- Paperback: 953 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (6 Jan 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099284383
- ISBN-13: 978-0099284383
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.6 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 296,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
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
Book Description
One of the greatest imaginative feats of the twentieth century
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have never read anything like this before. I am a huge fan of fantasy, but Mervyn Peake's style is truly unique. The trilogy is epic in proportion even though the first two books are set almost exclusively within the confines of Ghormenghast Castle. The characters are fascinating, complex and mad as badgers, every one. I loved these people. Peake writes with such descriptive love that you care about the characters and what happens to them. He creates such sympathy between you and the characters that you care despite their many flaws. My favourite character was Steerpike, and in anyone elses hands this character would have been odious, but I found myself on his side! The last book is perhaps the weakest, mainly because it is the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Castle that creates alot of the tension and atmosphere in the book, and having moved to pastures new in the last the tension is somewhat lacking. That said still a great read.
A deep, dark enthralling story which will keep you turning pages, and leave you with a slight aching sadness when you finish it.
A deep, dark enthralling story which will keep you turning pages, and leave you with a slight aching sadness when you finish it.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading this book is like being fully immersed in an utterly fantastic world. The way of life is described in microscopic detail until the existance of a world outside gormenghast becomes unreal. When Titus ventures out of the castle, the world (and indeed our world) by comparison is a pale, washed out image of reality. This is a book with which I have become far more emotionally involved than anything I have read before or since. Every reading feels like a homecoming. Peake's imagery is beautifully, indulgently rich, and the prose has been written with constant precision I defy you to find one single line which does not read like poetry.
71 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book itself is excellent, great atmosphere etc. as everyone else has already said...however I give it 4 stars and am writing on here due to the fact that it's absolutely full of printing errors and has a habit of turning phrases like 'a long finger' into 'along finger'.
So if that kind of thing annoys you...just a warning.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Words of wit and quaint wizardry
This book holds the distinction of making me laugh out loud from simply looking at the words on the page (as opposed to reading them in my head). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alexander J. Dunn
A Bit Dark
Whilst the author Mervyn Peake was a master of the English language and was able to paint vivid pictures with expert knowledge of vocabulary and literary devices I felt smothered... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Avid Reader
Good but not great
It's hard to argue that Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy is anything but an important landmark in twentieth century gothic fiction. Read more
Published 2 months ago by John Moseley
A Classic Disappointment
Perhaps these books had more significance and were more original when they were written - but I found them a tortous read. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michaels C
Magnificent
This is breathtaking, incredible work, and I want to make my feelings on this clear despite what I have to say next. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jamie Frost
A masterpiece of the imagination.
Suffice to say that Peake creates a world as varied and fantastic as Tolkien whilst staying in the same location. Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. Mackintosh
Quirky, exceptionally original book
Really recommend this series, it's one of the most original things I've ever read and very compelling. Definitely gothic in tone but with a real plot; susbstance not merely style. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Miss Smith
amazing read
I first began reading Titus Groan many years ago but did not finish it. It's wonderful revisiting this classic and having all three novels to enjoy in one go.... Read more
Published 9 months ago by janiecb
Thoroughly enjoyable
After the TV programme, and having now read the book, I understand how easy it must have been for the producers to cast the actors! Peake had created them in words so perfectly!
Published 10 months ago by Syd K
No Comparison
For me, quite simply, the best three books ever written. Just a word of warning though, it's not a light read, so don't do it the dis-service of reading it on the bus on the way to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Imaginata
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