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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
“This tower, patched unevenly with black ivy, arose like a mutilated finger from among the fists of knuckled masonry and pointed blasphemously at heaven. At night the owls made of it an echoing throat; by day it stood voiceless and cast its long shadow.”
Her hand is unsteady as she lifts the wax above the head of Titus and the wavering flame makes it leap. His eyes are very wide open. As he sees the light his mouth puckers and works, and the heart of the hearth contracts with love as he totters at the wellhead of tears.
Titus Groan is a contradiction. It’s somehow staggering in its scope and myopic at the same time. The novel takes place almost exclusively in the decrepit, sprawling keep of Gormenghast, where a family and its servants maintain seemingly purposeless daily rituals out of an almost religious sense of familial duty.
Can it continue? How could it possibly? Two characters give us the sense things will be changing: Steerpike, a conniving servant with red eyes who seems intent on disrupting everything to secure his own power, and the titular Titus Groan, a newborn son who is set to inherit his father’s burden.
Mervyn Peake was incredibly inventive for his time. For example, in this novel you’ll find chapters that abruptly shift us into characters’ first-person trains of thought and interstitial scenes that give certain sections a theatrical feel. (I’m thinking of Nanny Slagg telling Fuchsia who will be at Titus’ birthday gathering as we flit from person to person.)
The book drips with details, and evocative names like Sepulchrave and Swelter paint a picture of an imposingly gothic setting, but perhaps with a bit of a wink.
At times, the detail can be too much. The book feels about 100 pages too long. But with that said, this deserves reading and given the influence on later works and the boldness of it all, I’m giving it a 4.5/5.
Titus Groan is a contradiction. It’s somehow staggering in its scope and myopic at the same time. The novel takes place almost exclusively in the decrepit, sprawling keep of Gormenghast, where a family and its servants maintain seemingly purposeless daily rituals out of an almost religious sense of familial duty.
Can it continue? How could it possibly? Two characters give us the sense things will be changing: Steerpike, a conniving servant with red eyes who seems intent on disrupting everything to secure his own power, and the titular Titus Groan, a newborn son who is set to inherit his father’s burden.
Mervyn Peake was incredibly inventive for his time. For example, in this novel you’ll find chapters that abruptly shift us into characters’ first-person trains of thought and interstitial scenes that give certain sections a theatrical feel. (I’m thinking of Nanny Slagg telling Fuchsia who will be at Titus’ birthday gathering as we flit from person to person.)
The book drips with details, and evocative names like Sepulchrave and Swelter paint a picture of an imposingly gothic setting, but perhaps with a bit of a wink.
At times, the detail can be too much. The book feels about 100 pages too long. But with that said, this deserves reading and given the influence on later works and the boldness of it all, I’m giving it a 4.5/5.
Where to begin? The writing is beautiful and lush, everything is described in minute detail, and you are never left wondering how something, or someone looks. It contains a very consistent setting, tone, and overall mood. Dreary. Oppressive. Melancholic. I have never read something that quite so readily transported me into the mind of one of its characters...because surely the experience of reading this book is the experience as living as Lord Sepulchrave. Dreary. Oppressive. Melancholic.
I'm no stranger to bouncing off a book and having to put it down. Reading Titus Groan was similar, yet so damned different. A book I'm loving I will speed through in a couple days. Whether it's 200 pages or 400 pages. This book I would dare say came close to defeating me. I found I was unable to read more than 10 pages at a time, needing a mental break. Reading before bedtime is one of my favorite times to get pages in. I would read 10 pages, put it down, scroll my phone a little, pick it back up, read 10 more pages, put it down, repeat. Never before would I think to put my book down to look at my phone. Usually, I read until it's time to turn the lights out for the night.
My biggest problem was that I -wanted- to keep reading but the dense descriptions and very little action was turning my brain to sludge. After recovering for a few minutes, I could continue more. I loved Titus Groan and yet hated it viscerally.
From what I understand, Peake had an unfortunate life, and it is on full display here. Gormenghast Castle is not simply a structure with uncountable towers and grotesque denizens...it was the world the author himself lived in. A world not suited for most readers and since I won't be continuing the "trilogy", I seem to be one of them.
I'm no stranger to bouncing off a book and having to put it down. Reading Titus Groan was similar, yet so damned different. A book I'm loving I will speed through in a couple days. Whether it's 200 pages or 400 pages. This book I would dare say came close to defeating me. I found I was unable to read more than 10 pages at a time, needing a mental break. Reading before bedtime is one of my favorite times to get pages in. I would read 10 pages, put it down, scroll my phone a little, pick it back up, read 10 more pages, put it down, repeat. Never before would I think to put my book down to look at my phone. Usually, I read until it's time to turn the lights out for the night.
My biggest problem was that I -wanted- to keep reading but the dense descriptions and very little action was turning my brain to sludge. After recovering for a few minutes, I could continue more. I loved Titus Groan and yet hated it viscerally.
From what I understand, Peake had an unfortunate life, and it is on full display here. Gormenghast Castle is not simply a structure with uncountable towers and grotesque denizens...it was the world the author himself lived in. A world not suited for most readers and since I won't be continuing the "trilogy", I seem to be one of them.
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like a gothic sitcom. I could never get through an actual printed copy of this, but it was delightful as an audiobook.
Wonderful work of the imagination. I need to read it, again. Actually read it in 1980.
A virulent indictment of monarchy and ritual - the oppressive regime of Ghormenghast's crumbling castle tortures all of its denizens, the socially enforced adherence to ritual only serving as a bitter echo of traditions that are of no benefit to its participants. However, even within the impenetrable atmosphere of melancholia and foreboding, the characters who populate Ghormenghast are delightful. Almost every tangent, while often bizarre or gloomy or violent, is so compelling in its complexity and eccentricity. It's now one of my favourite uses of the setting as a character per se - the cobwebbed halls and gothic ambience of Ghormenghast are a huge standout, and the setting ties the often diverging plot threads together into a marvellously cohesive whole.
Peake's prose is a marvel too, perhaps among the best I've ever read. He perfectly articulates the workings of the series' titular edifice to the point that every page feels alive, in a way. It also contains some mind-boggling descriptions and wordplay that only further the novel's unique genius. Plus, the entire thing is topped off with a dry sense of humour that makes the novel even more agreeable. I don't think the book is flawless, its a bit slow to start with and one branch of the plot felt a bit haphazard and relatively boring, but the entire thing is just incredible. I find it so difficult to articulate how absurdly good this is, but I recommend it with all my heart.
>4.5 stars
Peake's prose is a marvel too, perhaps among the best I've ever read. He perfectly articulates the workings of the series' titular edifice to the point that every page feels alive, in a way. It also contains some mind-boggling descriptions and wordplay that only further the novel's unique genius. Plus, the entire thing is topped off with a dry sense of humour that makes the novel even more agreeable. I don't think the book is flawless, its a bit slow to start with and one branch of the plot felt a bit haphazard and relatively boring, but the entire thing is just incredible. I find it so difficult to articulate how absurdly good this is, but I recommend it with all my heart.
>4.5 stars
I've just finished this, the first book in the omnibus collection of the three novels Peake finished before his health deteriorated to a degree at which he was no longer able to write. It was wholly unusual compared to a lot of what I typically read, yet familiar and comfortable at the same time. Characters were all so realized, the castle was alive more than half of them, and things were just odd and surreal in a fun way. There was nearly nothing overtly fantastical about the novel, yet I couldn't say it's anything if not fantasy. Very enjoyable book! Now I'm on to the second.
challenging
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
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No