Be Specific About Books As Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1)
| Original Title: | Titus Groan |
| ISBN: | 0879514256 (ISBN13: 9780879514259) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Gormenghast #1 |
| Characters: | Titus Groan, Steerpike, Dr. Alfred Prunesquallor, Lord Sepulchrave, Mr. Flay, Abiatha Swelter, Gertrude Groan, Fuchsia Groan, Nannie Slagg, Cora Groan, Clarice Groan |
| Setting: | Gormenghast |
Mervyn Peake
Paperback | Pages: 396 pages Rating: 3.91 | 15035 Users | 1273 Reviews
Declare About Books Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1)
| Title | : | Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1) |
| Author | : | Mervyn Peake |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 396 pages |
| Published | : | November 1st 1991 by Overlook Press (first published 1946) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Classics. Gothic |
Interpretation Supposing Books Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1)
What an odd fantasy! No swords, no sorcery, no elves, no thieves, no imaginary beasts, no multiple planes of existence . . . nothing but a cavernous castle peopled by eccentrics with Dickensian names (Sepulchrave, Prunesquallor, Swelter, Flay) whose lives are determined by centuries--perhaps millenia--of complex rituals. Although the people themselves seem to be British, the enormous burden of tradition under which they labor seems Asiatic in its detailed intensity, and it is instructive to learn that Peake spent his formative years in China, not far from the Imperial City.
This is superior fantasy, but like The Worm Ouroboros it is not immediately accessible. Peak was a painter, and as a writer he exercises his painterly imagination by creating scenes--particularly his major ones, like the death-duel of Flay and Swelter--as if each moment were a tableau, part of a series of individual canvases. The reader is then faced with the duty of internalizing each of these stationary images, combining them into a progression, and then animating them--sort of like ruffling the pages of a cartoonist's flip book--in order to release the cinematic power of the scene. For someone like myself who possesses a third-rate visual imagination, this requires re-reading certain passages more than a couple of times.
I must admit, though, that Peake's approach has a certain cumulative power. It serves to preserve these odd, angular characters of his like flies in amber, trapped forever in their traditions like individual frames in an epic film, circumscribed by the labyrinthine spaces of the monstrous castle that is Gormenghast.
Rating About Books Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1)
Ratings: 3.91 From 15035 Users | 1273 ReviewsWeigh Up About Books Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1)
In very broad terms, writers have to deal with two main issues when putting their stories to paper: the 'macro' issue (i.e., the overall plot, theme(s), and desired character development), and the 'micro' issue (wordsmithing, prose, and style). The greatest writers, in their greatest works, manage to nail one issue, while successfully covering their shortcomings on the other. Mervyn Peake not only managed to nail both issues in toto, he is left with plenty of literary "hammer power" to spare.I've decided to review this in instalments, otherwise my reading challenge for the year will be kaput. It's a very long novel - my copy runs to 996 pages. An interesting aspect of any novel is how much energy and imagination the author has invested in it. Mervyn Peake has clearly invested every last drop of his energy and imagination into creating the world of Gormenghast. He wants you to see every detail he sees. Which is both the virtue and flaw of this novel. It is probably overly described
Looking for a drive on the dark side? Something grotesque and dripping with unwarranted behavior? How about some characters that are so repulsive, you can't help but be drawn into their world? A world of such descriptive horror that you're both terrified to watch, yet oddly hypnotized? Well, then step right in, into the world of Titus Groan, the next Earl of Groan, the heir of Gormenghast Castle, the castle which is pretty much our main character in and of itself. It's a place where time seems
What an odd fantasy! No swords, no sorcery, no elves, no thieves, no imaginary beasts, no multiple planes of existence . . . nothing but a cavernous castle peopled by eccentrics with Dickensian names (Sepulchrave, Prunesquallor, Swelter, Flay) whose lives are determined by centuries--perhaps millenia--of complex rituals. Although the people themselves seem to be British, the enormous burden of tradition under which they labor seems Asiatic in its detailed intensity, and it is instructive to
Titus Groan is the tale of a bunch of truly odd and grotesque people living in a grotesque old castle. Maybe it's just me (neither bleak nor grotesque is my thing; put them together and I'm liable to slit my throat), but I just could not with this book. I generally love fantasy of all kinds, but I found this book very creepy in an off-putting kind of way, sort of like one of Tim Burton's weirder movies. (I still haven't forgiven him for Batman Returns.)It was also grim and gruesome and boring.
Titus Groan is a novel that defies classification yet it is one hundred percent powerfully written and one hundred percent a classic. It is however not for those who don't like to patiently sit through a long, description driven narrative. But for those who appreciate those elements in a work of fiction or perhaps those who found the unique ideas of The Trial interesting I strongly recommend this novel.The best genre that I could possibly associate this with is fantasy. However it is also a
Too often does the fantasy genre feel contented with a good concept at the expense of style. In Titus Groan, Peake's unrelentingly descriptive and asphyxiatingly atmospheric writing is as much a part of the experience as the concept, and one wouldn't be complete without the other. His style is a velvet glove tailored to fit a clammy, cadaverous hand.This is a perfect example of a book impervious to film adaptation. One can take the story to the big screen, sure, and it might even be great, but
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