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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
With all the pieces lined up and intimately described, we are soon replaced on our vantage to bear witness to the rise and fall of all concerned.
I’m being wilfully opaque when it comes to the plot. I will try so hard to not give anything away.
Gormenghast as a book builds on the exquisite foundation of Titus Groan and manages to metamorphose from a gorgeous worm into a resplendent dusty moth of a thing. It just dances in the air near multicoloured flame and perishing shadow.
See, where before there was a slow crawling progress forward. Here the pace increases. Here things start to fall apart. First slowly. Then with screaming. Then with howling storms and a deluge.
Every evil and cruel scheme doesn’t so much come to fulfilment wilfully... but instead precisely accidentally. As if the only thing holding Steerpike’s schemes together is our own attention. Observation proves its continuation. A car crash you can’t turn away from. Over and over luck is on his side.
Meanwhile; Titus grows up, without the aid of more steadfast characters he develops insecurities. He struggles under the weight of his importance to the realm.
Where the last novel was a television drama. Gormenghast is truly a blockbuster of a book. The action is feverishly pleated and cast out across the great expanse of your heart. You really feel the losses, the setbacks, the unfortunate victories.
And then mixed into the story is the maddest of mad-hatter humour. A sudden desire for marriage prompts a character to seek out their equal.
And then mixed into the story is the bleakest of loves. A connection of wild and feral curiosities. And also a familial love that is the keenest and most sincerely honest and touching I’ve yet encountered.
I wish I’d written this novel. That’s how much I love it. I think that everything I write threatens to become this novel, eventually. As if a tiny Steerpike drives the cogs of my creativity in the direction of his own rebirth.
I’m being wilfully opaque when it comes to the plot. I will try so hard to not give anything away.
Gormenghast as a book builds on the exquisite foundation of Titus Groan and manages to metamorphose from a gorgeous worm into a resplendent dusty moth of a thing. It just dances in the air near multicoloured flame and perishing shadow.
See, where before there was a slow crawling progress forward. Here the pace increases. Here things start to fall apart. First slowly. Then with screaming. Then with howling storms and a deluge.
Every evil and cruel scheme doesn’t so much come to fulfilment wilfully... but instead precisely accidentally. As if the only thing holding Steerpike’s schemes together is our own attention. Observation proves its continuation. A car crash you can’t turn away from. Over and over luck is on his side.
Meanwhile; Titus grows up, without the aid of more steadfast characters he develops insecurities. He struggles under the weight of his importance to the realm.
Where the last novel was a television drama. Gormenghast is truly a blockbuster of a book. The action is feverishly pleated and cast out across the great expanse of your heart. You really feel the losses, the setbacks, the unfortunate victories.
And then mixed into the story is the maddest of mad-hatter humour. A sudden desire for marriage prompts a character to seek out their equal.
And then mixed into the story is the bleakest of loves. A connection of wild and feral curiosities. And also a familial love that is the keenest and most sincerely honest and touching I’ve yet encountered.
I wish I’d written this novel. That’s how much I love it. I think that everything I write threatens to become this novel, eventually. As if a tiny Steerpike drives the cogs of my creativity in the direction of his own rebirth.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am a little disappointed because I found this second book clearly inferior to Titus Groan . Peake's writing is still sharp and original and some scenes are still truly delightful, but I found the book too long, and many scenes felt endless and less impactful than in book 1.