Reviews - Gormenghast | The StoryGraph

314 reviews for:

This is the second novel in the Gormenghast trilogy, preceded by Titus Groan. In this installment, TItus grows from a boy to a man and wrestles with his impending earldom. Steerpike makes progress on his nefarious plot to gain power. And Irma Prunesquallor wants to get married.

There was more plot than prose in this novel, a refreshing change from Titus Groan. I learned that Peake had originally planned for this to be a whole series, but he died before he could complete more than the first three. He was inspired by Tolkien, but, imo, he's just not as talented. I did feel more engaged with the story this time, though.

Food: an apple in winter, after it's been sitting out for a few weeks. Still flavorful and juicy, but a touch mealy and withered in spots.

kateofmind's review against another edition

5.0

The courtship of Irma Prunesqualor is a comic masterpiece, even though the narrator (not Simon Vance, though he tried to be) really botched her voice (Scott Sigler school of terrible female voices). The rest of the book is good, too, of course, though Titus is the least interesting character and I'm a bit skeptical of his carrying book 3. We shall see...

jalynrose's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dasani's review against another edition

5.0

**Warning: this text may contain spoilers** Just realised what makes Peake's characterisation so brilliant - particularly in the case of the Prunesquallors. We meet them as gross caricatures, bizarre grotesques. A tangle of mannerisms, quirks, tics, and postures, woven around the pillar of physical appearance. We hear the laugh, feel it grate, and have an inkling of the proximate cause, but that is all. And then, gradually, so excruciatingly slowly, we meet them in private, under stress, out of their comfort zone, in the privacy of their own minds, and we begin to really get to know them. And doesn't that mirror the way we actually do get to know people? It's the excruciatingly slowness with which we get to know the Prunesquallors that makes them so very real. And of course, this is beautifully alluded to by the ways in which Irma and Bellgrove are misled by first impressions, yet come to accept the reality, and by the way in which Titus falls in love with the Thing - with utterly empty grace.

Also, Irma and Bellgrove - the most beautiful romance in all of literature?