Customer Reviews

Boy in Darkness and Other Stories

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Boy in Darkness and Other Stories assembles works of fiction by author Mervyn Peake (1911-1968), who is perhaps best known for his trilogy of Titus novels set in the decaying castle of Gormenghast. The novella "Boy in Darkness" was originally conceived during that trilogy, and features an unnamed fourteen-year-old boy, most likely Titus Groan himself, in a dream-like adventure that stretches beyond his rigidly ritualistic home. As he wanders a bleak landscape, he is captured by the malevolent Goat and Hyena, the henchmen of an implacable evil seeking to steal his soul. The five other tales in the anthology are resurrected after being out of print for many years; they range from a grim ghost story to tongue-in-cheek character studies. They are "The Weird Journey", "I Bought a Palm-tree", "The Connoisseurs ", "Danse Macabre", and "Same Time, Same Place". Further enhancing this collection are a selection of original drawings and paintings by the author, most in black-and-white but a very few in color. A treasury of classic literature, highly recommended for personal reading lists as well as public and college library collections.

It's important to know these are not illustrated versions of the stories. Peake's sketches and dashed-off watercolors have been selected by his relatives to decorate the tales, and these are fine enough, but anyone expecting Peake's precise and graceful rendition of his timeless monster The Lamb, for instance, will be sorely disappointed.