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A review by thefiendslibrary
Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake
3.0
This is a very difficult book to review, and there are a lot of different opinions out there about Titus Alone, the third book in the Gormenghast series. Some say it's a shadow of the book that it could've been and the unfortunate product of Peake's health failing to a terrible disease. Some claim that it is a work of genius that would've been a critical turning point in the much longer story of Gormenghast that Peake supposedly invisioned. Regardless, most agree that it does not read like a natural follow-up novel to its predecessors, and I agree.
The long descriptive passages and dreamlike atmosphere of Gormenghast are much faster, and events unfold abruptly. Was this due to failing health and a rush to complete the book? Some argue that this style change is intentional and meant to evoke a feeling in the reader that emulates the bustling, uncaring world he is now stumbling through. I'd like to believe that is the case, and there does seem to be some evidence that this may be intentional on Peake's part.
The prose is still very enjoyable, and though Titus Alone's much increased pace feels unnatural for Gormenghast, the book still has a good feel to it.
Where I run into more trouble as a reader is with the plot, character devopment, and themes of the book. It's hard to know what the long term arc was intended to be for Titus after this book, but it has to be said that he is not in a good place in book three. There are a lot of cool themes and ideas at play in regards to Titus' mental battle with his identity and sense of self, but this book can come off wrong if you don't realize that Titus isn't meant to be seen as the good guy in the story at this point. "Titus the Traitor" and indeed, while "finding himself" outside of Gormenghast, he unknowingly fuels his own suffering and does general wrong to such a degree that it can be a bit infuriating as the reader. He treats almost everyone badly, and it takes a bit to realize that this is supposed to be part of the story.
Few characters I've read have a low quite this low, and this is something that becomes much more apparent when reading book four, which was written by Peake's widow based on two pages that had been left after his death. As a matter of fact, reading book four (Titus Awakes) has improved my opinion of Titus Alone dramatically.
The plot in general feels weirdly paced, and the story isn't very compelling without considering theme and character development as well. Things happen very conveniently, and Titus is saved from everything basically all the time (which is important for his development, but still).
The last thing I'll mention, which I do think is a bummer, is the declining state of female characters in the series. Book one was handled mostly well, and since Titus was a baby, female characters had lots of non-sexual roles in the plot and were written with depth and variety. There was one character in Titus Groan one that suffered from some mega antiquated characterization, but it wasn't too bad. Book two got a bit worse in this way, but mostly in ways which could be considered "mild", and the problematic issues with sex were mostly present in a few of the books themes.
This book is.... way worse about it. I think there are still cool female characters, but every single one has a sexual role to play. It's sort of important for Titus' character arc that he have these interactions, but there should still be women in the book that dont hurl themselves directly at him/ find him completely spellbinding...
I'll give this 3 stars for now, but I wish it could have been an early book in a much longer series so I could know for sure. Maybe these things were all intentional and would've been masterfully addressed and incorporated in a later entry.
The long descriptive passages and dreamlike atmosphere of Gormenghast are much faster, and events unfold abruptly. Was this due to failing health and a rush to complete the book? Some argue that this style change is intentional and meant to evoke a feeling in the reader that emulates the bustling, uncaring world he is now stumbling through. I'd like to believe that is the case, and there does seem to be some evidence that this may be intentional on Peake's part.
The prose is still very enjoyable, and though Titus Alone's much increased pace feels unnatural for Gormenghast, the book still has a good feel to it.
Where I run into more trouble as a reader is with the plot, character devopment, and themes of the book. It's hard to know what the long term arc was intended to be for Titus after this book, but it has to be said that he is not in a good place in book three. There are a lot of cool themes and ideas at play in regards to Titus' mental battle with his identity and sense of self, but this book can come off wrong if you don't realize that Titus isn't meant to be seen as the good guy in the story at this point. "Titus the Traitor" and indeed, while "finding himself" outside of Gormenghast, he unknowingly fuels his own suffering and does general wrong to such a degree that it can be a bit infuriating as the reader. He treats almost everyone badly, and it takes a bit to realize that this is supposed to be part of the story.
Few characters I've read have a low quite this low, and this is something that becomes much more apparent when reading book four, which was written by Peake's widow based on two pages that had been left after his death. As a matter of fact, reading book four (Titus Awakes) has improved my opinion of Titus Alone dramatically.
The plot in general feels weirdly paced, and the story isn't very compelling without considering theme and character development as well. Things happen very conveniently, and Titus is saved from everything basically all the time (which is important for his development, but still).
The last thing I'll mention, which I do think is a bummer, is the declining state of female characters in the series. Book one was handled mostly well, and since Titus was a baby, female characters had lots of non-sexual roles in the plot and were written with depth and variety. There was one character in Titus Groan one that suffered from some mega antiquated characterization, but it wasn't too bad. Book two got a bit worse in this way, but mostly in ways which could be considered "mild", and the problematic issues with sex were mostly present in a few of the books themes.
This book is.... way worse about it. I think there are still cool female characters, but every single one has a sexual role to play. It's sort of important for Titus' character arc that he have these interactions, but there should still be women in the book that dont hurl themselves directly at him/ find him completely spellbinding...
I'll give this 3 stars for now, but I wish it could have been an early book in a much longer series so I could know for sure. Maybe these things were all intentional and would've been masterfully addressed and incorporated in a later entry.