Product Description

An undisputed classic of epic fantasy, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels represent one of the most brilliantly sustained flights of Gothic imagination. For the first time in years, Titus Groan, the first book in this timeless series, is available in an individual paperback volume, complete with striking new packaging.

As the novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born. He stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle. Inside, all events are predetermined by a complex ritual whose origins are lost in history and the castle is peopled by dark characters in half-lit corridors. Dreamlike and macabre, Peake's extraordinary novel is one of the most astonishing and fantastic works in modern English fiction.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #626539 in Books
• Published on: 1991-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 396 pages

Amazon.com Review
Mervyn Peake's gothic masterpiece, the Gormenghast trilogy, begins with the superlative Titus Groan, a darkly humorous, stunningly complex tale of the first two years in the life of the heir to an ancient, rambling castle. The Gormenghast royal family, the castle's decidedly eccentric staff, and the peasant artisans living around the dreary, crumbling structure make up the cast of characters in this engrossing story. Peake's command of language and unique style set the tone and shape of an intricate, slow-moving world of ritual and stasis:

The walls of the vast room which were streaming with calid moisture, were built with gray slabs of stone and were the personal concern of a company of eighteen men known as the 'Grey Scrubbers'.... On every day of the year from three hours before daybreak until about eleven o'clock, when the scaffolding and ladders became a hindrance to the cooks, the Grey Scrubbers fulfilled their hereditary calling.

Peake has been compared to Dickens, Tolkien, and Peacock, but Titus Groan is truly unique. Unforgettable characters with names like Steerpike and Prunesquallor make their way through an architecturally stifling world, with lots of dark corners around to dampen any whimsy that might arise. This true classic is a feast of words unlike anything else in the world of fantasy. Those who explore Gormenghast castle will be richly rewarded. --Therese Littleton

From Publishers Weekly
In this illustrated Gothic trilogy, a young heir matures within the confines of bleak Gormenghast castle. Volume three includes 12 critical essays and Peake's unfinished Titus Awakes .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

Change comes to the ossified
Gormenghast is a great, meandering, decaying, monolith of a castle and the people in it lead lives of petty struggle that non-the-less fascinate the average person like you and me. Into this stuffy atmosphere of 'old' people is born Titus, who will eventually be the seventh-seventh Earl of Groan. Titus' birth is a monumental change in the affairs of the castle, but this is only the first of a sequence of disturbing events that will take place in the first year of Tutus' life. Much of this change will arise from seventeen-year-old Steerpike, an upstart servant who is also new to the castle. Steerpike has an intelligent and devious mind and an ambition to find a better place for himself in the world. Can the people of Gormenghast survive Steerpike's destructive tendencies or will the time honored traditions of the castle be destroyed long before Titus has a chance to even be aware of them?

This is the first of a trilogy of novels written by Mervyn Peake. The other two are Gormenghast and Titus Alone (Gormenghast Trilogy).

Peake has created a work of literature which is very difficult to classify. It has the feel of Fantasy, and indeed the events take place in an imaginary world which is not quite our own. The book, however, does not feature magic, or imaginary creatures like dragons, or the supernatural, all of which are the hallmarks of fantasy. The novel could be described as Gothic, and indeed it has a medieval atmosphere and the events described are diabolical, yet Peake writes with a black-humored, tongue-in-cheek style which suggests that his intention is not really to horrify. The medieval background could suggest the Historical genre, yet the very heightened atmosphere casts doubt on the assumption that this is an attempt to describe 'real' events. As the critic Pringle points out in his book Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels : An English Language Selection, 1946-1987 the story could be Allegorical of the decay of Britain, and this seems implied by the descriptions of truly boring and stupid rituals and descriptions, yet the plot is not didactic and has too much of a life of its own to be of that class of literature. No matter what genre, if any, this book is, it is certainly an enjoyable read.

This novel exudes decay. Everything and everyone in it, except perhaps Titus, are in a state of eccentric decline. Even the seasons seem to deny any cycle of renewal, which they so typically describe. This is a truly dark novel, though Peake has lightened it by adding the humor in which we laugh at the absurdities of each character. These characters have many of the aspects of caricature, for example their names - Rootcodd, Mr. Flay, Swelter, Dr. Prunesquallor - and their individual ways of talking - Nanny Slagg's "oh my Poor heart" and Prunesquallor's frivolous laugh. Peake manages, however, to make these characters truly live and we are interested in what will finally befall each one. Fuchsia and Steerpike, as the younger and most alive characters, capture the reader's interest and heart, the first in a good way and the second in a bad way.

There are some very memorable passages in this novel including Swelter's opening speech on the day of Titus' birth, Steerpike's agonizing climb over Gormenghast's rooftop, the ghastly fire and Mr. Flay's ultimate confrontation with Swelter. One word of warning though! This book, like Gormenghast castle itself, is monolithic. It is 500 pages long and many of those pages are taken up with descriptions of setting, right down to the detailing of a reflection in a raindrop. Remember that this is only the first of three volumes and only covers the first year of Titus' life. If you like novels with lots of fast action this is certainly not the book for you.

Like pulling teeth (or rather, like having a tooth-pull explained in 200 pages of detail)
Do you like description? I mean REALLY like description? As in, the words, "I prefer my books to have a complete absence of content other than description, including plot, character development, rising action, climax, and denouement," have passed your lips? Then this book is for you!

This was, arguably, the most tedious book I've ever been subjected to. It came with very, very high praise, so I figured what the hell: I'll give it a shot. Nope. I kept waiting for something, ANYTHING, to happen. It never does. It's very well-described, but that's it. I know every square inch of a castle full of people I know nothing about: people who never change or evolve, who don't do anything.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is the reverse of that sentiment. It's as though the author had a clear understanding of what was happening throughout an entire castle for a single moment in time, and set out to simply describe every square inch of it.

Look at your computer (you're reading this, so no challenge there). Now describe your desk, its contents, and their surroundings in complete detail. Every particle of dust. Every Cheetos crumb. The way the light from your screen partially illuminates the surface of the keys, while the cracks between remain dark. Everything. Every little detail, no matter how trivial and irrelevant. Do not describe the sound of an arriving e-mail or instant message, for that implies activity. Just the single, static instant in tableau, noting every minute aspect of your view. Now publish this description and you too can be a contender in this genre.

This is NOT fantasy, nor is it historical fiction. It's not a mystery, or a thriller, or a romance. There's no psychological depth, no conflict, no passion. There is no magic, no non-humans, nothing fantastic or mystical. It is simply pedantic babbling that has strangely captured the minds of about half of its readers.

In short, if you want to hear ALL about Castle Gormenghast (perhaps you wish to build a castle full of miserable people and can't afford blueprints?), then have at; I hope you love it. If, however, you expect a BOOK within the pages of these covers, look elsewhere. There's far too many authors that can craft excellent visuals while simultaneously telling a story.

A Groan is Born
Peake's vast Gormenghast trilogy deserves to be rediscovered by fans of dark and surreal literature, who will probably be amazed by the work's influence even if they've never heard of it. This first book of the trilogy (from 1946) highlights the rewards and demands of reading Mervyn Peake. While most would categorize the story as fantasy, Peake avoids stock mythical creatures and vague supernatural magic, and sticks with the human drama of a large cast of eccentric and diverse characters. Most of the story takes place within the oppressive Gormenghast castle and its immediate surroundings, so there is also no stereotypical fantasy quest or swashbuckling adventure. A good (if simplistic) assessment of Peake's style would be a mix of the Tolkienesque and the Shakespearean with a Dickensian mood.

Peake's skills with language were stupendous, particularly with building moods and settings. This novel features highly scenic and ornate prose that really gives the reader a sense of the vast and dark confines of the monolithic Gormenghast castle, and the melancholy to Machiavellian lives of the inhabitants, who have been variously unhinged by their oppressive surroundings and entrenched rituals. In the first half of the story, not very much happens in terms of plot development and the pacing is very slow, In short, a moribund and oblivious palace culture, made so by the isolation and vastness of the castle, is shaken up by the birth of the heir to the throne and the arrival of a scheming interloper. The problem is, when action scenes and true character developments start to pop up in the second half, the reader may barely notice because all are equally buried under avalanches of Peake's ornate prose. This gives the novel a rather tiresome sense of sameness (and slowness) that does not do justice to the unique developments taking place beneath the florid writing.

Readers who appreciate the arts of prose construction and skills of description will surely enjoy this book the most. Those looking for more plot and action will be intrigued by the story but might find the reading to be exasperating or unrewarding. In either case, knowledgeable readers will notice the vast influence of the Gormenghast story. And unlike many of his future imitators, Peake actually wrapped up this first book enough to make it both a fine stand-alone novel and an effective teaser for the next installment in the trilogy. [~doomsdayer520~]