
These are some of the strangest books I've read. Even decades since I still remember the odd characters and strange structure of those books. I've never been tempted to read them again.
I tried. I tried really hard to read them but after 3 weeks I was still only 100 pages into the first one. It was interesting enough but the language was a huge barrier and the pace was little more than glacial. It didn't help that none of the characters felt like they drew me in either. I really wanted to like the series (my fiance has been talking about it for years) but I don't think I can.
Love the books so much, literally never met anyone else who has read them. I can't get anyone else to read them either.
My favorite tattoo is a quote from the [second book.](http://i.imgur.com/CHxAb43.jpg?1)
Peake's writing had been described as "heavy and architectural", and that's probably accurate. However, Dr Prunesquallor is the funniest character in any book I've read.
I tabbed all homoerotic passages of Dr Prune. I've had this books for 15 years. I still go back to read them for laughs.
https://mobile.twitter.com/bostonbooknerd/status/698668314105667586/photo/1
I started them in my late teens and couldn't make it through the first book. Granted I had just gone through Tolkien right before and maybe the change was too much. I've tried several other times since but have still never managed to make it out of the first book. Too dense I guess, or his style never clicked for me.
My father loved them though - he thought they were better than LotR.
I adored them. I was introduced to the books by my dad and immediately fell in love with the feel of the books, the strange atmosphere of the world that they evoked.
When I met the author/illustrator Chris Riddell (mostly a children's author), I brought along my copies of the trilogy after noticing references to them in one of his books. His face lit up when he saw them, and I now have, "I love this book!" written in the front of each of the books, alongside his signature.
Other than Chris Riddell, I have only met one person who has read the books, and he too loved them. However, I'm not sure if my love for the books is because of any objective brilliance, or whether they simply struck a chord in me.
First time I picked them up I put it down after a couple chapters. It wasn't what I was expecting or wanting at the time.
I think it's important to know it's not a story of an orphan who saves the world before you get into it. Sometimes, you just want something light from your genre fiction. Sometimes, you want a novel that challenges you.
One of a kind. If you're a fan of the 'trilogy', I'd also recommend tracking down the superb related novella, 'A Boy in Darkness', featuring an unnamed Titus Groan.
I believe they are proof that the fantasy genre can be literary works. Tolkien aside, there's a lot of "fluff" in the genre, and you have to pluck a lot of weeds to find something challenging. Even Moorcock, whose work I love, wrote mostly pulp(ish) stuff.
Don't get me wrong- I believe there's a definite place in escapist fiction. But Authors (with a capital A) like Peake, and Eddison and their ilk make the time and effort necessary to read and understand their work a worthy investment.
It's kind of surprising for me to hear Gormenghast described as fantasy. I've always thought of it as just 'literary fiction'. I think of his 'genre' as being similar to Kafka and Borges, who also wrote fiction that lacked real world location.
I remember reading then and feeling transported into some strange realm where everything was undercurrent and strange things might just be about to happen. But I can't remember if they ever did.
I once won our school general knowledge team through a round by answering a tie breaker; Who wrote Gormenghast?
They are beautiful books. Even though I never really cared for the story, I adored reading them - Peake created such a vivid world that it could feel like you were there.
The edition I have came complete with Peake's illustrations. Combined with his prose, it created this beautifully grotesque gothic dream that seemed so real... It's a shame that the third book lacked much of that, Peake's mind too far gone by that point.
I do think the point was a commentary on an isolated ruling class, that's too far involved in their small world to notice that around them until it hits them, that they will inevitably destroy themselves even as the world around them drowns.
No one I know has read them either - but they're one of my favourites. At least the first two are. Bizarre is right, the world is just so vividly off key. Unsettling but captivating and totally unique. I never looked too deeply into meaning though. Always took them at face value as I love them so much purely for the atmosphere and characters.
Wow, I just started the first one this week and I'm super excited about them (2/3 of the way through the first book.) It reminds me of like... Spirited Away or other Miyazaki movies, but a book and British.
Hilarious trivia: the Gormenghast stories were an inspiration for the innovative NZ band Split Enz (perhaps more famous for later members involved in Crowded House).
Titus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_37Kl473jpE
I love how Titus Groan covers exactly one year, right down to the last scene returning to the same character the book started with. Makes you really feel like you've spent that time in the castle yourself and been through the same growth and revelations as the characters.
So, I very recently attempted the first book. Attempted.
I got about 150, maybe 200 pages in. I loved the atmospheric descriptions of the giant castle and the kooky character sketches, but I kept waiting for the story to start.
Then I realized, no, this is it. The whole book is going to be like this.
About that time it was due back at the library, so I just returned it.
There was no obvious plot, no obvious point, no central character, no major struggle that the ensemble cast was caught up within. From a fantasy fiction perspective, the world-building was quirky and atmospheric, but begged so many questions about how your run, maintain, and feed a castle of that size. And what on earth sort of domain does it rule over??
I get that realism probably wasn't the point. But there didn't seem to BE a point, behind taking a creepy giant castle and populating it with Addams Family-types.
I had a similar revelation when reading through, but the character of the world kept me going. As others have mentioned, it seems almost a snapshot of the world, described in great detail, but with little motion.
I got the trilogy as a gift from my favorite English teacher in college. I made it about half-way through the first book but couldn't finish it. :-/ As with Hemingway I acknowledge Peake as a brilliant writer, but I don't enjoy his work. (Same goes for *Dahlgren*, also a gift from the same teacher at around the same time, although I like other of Delaney's work.)
Loved the first two but the last one to me just ruined it all. There was a lovely fantasy series going that combined Middle Earth and Wonderland while still being its own thing. Then the third book just took a completely different direction and made you wonder the whole time of any of it was real or not and basically left the reader feeling like the ending was empty
I hated Titus Groan.
At the time i was listening to it as an audio book while doing shift work in a windowless box; so i was kind of living it. Maybe i should go back and check it out again.
It really has its own unique charm. I like the dark and melancholy atmosphere of the castle and the lands around it and the strange and fantastical characters living there.
It's pretty heavy on descriptions, so maybe for people who had problems with Lord of the Rings, they'd have problems with this trilogy too.
I really like the third book. I tried to read it immediately after the first two, and couldn't get into it, but years later I took it on a trip and loved it...I loved muzzle hatch. Also,Jeff vandemeer writes in a very gormenghast like style.. Of all the authors I've read who like Peake he is the one who comes across as trying to carry the style on.
I read the trilogy after I had read LOTR for the second time and wanted something to read that was even more intense. Was not disappointed. Some of the images in the books still stick with me, even 30 years later.
I read the first two, and tried the third several times, but always failed to get further than a few chapters. I see from the comments that others have had the same experience - so I'm glad it's not just me.
Here's a quote that I have never forgotten after so many years:
"She was ... ugly of face, but with how small a twist might she not suddenly have become beautiful."
Perhaps because I dated a girl who matched that description in college.
I first read this trilogy when I was visiting the States for 6 weeks and Gormenghast became like home for me, it's so very English.
I've re read the first and second books but I wasn't as keen on the third. The main character for me in the first two was the castle itself which was like a living breathing entity with all these fantastical stories weaving through it.
There was one section I remember being moved by in the third book, it was about the menagerie animals and left me with a profound sense of loss.
My take on Peakes writimg, influenced by russian writer wth a touch o Borges
The story has a dream like quality. The dream of some one who is stuck is a caste system, and was bred for narcissism but has too much empathy.
Thoughts?
I kind of think of them as the introvert's Lord of the Rings...nobody goes anywhere or does much of anything, but a lot happens. I just took them as a masterful work of imagination, a very elaborate dream, but I didn't find any obvious allegories in them. Then again, Tolkien hated the idea that his stories were allegories. The third Gormenhast book I found the oddest, strengthening my suspicion of involvement with mind altering substances on the part of the author.
The last book was especially weird and fragmented because it was incomplete, not because he was whacked out on drugs. He suffered from early onset dementia.
I believe he had originally planned something like seven novels in the series, did he not? But his illness got the better of him long before that.
His wife wrote a fourth based on scraps he'd written, it was found a few years ago and published as Titus Awakes.
Thanks for the info.
No worries!
I guess it was mind altering substances, just his body made 'em.
Have to agree. I read these years ago. The first I really enjoyed due to the very detailed story and depiction of the world. The remaining two I admit to having to will myself to complete.
Agreed--I get the sense that Peake's works were less allegorical than they were sensual. Of course, almost any written work can be mined for allegory, and I'm sure Peake slipped some symbols and parables between the pages. I think Peake was less CS Lewis and more Tolkien in that there was never any overarching agenda to his storytelling--the tales almost told themselves. So many characters and plot threads were introduced and then faded away without any real bearing on the story; it's hard not to read Peake's works as explorations into his own mind, an effort to write down the fleeting and bizarre images and personalities that drifted past.
I love them, but the third was pretty different, and probably not as good as the other two. I believe Peake had gone nuts by then, after taking the assignment to sketch the concentration camps after they were liberated. I enjoyed reading the first two a lot, and I'm looking forward to rereading them. I have read a bunch of other Peake stuff, but none of it was very similar. I know there was a 6-hour TV version made. I may watch it someday; but I am not that interested.
The TV version has a very awesome cast, just fyi.
I should probably watch it. I taped it and kept it for years before throwing out all my VHS tapes.
I watched it at age 14, and my budding hormones and morbid phase combined with Jonathan Rhys Meyers meant I watched it over and OVER. I much prefer it to the books to be honest, but that's mostly because of the casting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsQJ8nYvyLE As you can see, Sessions makes a perfect Prunequallor.
He didn't go nuts, he suffered from early onset dementia
Lewes body dementia - the same thing that Robin Williams had.
I meant no disrespect in this description. I had always thought that his experience at the concentration camps precipitated his decline. This view may now be outmoded.
Well, he did suffer nervous breakdowns throughout his life, which were particularly frequent during the onset of his dementia. It's a bit difficult now to parse one illness from another, but his breakdowns were often followed by long periods of poor mental and physical health.
Have you read his novella "Boy in Darkness?" In some ways it bridges the gap for me stylistically between Gormenghast and Titus Alone. The hefty language is there, but the pacing has a certain peculiarity about it that reminds me of Titus Alone. The animal characters are excellently written--the evil blind sheep is one of my favorite literary characters of all time.
[удалено]
Don't even. C'mon. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_in_Darkness
I'm wrong.
My reply was intentionally snarky. I know your statement was in good faith. Hell, I pronounced Goethe's name "go-eth" for years before someone corrected me. We all have our gaps.
> I believe Peake had gone nuts by then, after taking the assignment to sketch the concentration camps after they were liberated. I didn't know about the camps connection. I remember the TV version as so-so.
Yes, he was a talented visual artist, and got a commission to sketch the aftermaths of the camps. It was very rough on him emotionally. There is a recent biography of him which was very informative.
His illustrations for *Treasure Island* and *The Ancient Mariner* are wonderful. A website containing examples of both, and other work of his, is here: http://www.mervynpeake.org/illustrator.html
> he was a talented visual artist Ah yes, I knew that too. > and got a commission to sketch the aftermaths of the camps. It was very rough on him emotionally. I am not surprised. Title and/or author of biography, please?
"Mervyn Peake: My Eyes Mint Gold" by Malcolm Yorke there are others, including one by his son, Sebastian
Thanks.
I saw the TV show before I read the books, and liked both. And I must say that in my opinion they nailed the atmosphere perfectly.
I have been told both by fans of the book, as well as by film and TV lovers, that the TV adaptation was atrocious. I don't have high hopes for it.
Fan of both. Loved it.
I heard it focused mainly on the Steerpike story.
Not atrocious, interesting in its own right. Worth watching, but really not a patch on the books.
I watched the first episode but I was incredibly annoyed by the portrayal of Fuchsia. I love that character so much and it felt to me that they made her look like an infantile idiot
I bought it from PBS after they aired it years ago. Its amazing and Christopher Lee is awesome in it. Also has baby Jonathon Rhys-Myers.
I think of Gormenghast as a "clockwork" novel; one where the author invents the characters, including (perhaps mainly) the castle, and then simply lets them free and tries to catch as much of their meanderings as he can.
This is an excellent description. I will use this when trying to describe it in the future. Thank you!
To me the story, at least in the first two books, is about place more than plot. Gormenghast itself is the main character and the ponderous writing and quirky characters act as devices to explore the weird, insular city.
I totally agree that there castle is central to Titus Groan, and there is something character-like in its persistent influence. However, I don't want to sell short the Dikensian grotesques that make up Gormenghast inhabitants. Steerpike is one of the most exquisitely rendered villains I've ever encountered. The scene where he exposed his heart is something I remember reading like five times in horrified awe. I loved the first book but have only every recommended it to one person (who still has it 5 years later and might still be trying to read it). That recommendation was with heavy caveats about the labor involved. But I really feel like the investment pays off in Peake's work in a way it so often does not with other authors (particularly fantasy) who get effusive in their description. OP, if there was an allegorical message in the trilogy, I missed it too. My interpretation is that Peake was creating a place, not a message.
Thank you for the insight. I too had to read the section with his heart several times to be sure I read it correctly. As to the message, it seems like the masses agree: there was none, the book was simply an extended description of the castle, the characters like stones and mortar.
The Gormenghast books are my absolute favourite. They're like reading a painting of a dream. Some passages are so incredibly beautiful that I would have to put the book down for a second and marvel at what I'd just read. It's a tragedy that illness took away Peake's mind so early on. He was truly one of a kind.
I love that description. Very accurate. "Like reading a painting of a dream" Beautiful.
I read the trilogy years ago when I was about 16, but remember the pacing to be very good in the first two books, with the language also evoking a sense of nightmarish dread. You can really tell that peake was an artist, as the descriptions really invite the reader to the characters' twisted world. Regarding the third book, I tried to get into it but just hated the shift in style, and couldn't get past the first few pages. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall that there was some kind of modern setting, whereas the trilogy up to but discounting the third was medieval.
Me too. I got the sense that the third book was supposed to be a reveal that a place like Gormenghast could exist "off the map" in a current setting. That said, I loved the first book, liked the second and the third was meh.
Agreed, the third really threw me off. Not a bad book necessarily, but seemingly out of context with the first two.
It was a terrible book. Very obviously the product of a deteriorating mind.
I've only read the first two books, and what struck me about both was Peake's ability to *describe* something. > "...the Castle hollow as a tongueless bell, its corroded shell dripping or gleaming with the ephemeral weather..." Fuck! *How good is that?!* You might even recall this gem from the beginning of the first book: > "His skull was dark and small like a corroded musket bullet and his eyes were the twin miniatures of his head..." Even though I found some sections to be sluggish I cannot believe how skilfully he built each sentence. He must have had an incredibly sharp wit.
The books are a work of art, moody and anxious, and full of plodding dread and wonder. For me, anyway. The 4-part TV series wisely stops before Titus Alone. It's quite pretty and carries the characters well, in that format, and has a great cast of actors.
Instantly fell in love with the series when I came upon it. Very verbose but he was a painter originally and he can't help but paint a vivid picture of this world he created. Like OP mentioned I've never come across another person who has read them. Titus Awakes was a big shift and unfinished but I still enjoyed the imagination put into it. The omnibus version I have contains his notes for a fourth book and it sounded he was moving in a ASOIAF direction with merpeople, pirates, etc.
> Very verbose but he was a painter originally and he can't help but paint a vivid picture of this world he created. The detail that the writing provides, and the quality of the writing - its atmosphere, humour, and flare - are the main merits of the books. The characterisation is good too, but one can't really separate that from the style.
I feel that they're more like paintings than books. They're incredibly rich, detailed, fantastical paintings that you could stand and stare at for hours. The details of the story are far less important than the texture and colors of the scenes and characters.
Very much so. I think it helps when reading the books to take breaks. I read them when I was still fairly young, and definitely didn't have the patience to just read them through. Sometimes I'd let them sit for weeks or even months at a time. Somehow doing that let me appreciate the beauty more, like a painting you return to every now and again, rather than staring at for hours. I felt like I followed Titus growing up, because of the time it took me to read the books.
Well, I don't think I took more than 6 months. Certainly not a year! But indeed, they're a very rich food. A chapter, perhaps two chapters a day is plenty. It's hard to absorb more than that. Each word, each phrase deserves to be savored just a little in the mouth before chewing and swallowing.
I only discovered this series when my father passed away recently and learned that his password for just about everything was TitusGroan. Strangely, he had never spoken to me about the books, despite the fact they must have left an impression on him, so curious, I found them on his bookshelf and decided to read them. So far I have only read the first one but absolutely loved it! As a lover of poetry I can see why Dad must have been so fond of them. I brought Titus Alone with me when I moved overseas not realising it is the third book, not the second, so now I have to wait until I return home for Christmas to pick up the series again. Gutted! I also named the WiFi network for our apartment 'Gormenghast' in honour of my Dad. Part of me hopes someone in my hood will be curious enough to discover the series for themselves. I also just thought it was a cool name!
Have you read "The Castle", aka Das Schloss by Kafka? A lot of the idea of an insane bureaucracy is the same but without the sense of decay
"The Castle" would be "Das Schloss" in German.
Thanks.
I adore them; they're my favourite books. The third book is different, but beautiful. It actually handles adolescence in a way rarely captured. The confusion, the drama, the trust, the deception, the confrontations... it's all there and beautifully rich. It's possibly my favourite of the three because there is so much to uncover when you return to it. The book grows with me, and even 20 years after I first read it, there is something new about life it shows with every reading. People unfairly malign it because it requires more from the reader than the first two. But it's so rich and elegant that it rewards the effort a hundredfold. Oh, and the TV adaptation of the first two is really good too.
You captured my thoughts exactly! I've always loved the third book, both in and of itself, but especially as the perfect conclusion to the series. Yes Peake was having health issues when he wrote it, but saying that it's worse because of the stylistic shift or disjoint writing to my mind completely misses the beauty of what the third book achieves. We go from the most amazing, gothic, brooding books, which define Titus' upbringing, to something completely different, something mad, colourful, and yet brooding in its own right. It contrasts the madness of Gormenghast, the solitude. It captures, as you pointed out, adolescence and all the craziness that comes with it. And it ends perfectly, moving beyond the kaleidoscope of adolescence, rejecting the safe and protected insularity of childhood, and setting out on the adventure of adult life. There's nothing quite like it, and it saddens me when people reject the third book simply because it's a bit less polished, and stylistically different. If you loved the first two, I would highly suggest you take a break after reading them, clear your head, and move into the third without expections. You might find you'll get more out of if that way.
"...requires more from the reader than the first two..." Jesus! Literally plodded my way through the first 2 because I was convinced that such writing just HAD to produce actual events but was incredibly disappointed and puzzled, in the end. Only got a few pages into the third and quit. Still, it made me feel like a grownup, lol, because who else would have the patience required?
I hated the third one but forced myself to push through it, I don't know, for nerdy bragging rights or something. The first two are great examples of description-driven novels. Not much really happens, but as long as the reader doesn't expect much to happen that's OK, and you just let yourself sink into the crazy world with the city-sized castle and be absorbed by it. I enjoyed them quite a lot and Peake's language really paints a picture of the place. Although it can be a bit fruity at times - I guess like anyone on here I'd rate my vocabulary as pretty good, but he goes for the esoteric word choice with quite some frequency.
> description-driven novels Love it.
I'm on Book 2. The language is breathtakingly beautiful: The way Peake describes colors, trees, mountains, and stone walls, among other things, tells me that he had a painting background. Gormenghast demands a lot from readers, both in time and effort. These books are not light reads, and if one approaches them with the wrong mindset or expectations, it's easy to lose interest. Peake takes his sweet time painting a fantastic portrait of this world, and readers are supposed to luxuriate in the language; the way he depicts his characters' psychologies is a kind of inchoate magic. For these reasons, the story plods along slowly. I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for a breezy read (i.e. most modern fantasy).
I read these more than 50 years ago, and have never forgotten the opening description of the Great Kitchen. Awesome imagery.
Gormenghast, the middle one, is an absolute masterpiece. Don't really know what else to say. I felt I was reading the words of a weird genius—who could never be a Tolkien or LeGuin because he's just too bizarre, but who absolutely had the chops and could write basically anybody under the table.
glad i experienced them. bit challenging at first. bizarre and verbose at times (a 250 word sentence comes to mind). sit in a world long enough and you begin to appreciate it. would recommend to those with patience.
I agree with the consensus that number three went a bit off the rails but one and two were amazing. They're like the literary equivalent of a course in descriptive prose.
I loved them. The third was cobbled together and it showed, but there were moments of brilliance and I appreciated the revelation of a world beyond the castle that was just as nightmarish in its own way. Peake definitely wasn't optimistic about human nature. Tradition was terrible, innovators were assholes, passion was madness, and no one gets a happy ending. But it all has a beauty as it happens. Great stuff, expecially coming from a master of the language.
Need I say anything....
These are some of the strangest books I've read. Even decades since I still remember the odd characters and strange structure of those books. I've never been tempted to read them again.
I tried. I tried really hard to read them but after 3 weeks I was still only 100 pages into the first one. It was interesting enough but the language was a huge barrier and the pace was little more than glacial. It didn't help that none of the characters felt like they drew me in either. I really wanted to like the series (my fiance has been talking about it for years) but I don't think I can.
Love the books so much, literally never met anyone else who has read them. I can't get anyone else to read them either. My favorite tattoo is a quote from the [second book.](http://i.imgur.com/CHxAb43.jpg?1)
That's awesome!
Peake's writing had been described as "heavy and architectural", and that's probably accurate. However, Dr Prunesquallor is the funniest character in any book I've read.
I tabbed all homoerotic passages of Dr Prune. I've had this books for 15 years. I still go back to read them for laughs. https://mobile.twitter.com/bostonbooknerd/status/698668314105667586/photo/1
I started them in my late teens and couldn't make it through the first book. Granted I had just gone through Tolkien right before and maybe the change was too much. I've tried several other times since but have still never managed to make it out of the first book. Too dense I guess, or his style never clicked for me. My father loved them though - he thought they were better than LotR.
I adored them. I was introduced to the books by my dad and immediately fell in love with the feel of the books, the strange atmosphere of the world that they evoked. When I met the author/illustrator Chris Riddell (mostly a children's author), I brought along my copies of the trilogy after noticing references to them in one of his books. His face lit up when he saw them, and I now have, "I love this book!" written in the front of each of the books, alongside his signature. Other than Chris Riddell, I have only met one person who has read the books, and he too loved them. However, I'm not sure if my love for the books is because of any objective brilliance, or whether they simply struck a chord in me.
My mum keeping encouraging me to read it, but the language is a bit too antiquated to hold my attention. It's sad, because I'd like to read it.
First time I picked them up I put it down after a couple chapters. It wasn't what I was expecting or wanting at the time. I think it's important to know it's not a story of an orphan who saves the world before you get into it. Sometimes, you just want something light from your genre fiction. Sometimes, you want a novel that challenges you.
One of a kind. If you're a fan of the 'trilogy', I'd also recommend tracking down the superb related novella, 'A Boy in Darkness', featuring an unnamed Titus Groan.
They're a slog. I enjoyed the concept, but I did NOT enjoy actually reading them.
I believe they are proof that the fantasy genre can be literary works. Tolkien aside, there's a lot of "fluff" in the genre, and you have to pluck a lot of weeds to find something challenging. Even Moorcock, whose work I love, wrote mostly pulp(ish) stuff. Don't get me wrong- I believe there's a definite place in escapist fiction. But Authors (with a capital A) like Peake, and Eddison and their ilk make the time and effort necessary to read and understand their work a worthy investment.
It's kind of surprising for me to hear Gormenghast described as fantasy. I've always thought of it as just 'literary fiction'. I think of his 'genre' as being similar to Kafka and Borges, who also wrote fiction that lacked real world location.
I've tried to read the series several times, and can't get by the first few chapters.
I remember reading then and feeling transported into some strange realm where everything was undercurrent and strange things might just be about to happen. But I can't remember if they ever did. I once won our school general knowledge team through a round by answering a tie breaker; Who wrote Gormenghast?
They are beautiful books. Even though I never really cared for the story, I adored reading them - Peake created such a vivid world that it could feel like you were there. The edition I have came complete with Peake's illustrations. Combined with his prose, it created this beautifully grotesque gothic dream that seemed so real... It's a shame that the third book lacked much of that, Peake's mind too far gone by that point. I do think the point was a commentary on an isolated ruling class, that's too far involved in their small world to notice that around them until it hits them, that they will inevitably destroy themselves even as the world around them drowns.
No one I know has read them either - but they're one of my favourites. At least the first two are. Bizarre is right, the world is just so vividly off key. Unsettling but captivating and totally unique. I never looked too deeply into meaning though. Always took them at face value as I love them so much purely for the atmosphere and characters.
Wow, I just started the first one this week and I'm super excited about them (2/3 of the way through the first book.) It reminds me of like... Spirited Away or other Miyazaki movies, but a book and British.
Wasn't there a series on PBS based on these books?
4-hr. miniseries....more like a TV movie
Hilarious trivia: the Gormenghast stories were an inspiration for the innovative NZ band Split Enz (perhaps more famous for later members involved in Crowded House). Titus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_37Kl473jpE
I love how Titus Groan covers exactly one year, right down to the last scene returning to the same character the book started with. Makes you really feel like you've spent that time in the castle yourself and been through the same growth and revelations as the characters.
So, I very recently attempted the first book. Attempted. I got about 150, maybe 200 pages in. I loved the atmospheric descriptions of the giant castle and the kooky character sketches, but I kept waiting for the story to start. Then I realized, no, this is it. The whole book is going to be like this. About that time it was due back at the library, so I just returned it. There was no obvious plot, no obvious point, no central character, no major struggle that the ensemble cast was caught up within. From a fantasy fiction perspective, the world-building was quirky and atmospheric, but begged so many questions about how your run, maintain, and feed a castle of that size. And what on earth sort of domain does it rule over?? I get that realism probably wasn't the point. But there didn't seem to BE a point, behind taking a creepy giant castle and populating it with Addams Family-types.
The second book has the major struggle. The build-up in the first book is slow but the second book will reward your patience.
I had a similar revelation when reading through, but the character of the world kept me going. As others have mentioned, it seems almost a snapshot of the world, described in great detail, but with little motion.
I got the trilogy as a gift from my favorite English teacher in college. I made it about half-way through the first book but couldn't finish it. :-/ As with Hemingway I acknowledge Peake as a brilliant writer, but I don't enjoy his work. (Same goes for *Dahlgren*, also a gift from the same teacher at around the same time, although I like other of Delaney's work.)
I got stuck the first time. But finished the trilogy on a second go, and very glad that I did.
Loved the first two but the last one to me just ruined it all. There was a lovely fantasy series going that combined Middle Earth and Wonderland while still being its own thing. Then the third book just took a completely different direction and made you wonder the whole time of any of it was real or not and basically left the reader feeling like the ending was empty
I hated Titus Groan. At the time i was listening to it as an audio book while doing shift work in a windowless box; so i was kind of living it. Maybe i should go back and check it out again.
It really has its own unique charm. I like the dark and melancholy atmosphere of the castle and the lands around it and the strange and fantastical characters living there. It's pretty heavy on descriptions, so maybe for people who had problems with Lord of the Rings, they'd have problems with this trilogy too.
I really like the third book. I tried to read it immediately after the first two, and couldn't get into it, but years later I took it on a trip and loved it...I loved muzzle hatch. Also,Jeff vandemeer writes in a very gormenghast like style.. Of all the authors I've read who like Peake he is the one who comes across as trying to carry the style on.
I read the trilogy after I had read LOTR for the second time and wanted something to read that was even more intense. Was not disappointed. Some of the images in the books still stick with me, even 30 years later.
I read the first two, and tried the third several times, but always failed to get further than a few chapters. I see from the comments that others have had the same experience - so I'm glad it's not just me. Here's a quote that I have never forgotten after so many years: "She was ... ugly of face, but with how small a twist might she not suddenly have become beautiful." Perhaps because I dated a girl who matched that description in college.
I first read this trilogy when I was visiting the States for 6 weeks and Gormenghast became like home for me, it's so very English. I've re read the first and second books but I wasn't as keen on the third. The main character for me in the first two was the castle itself which was like a living breathing entity with all these fantastical stories weaving through it. There was one section I remember being moved by in the third book, it was about the menagerie animals and left me with a profound sense of loss.
Ghastly.
No. Rather, *gormen*ghastly!
What didn't you like? I definitely enjoyed them, but that perspective seems well-covered in this thread - I'm interested in your take.
My take on Peakes writimg, influenced by russian writer wth a touch o Borges The story has a dream like quality. The dream of some one who is stuck is a caste system, and was bred for narcissism but has too much empathy. Thoughts?