Every chapter offers a glimpse into a new part of the castle, and shows it through the eyes of a different character.
Inhabited by the Earl of Groan, his family, and a slew of servants, Gormenghast is elevated from a stoney building to a hive of pure crazy. This old castle, seemingly cut off from the outside world, leads a life of its own. Mervyn Peake takes his time introducing Gormenghast and its inhabitants. Neither did I find a protagonist nor anyone sane – but that was just as it should be. Those who explore Gormenghast castle will be richly rewarded.Įvery character in this book is nuts! Not knowing what I was getting into, I expected some kind of protagonist to hold on to, some sensible soul wandering the crazy halls of Gormenghast with me. This true classic is a feast of words unlike anything else in the world of fantasy. 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. Peake has been compared to Dickens, Tolkien, and Peacock, but Titus Groan is truly unique. 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. 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. Published by: Vintage Classics, 1998 (1946)įirst sentence: Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architecturial quality were it possible to have ingnored the circumfusion of those mean dwellings that swarmed like an epidemic around its outer walls. Who’d have thought there’s a word for the amount that’s missing to fill a container (it’s “ullage”)? But discovering words was only a small part of the pleasure I got from reading this. The language is so up my alley, I ended up underlining half the book. I couldn’t tell you why I waited so long to read this. It’s taken me long enough to pick up this classic fantasy book and explore the vast hallways of Castle Gormenghast.
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