 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Boy In Darkness and other stories for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Shows Peake to be a master of the macabre and a traveller through the deeper and darker chasms of the imagination' --The Times
Completely hair-raising --Glasgow Herald
Completely hair-raising --Glasgow Herald
Completely hair-raising --Glasgow Herald
Completely hair-raising --Glasgow Herald
Product Description
Of special interest to fans of the Gormenghast books as it consitutes a chapter in the life of Titus Groan that unfolds beyonf the pages of Peake's monumental trilogy. A disturbingly atmospheric tale, told with the force and simplicity of allegory. Also included in this special volume are a collection of rare stories, plus some never-before-seen Peake illustrations, courtesy of the Estate
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the first time Mervyn Peake's short stories have been collected together in one volume. It's a slim book, but essential if for no other reason than the republication of the title story, which is one of the great short novels of fantasy, as well as being a compact addition to Peake's Gormenghast books. The "Boy" of the title is Titus Groan at the age of fourteen, and although he goes through most of the story being called simply "the Boy" (and although Joanne Harris, in her foreword, says this is all he is ever called, he is called Titus, just once, on page 40). "Boy in Darkness" is a perfectly written nightmare, the sort that might occur after reading H G Wells' Island of Doctor Moreau while indulging in a little too much late-night cheese. Titus's night journey outside the cloying halls of Gormenghast brings him into the clutches of three of Peake's most well-drawn Dickensian grotesques, in the shape of the Goat, Hyena, and the blood-chilling Lamb, whose icy presence makes me wonder how this short novel could ever have been issued as a book for children (which it was, in 1996). How any child reading it could ever look at anything white, or soft, or quietly spoken, without a jitter of fears, I don't know, because, once you read "Boy in Darkness", the deeply evil Lamb haunts all things white, and soft, and quietly spoken, whatever age you are.
"Boy in Darkness" takes up about two thirds of this book. In comparison, some of the other tales feel rather short and light, but that is more a reflection of the title story being so good. Of the others, "I Bought a Palm-Tree" and "The Connoisseurs" are comic sketches, the former perhaps being autobiographical, the latter a neat little critique of pompous critics. "The Weird Journey" is an experiment in style that comes closer than most to evoking the weird, underwater logic of dreams. "Danse Macabre" is the best of the remaining five, particularly if, like me, you enjoy ghost stories, although this one isn't by any means the tale of a conventional type of haunting. But "Same Time, Same Place", though a well-told tale, relies on a fear of the physically grotesque which feels out of place in the work of an author who has such sympathy with the emotionally grotesque.
An essential book for anyone who has enjoyed any of Peake's work, this little collection is peppered with sketches by the writer's own hand.
"Boy in Darkness" takes up about two thirds of this book. In comparison, some of the other tales feel rather short and light, but that is more a reflection of the title story being so good. Of the others, "I Bought a Palm-Tree" and "The Connoisseurs" are comic sketches, the former perhaps being autobiographical, the latter a neat little critique of pompous critics. "The Weird Journey" is an experiment in style that comes closer than most to evoking the weird, underwater logic of dreams. "Danse Macabre" is the best of the remaining five, particularly if, like me, you enjoy ghost stories, although this one isn't by any means the tale of a conventional type of haunting. But "Same Time, Same Place", though a well-told tale, relies on a fear of the physically grotesque which feels out of place in the work of an author who has such sympathy with the emotionally grotesque.
An essential book for anyone who has enjoyed any of Peake's work, this little collection is peppered with sketches by the writer's own hand.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this for the title story, and I must say, it's not quite for children. it's very dark, and quite frightening, but is beautifully written.
Gormenghast is one of my all time favorite books, and this belongs with it.
If you haven't read Gormenghast, read it, and read this before you read Titus Alone. You wont be disappointed. It's like "hearts of darkness", well it reminds me of it anyway.
Gormenghast is one of my all time favorite books, and this belongs with it.
If you haven't read Gormenghast, read it, and read this before you read Titus Alone. You wont be disappointed. It's like "hearts of darkness", well it reminds me of it anyway.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I will take it for granted that Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast is the finest book ever written. And that you are also totally smitten by the labyrinthine Gothic immensity of the trilogy.
This small book contains a separate Titus story (set when he was 14), plus some shorter stories, and a collection of Peake's sketches. The book itself is a delight, well laid out and with appropriate sketches throughout.
The main story ("Boy in Darkness") is really very nasty. I suspect it is a dream sequence, as the tale begins when Titus has just finished a series of "remote ceremonies the meaning of which had been long forgotten", and he is lying on his bed staring at the pattern of mildew on the ceiling.
[In his dream] he escapes from the castle through various secret passages and finds himself herded by some nightmare dogs towards a river. Crossing this river on a handy skiff, he is captured by a couple of very odd characters - the Goat and the Hyena, whose human nature has been corrupted into their animal traits by their master - the Lamb.
Perhaps it is too obvious, but the Lamb [of God?] seems to symbolise all that is bad about religion - the way that the Goat and the Hyena have given their lives (and souls) to this over powering Lamb, how the Lamb corrupts their basic humanity into following his orders without question, and how they can no longer think for themselves.
Very disturbing - and entirely unsuitable for children - unless you are a fan of some of the more horrific children's stories (Struwwelpeter comes to mind!).
There are some splendid echoes of Gormenghast, in particular when Titus "looked slowly around the room and was then suddenly arrested by a nearby face. It stared at him fiercely. ... he knew that he was looking at himself", which echoes the two eyes at the keyhole at the beginning of Titus Groan.
This small book contains a separate Titus story (set when he was 14), plus some shorter stories, and a collection of Peake's sketches. The book itself is a delight, well laid out and with appropriate sketches throughout.
The main story ("Boy in Darkness") is really very nasty. I suspect it is a dream sequence, as the tale begins when Titus has just finished a series of "remote ceremonies the meaning of which had been long forgotten", and he is lying on his bed staring at the pattern of mildew on the ceiling.
[In his dream] he escapes from the castle through various secret passages and finds himself herded by some nightmare dogs towards a river. Crossing this river on a handy skiff, he is captured by a couple of very odd characters - the Goat and the Hyena, whose human nature has been corrupted into their animal traits by their master - the Lamb.
Perhaps it is too obvious, but the Lamb [of God?] seems to symbolise all that is bad about religion - the way that the Goat and the Hyena have given their lives (and souls) to this over powering Lamb, how the Lamb corrupts their basic humanity into following his orders without question, and how they can no longer think for themselves.
Very disturbing - and entirely unsuitable for children - unless you are a fan of some of the more horrific children's stories (Struwwelpeter comes to mind!).
There are some splendid echoes of Gormenghast, in particular when Titus "looked slowly around the room and was then suddenly arrested by a nearby face. It stared at him fiercely. ... he knew that he was looking at himself", which echoes the two eyes at the keyhole at the beginning of Titus Groan.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
