Titus Awakes
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Review
`Titus Awakes is a treasure salvaged from the ruins' --New Statesman
`Peake does not, as some have said, defy classification; rather, he is beyond classification in any single genre, and therein perhaps lies his genius. In his centenary year it is to be hoped that the latest surge of interest in his enormous range of work will finally help to place him in his rightful position as one of Britain's most brilliant, original and creative figures' --Times Literary Supplement
`A century after his birth, the gothic surrealism of Peake's fantasy world still attracts new fans. With more than 100 of his drawings, this splendid anniversary edition will entice even more into the towers, cellars and corridors of his blackly comic castle' --I
`Peake does not, as some have said, defy classification; rather, he is beyond classification in any single genre, and therein perhaps lies his genius. In his centenary year it is to be hoped that the latest surge of interest in his enormous range of work will finally help to place him in his rightful position as one of Britain's most brilliant, original and creative figures' --Times Literary Supplement
`A century after his birth, the gothic surrealism of Peake's fantasy world still attracts new fans. With more than 100 of his drawings, this splendid anniversary edition will entice even more into the towers, cellars and corridors of his blackly comic castle' --I
Book Description
Recently rediscovered manuscript of the sequel to The Gormenghast Trilogy. Published to tie in with the centenary of Mervyn Peake's birth
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you like me, find Titus impossible to ever forget you may well find this a deeply moving conclusion to the immense journey of his life. It was so very sad to learn that Mervyn Peake had wanted to add more to the three stories of Titus' life, but was prevented by doing more than the first few pages and headings of this book by his failing health.The way his wife Maeve weaves these facts into her interpretation of the final chapters gives great enjoyment, but also left this Gormenghast addict with a feeling of deep loss for what might have been had he lived longer.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a brave courageous and loving epitaph by Maeve Gilmore to her clever tortured husband Mervyn Peake. With only a few pages of completed material and some chapter headings to work with she has finished what Peake might have done if his brains had not deserted him. It is episodic as life is but imaginative, if not as forbiddingly gloomy as Gormenghast. Without revealing the details the end is apt and sensitively handled and full of hope for Titus' future. I like to think Maeve Gilmore has freed her husband's spirit which he was tragically unable to do for himself.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book expecting to be disappointed and underwhelmed. Despite her marriage to Mervyn Peake and her own undisputed artistic and literary talents, Maeve Gilmore was never really going to cut the mustard as far as I was concerned. In that respect, my disappointment was a foregone conclusion but I had not expected it to be quite so deep. Apparently, the manuscript to `Titus Awakes' was found in a draw several years after her death. I have to say at the onset that I wish it had been left undisturbed. Based on a snippet by Mervyn, she has produced a book that made me think it has done more harm than good to the Gormenghast `cause'.
Before his life was so cruelly cut down by illness, Mervyn Peake's intention had been to continue the story of Titus in such a way that he would find himself in a number of different situations. The first of these was in `Titus Alone' in which Titus attempts to break his ancestral ties. Coming hotfoot from the timelessness of the first two books, I personally found the `car chase' premise of `Titus Alone' rather hard to stomach. The recent Peake exhibition in the British Library suggests that this was something that his then publishers were all too aware of: there are letters advising him to be much less specific about the technological details. In `Titus Awakes' we are subjected to a series of adventures which seem both unnecessary and tiresome. We are asked to believe that Titus, who had once displayed the strength of character to tackle the evil Steerpike, has now become little more than a leaf blown by the wind, constantly taking the route of least resistance. While this may be a plausible character development - just - it is also a frustrating one and certainly does not make for interesting reading. The only spark of interest comes later in the book where Titus discovers compassion for the character of the Artist (who one assumes is based on Mervyn himself) and their arrival (again, presumably) on Sark at the very end. Unfortunately, if there is a message here, it went right over my head. Mervyn Peake, although the creator of Gormenghast, was never one of its characters and this overlap of author and creation I found both artificial and pointless. If Maeve Gilmore sought some kind of reconciliation, her own description of her life with Mervyn (A world away: A memoir of Mervyn Peake) surely does the job better.
The publication of this book was presumably aimed at satisfying the craving for more Gormenghast ("The Lost Book of Gormenghast" trumpets the cover!) For me, `Titus Awakes' continues the Gormenghast saga only in its apparent entropy and departure from the original vision.
Before his life was so cruelly cut down by illness, Mervyn Peake's intention had been to continue the story of Titus in such a way that he would find himself in a number of different situations. The first of these was in `Titus Alone' in which Titus attempts to break his ancestral ties. Coming hotfoot from the timelessness of the first two books, I personally found the `car chase' premise of `Titus Alone' rather hard to stomach. The recent Peake exhibition in the British Library suggests that this was something that his then publishers were all too aware of: there are letters advising him to be much less specific about the technological details. In `Titus Awakes' we are subjected to a series of adventures which seem both unnecessary and tiresome. We are asked to believe that Titus, who had once displayed the strength of character to tackle the evil Steerpike, has now become little more than a leaf blown by the wind, constantly taking the route of least resistance. While this may be a plausible character development - just - it is also a frustrating one and certainly does not make for interesting reading. The only spark of interest comes later in the book where Titus discovers compassion for the character of the Artist (who one assumes is based on Mervyn himself) and their arrival (again, presumably) on Sark at the very end. Unfortunately, if there is a message here, it went right over my head. Mervyn Peake, although the creator of Gormenghast, was never one of its characters and this overlap of author and creation I found both artificial and pointless. If Maeve Gilmore sought some kind of reconciliation, her own description of her life with Mervyn (A world away: A memoir of Mervyn Peake) surely does the job better.
The publication of this book was presumably aimed at satisfying the craving for more Gormenghast ("The Lost Book of Gormenghast" trumpets the cover!) For me, `Titus Awakes' continues the Gormenghast saga only in its apparent entropy and departure from the original vision.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not the lost book of Gormenghast
As a huge fan of the Gormenghast books, I was hesitant about reading this but curiosity finally got the better of me. However, I didn't expect to be blown away and I wasn't. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Monkey Man
Puts to rest what Titus Alone began
Although Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone are conventionally referred to as 'the Gormenghast Trilogy', really it's only the first two which deal with the castle of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Toxophilly
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