Customer Reviews

Gormenghast (Gormenghast Trilogy)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
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It's not really possible to review Gormenghast out of context with the other two books that sandwich it: Titus Groan leads you into the world of Gormenghast and Titus Alone makes you wonder how Gormenghast, the place, exists.
This second volume continues to follow the adventures of the murderously ambitious Steerpike, the maturity and self-awareness of Titus Groan, with some colorful side-trips into a courtship, the revelation of a creature completely antithetical to all that Gormanghast stands for, and a natural disaster that heightens the intensity of the conclusion.
I would heartily recommend starting with Titus Groan (it seems the only available edition has all three volumes in one), and working through them in sequence. But make sure you avoid all the scholarly apparatus that follows Titus Alone until you've finished all three: there are a few spoilers there.
As for the comparisons to Tolkein, I'm afraid I don't see it: they as different as can be. This is not a hero's quest and where it does come down to good versus evil, it's more to do with survival: the world of Gormenghast is a world of murk and shadows, with no clear delineations or values. Titus Groan's self-awareness and the choices he makes are what drive the story. In The Lord of the Rings, there's a sense of destiny to the decisions and actions: Gormenghast is much more personal, with Steerpike's ambition, Sepulchrave's sense of duty, Flay's vigilance, Titus's maturity all helping to propel the action.
Now go read this monster.

Peake takes you into a musty world beyond time and space. His descriptions of this world are beyond imagination, as are his characters. You become engulfed in a story full of lies, madness, sadness, and utter mystery. If you like Tolkien try this book on for size!!!

This is a review of Gormenghast, that is, the second part of the Gormenghast trilogy (after Titus Groan, and before Titus Alone).

After a somewhat slow beginning, in which Mervyn Peake first briefly summarizes Titus Grown by drawing up a list of which characters have died or gone missing, then introduces the reader with the plethora of new characters that are the teachers of Titus, the now seven-year-old seventy-seventh Earl of Gormenghast, the pace hopefully picks up again. And as the pages turn, the story becomes more and more exciting.

Irma Prunesquallor's party, and then her romance and the way the whole affair eventually backfires on Wellgrove, although it does not push the plot further, were fun to read. Titus's growing love for his sister Fuchsia, and at the same time his attempts at shunning both the physical prison that is Gormenghast castle and the mental cage that is its sacrosanct ritual, attempts that lead him into the mysterious forest where lurks the Thing, and to the grotto where Flay has taken shelter, were passionating. Finally, Steerpike's mischievious, murderous ambition, and the others' suspicions that gradually turn into evidences, and the memorable chases in the shadowy maze of the fortress that ensue, were purely mind-boggling.

Mervyn Peake's characters are so complex that in the end you like the ones you despised and hate the ones you loved in the first book. His words give life to such an amazing imagery, it vibrates and dazzles, it's intoxicating. This is magic.

The Gormenghast trilogy (yes, it is a trilogy) is by far a brilliant achievement in the exploration of the imagination. It draws the thick, musty curtains of the brain's preoccupations to reveal a fantastic world of marionette-like carricatures, parading before you in a story that defies the constrictive realm of fantasy literature. Mervyn Peake's talents as an illustrater take on a completely different medium to paint these vistas before you. The only real tragedy of this beautiful, innocent tale is that these books are harder to find than Sourdust's hairbrush.

Having read Titus Groan (which I enjoyed immensely), I decided to read Gormenghast. This took place some 10 years ago, but the book is one I still recommend and think about regularly. I will not attempt to review it in any real detail here, but I will add one comment about the book which other reviews usually leave out. This book is the funniest book I have ever read. It is not exactly a comedy, and I do not think it is intended to be riotously funny. I still reread sections of the book as they make me laugh so much it hurts. I think the reason it is funny (but only in places) relates to Mervyn Peake's mental illness, a condition which eventually led to his tragic death. The humour is black and warped. If you were to read the whole book through, this could be missed. The sections relating to Titus's schooling are fascinating and hilarious (strychnine poisoning) - yet I believe this aspect of the book is usually overlooked. There are other reasons to recommend this book, but for me, it remains a work of (partial) comic genius.

Every other reviewer here to date has written only about the wonderful "Gormenghast" print novel, not about this specific audiobook version. I have all three of the Blackstone Audiobooks in the Gormenghast series (this title, "Titus Groan" and "Titus Alone") on CD, and I am pleased to report that reader Robert Whitfield does an absolutely magnificent job of not merely reading the books, but performing them.

Whitfield's readings are thoroughly entertaining, and the individual "voices" he gives to the characters are positively inspired -- from the stately baritone drawl of headmaster Bellgrove to the fidgety desperation of Irma Prunesquallor to the "we are not amused" Countess Gertrude to the obsequious, ambitious and evil Steerpike -- I could go on and on. Whitfield seems to take real delight in giving voice to Peake's words, savoring every richly ornamented sentence.

The only "caveat" for Peake purists is that all three Blackstone audiobooks, although they were produced in 2000, used the old Ballantine Books editions of the novels as their source material, not the "restored" texts that later appeared from Overlook Press and others. Fortunately, any "restorations" that were made to "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast" were extremely minor; only the third book, "Titus Alone," had significant alterations and additions (including entire restored chapters that did not appear in the Ballantine version).

(Note: The "restored text" audiobook of "Titus Alone," produced by Isis Audio Books, is read by Edmund Dehn, whose delivery is not nearly as energetic, imaginative and textured as that of Robert Whitfield on the Blackstone version. Which means buyers face the odd choice of hearing a better performance but not getting the entire book by going with the Blackstone version, or hearing the full text from a less lively reader on the Isis version. Heck, just do what I did and buy both -- it's only money!)

While the Blackstone "Gormenghast" is not exactly inexpensive, rest assured that you will not be disappointed with the product. Reader Robert Whitfield is a true treasure.

These books rank with the greatest books of world literature, and only one of them is still in print? Every library in the world should have a copy of the trilogy. Anyway, here we find the story of the adolescence of Titus Groan. We are also given more depth into the other characters. I'd like to note that my veiw of Steerpike and Flay changed. When I read Titus Groan, I found Steerpike more a sympathetic character than Flay, here it is otherwise. I'd also like to mention on how the events in the previous book effect the life of Titus Groan in such a way that it seems as if it happened in real life. We see the conflict inside of him between the pride of his linege and the desire for freedom, that eventually has Titus flee the great castle. The conflict between freedom and desire for the home is carried into Titus Alone.

This second part of the Gormenghast trilogy focuses on Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Gormenghast's youth, from schooling to his ascention to manhood. This book took me almost a year to read (one long break) - the first half of the book progresses incredibly slowly, even for Peake's normally languid pace - I just couldn't cope. I can appreciate his qualities as a wordsmith - his vocabulary is second to none but I couldn't help but think he could have shortened things somewhat- the schoolmasters' preparation to court Irma drags on and on, but her eventual marriage has virtually no importance to the main plot, and ends up seeming like a waste of time and space - 'I waded through molasses for what!'

In stark contrast, the latter half of the book contains Peake's best (I think) work of the entire trilogy, culminating in the hunt for Steerpike - which is superb. Definately a book of two halves, (bad cliche) but the reader is rewarded for their effort in the end.

A true classic for readers of fantasy... BUT where is it?????

Suffice it to say that this is one of the modern classics and can be read repeatedly without tiring of the fascinating story and characters. For it to be out of print is nothing short of a crime - I will just have to pick up dozens of copies the next time I am in Europe, where it is never out of print