clayton_sanborn 's review for:

Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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

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As loath as I am to theorize intentional allegory here, to the extent that the retrofuturist world that Titus runs away to mirrors our own, we are invited to make the connection an exercise in gazing into the abyss more than anything. If the factory was inspired by Peake's own experiences photographing the concentration camps as the editor of the omnibus believes, what this book is saying about postwar capitalism becomes all the more damning. 

On a glib note, if I was there, I would not have treated Juno like that