Product Description

One of the greatest imaginative feats of the twentieth century

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2696 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy has grown out of its reputation as a cult classic and into the mainstream of fantasy, as a book no reader interested in Gothic dare to miss. It is one of the most distinctive, absorbing and wonderfully strange books ever written. The story concerns Titus, heir to and afterwards 77th Earl of Groan and his adventures in the sprawling, crumbling castle of Gormenghast. Gormenghast is an entire world and Titus comes to grips with his prime antagonist, the sinister kitchenboy Steerpike, amongst a brilliant profusion of characters and vivid detail. Peake's work is rarely compared with that other great fantasy trilogy to come out of the immediately post-war years, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings but in ways the two works do go together. Although Tolkien is plain and expansive where Peake is elaborate, poetic and inward-looking, both authors nonetheless use a detailed imaginative escapism in order to talk about the concerns of their day--specifically the passing of the old certainties of traditional England and the coming of something new. "'Equality is the great thing', said the sinister Steerpike, pulling the legs off a stag beetle and preparing to take on the whole hierarchy of Gormenghast, 'equality is everything'." This is why the short, surreal oddity of Titus Alone, the third novel, is the best: finally leaving his castle home Titus finds the larger world stranger even than his birthplace.

The new television series, with which this edition ties in, promises great things but the best part of Mervyn Peake is to be found in his ornate, poetic writing; his grasp of the Dickensian oddities of character and the utterly unique atmosphere of the books. --Adam Roberts

Synopsis
Gormenghast is the vast, crumbling castle to which the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, is lord and heir. Titus is expected to rule this gothic labyrinth of turrets and dungeons, and his eccentric and wayward subjects, according to strict age-old rituals, but things are changing in the castle. Titus must contend with treachery, manipulation and murder as well as his own longing for a life beyond the castle walls.

From the Publisher
Gormenghast is the vast, crumbling castle to which the 77th Earl, Titus Graon, is Lord and heir. Gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old ritual, a world primed to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, manipulation and murder-- a world suggested in a tour de force that ranks as one of the century's most remarkable feats of imaginative writing.

"The Gormenghast trilogy is one of the most important works of the imagination to come out of the age that also produced Four Quartets, The Unquiet Grave, Brideshead Revisited, The Loved One, Animal Farm and 1984" --Anthony Burgess, Spectator

Customer Reviews

in real life you would want to steer clear of Steerpike.
THINGS YOU WILL FEEL WHEN READING THIS BOOK

whilst reading the book you will have moments of Blisfull Transcendency

whilst reading the book you will fall in love with Steerpike and Fuschcia

whilst reading this book you will realize writing fiction is about doing whatever you want.

Its also very funny.

A comparatively overlooked 20th century classic
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy fell into my lap quite literally by accident. I knocked over a complete edition while searching for something else in my local library.

I think Gormenghast is faintly resonant in our cultural memory. Most people have heard of it but very few have actually read any of the three novels that tell the tale of the alternate world of Gormenghast, and the birth and rise of its seventy seventh Earl, Titus Groan.

The 2000 BBC mini series may have introduced a new generation to the novels but despite its impressive cast it is a far too modest undertaking to capture the vast and grand scope of the novels.

Published in 1946, 1950 and 1959 the trilogy is atypical of my experience of early 20th century literature, creating a world and culture that is vast, quirky and esoterically charming. Like The Silmarillion or Dune these books are more concerned with creating a world with its own internal logic than with superficial action. Indeed it can be argued that very little actually happens within the books. Make no mistake, the Gormenghast books are not pacy, thrill a minute page turners.

But to write them off for their meticulous and deliberate pace is to miss the point somewhat. The beauty of the books, as in the world of Gormenghast itself, is in its meticulous detail, its lavish imagery and complete eccentricity.

Tonally the books are similar to Tolkein's tales of Middle Earth in their scope and cultural richness but with a deliciously gothic twist. Lord of The Rings meets The Cthulhu Mythos, if you like.

Sure, the books aren't an easy read but if you're willing to put in the effort and immerse yourself in their strange world it can make for a hugely rewarding and enjoyable experience.

Lose yourself in this fantasy world if you dare..
I have owned this book for many years and find myself inexorably drawn back to re-read it again and again. Gormenghast and its myriad of characters are both beautiful and terrible, and absolutely compelling. The depth of detail paints the most vivid images for the reader: spend too long in the pages and you can't put the book down, for fear of missing what deeds may happen next. Steerpike is brilliantly written, but don't overlook the other characters - I was always fascinated by Irma Prunesquallor ! The only disappointment which I see is shared by others is Titus Alone - it simply is not at the same level as the first two books. A must read book.