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Gormenghast (Gormenghast #2)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 4,906 ratings · 143 reviews

Enter the world of Gormenghast, to which the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, is Lord and heir. It is a kingdom of Byzantine rule and ancient ritual weighed down by centuries of intrigue, treachery, manipulation and murder.

Paperback, 512 pages

Published February 5th 1998 by Vintage Classics (first published 1950)

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May 17, 2013 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

(Vaguely spoilerish remarks follow).

Stripped to the bone, Titus Groan and Gormenghast tell a simple story of pre-socialist revolution and why it will inevitably fail. Steerpike, the ostensible villain, the agent of historical transition, is the working class boy from the kitchens who fails to achieve full political consciousness, seeks no solidarity from his co-workers, and decides to infiltrate the system from within, working alone. The toadying middle-classes (Prunesquallor and his sister, al...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Cecily rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, fantasy, favourites, gormenghast-peake

The sequel to the wonderful Titus Groan. At his christening, Titus, heir to the earldom of Gormenghast (accidentally) ripped the ancient book of ritual and at his earling (aged 2) he blasphemed again by removing sacred objects and casting them into the lake. That congenital rebellion comes to fruition in this book.

It starts by summarising the ghostly demise of key characters from the first book and the mark they have left on Titus. Then it does a similar update of key characters who are still al...more The sequel to the wonderful Titus Groan. At his christening, Titus, heir to the earldom of Gormenghast (accidentally) ripped the ancient book of ritual and at his earling (aged 2) he blasphemed again by removing sacred objects and casting them into the lake. That congenital rebellion comes to fruition in this book.

It starts by summarising the ghostly demise of key characters from the first book and the mark they have left on Titus. Then it does a similar update of key characters who are still alive, hinting at what is to come. This unusual approach sets the tone for a story that is outwardly about a child growing up in the stiflingly ritualistic world of Gormenghast alongside Steerpike’s plotting to gain power, but is really about death and destruction. “There are always eyes” and “days when the living have no substance and the dead are active” leaving a “deathless repercussion”.

Nevertheless, there is still humour, principally provided by naughty schoolboys (“the boys changed ammunition to paper pellets only after the THIRD death and “a deal of confusion in the hiding of the bodies”!) and eccentric school masters (one “had once made a point of being at least one mental hour ahead of his class... but who had long since decided to pursue knowledge on an equal footing” and another “was pure symbol... even the ingenious system of delegation whereon his greatness rested was itself worked out by another”). Irma Prune also provides plenty of comic mileage (e.g. creating a fake bosom with a hot water bottle and striving to be stylish). As before there are also touches of mystical unreality.

Titus grows up, “suckled on shadows, weaned as it were on webs of ritual”, increasingly restless and rebellious, unloved and longing to break free from the shackles of ceremonies “the significance of which had long been lost to the records”. He runs away to the woods a few times, and each time has an experience that changes him and sets him further adrift from his apparent destiny. In fact the short story, Boy in Darkness, is an account of one such episode, though it is more allegorical than the other Gormenghast stories.

Meanwhile, there is a growing sense of evil in the background, with more deaths (some of them grisly) and ultimately destruction on a Biblical scale.

Overall, this story is very similar to the volume that precedes it, in setting, structure, tone and the extraordinary vividness of the descriptions (“porous shadow-land... not so much a darkness... as something starved for moonbeams.”). The final volume (Titus Alone) is very different.

“There is nowhere else... everything comes to Gormenghast.”

All my Peake/Gormenghast reviews now have their own shelf:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...(less)

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May 28, 2009 Keely rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, humor, novel, reviewed, urban-fantasy, uk-and-ireland, favorites

The Gormenghast books are considered to be the beginning of the 'mannerpunk' genre, and along with Tolkien, Moorecock, and Howard, Peake is one of the fathers of the modern Fantasy genre. Mannerpunk is a genre typified by complex psychology, plots driven by character interaction, and a strong sense of mood.

It is also notable for the characters rather than the world being fantastical. In this sense, mannerpunk, and certainly the Gormenghast books, work in the vein of surrealism (meaning not 'unr...more The Gormenghast books are considered to be the beginning of the 'mannerpunk' genre, and along with Tolkien, Moorecock, and Howard, Peake is one of the fathers of the modern Fantasy genre. Mannerpunk is a genre typified by complex psychology, plots driven by character interaction, and a strong sense of mood.

It is also notable for the characters rather than the world being fantastical. In this sense, mannerpunk, and certainly the Gormenghast books, work in the vein of surrealism (meaning not 'unreal', but 'more than the real'); not unlike the Russian Gogol. The genre is based upon the works of authors like Jane Austen, the Brontes, Baroness Orczy, Swift, de Cervantes, and Dumas pere.

Peake himself was a polymath, excelling not only as an author, but a poet and artist. He is the only self-portrait in Britain's National Portrait Gallery. As a poet, he has a mastery of language and conceit that places him above popular 'jingle man' Poe.

This makes him quite unlike Tolkien, whose long stretches of verse tend to be stilted and unfeeling. Then again, Peake is more passionate than than Tory Tolkien.

Despite his mastery of language and evocative characterization, Peake is not an easy read. Indeed, his thick prose and slow pace can quickly tire the mind. Like a skillful chess opponent, Peake demands much of his reader. He is not content to let the reader be a passive escapist, so his work engages and challenges. It would take a great and knowledgeable mind to meet each of these challenges on equal footing, but even we lesser minds may find amusement, shock, and beauty.

Peake's original idea was to chronicle the life of a character from birth to death. The first book deals with infancy. The second takes him into adulthood in a sort of bildungsroman. The third involves the adventures of young adulthood. Unfortunately, Peake's slide into dementia prevented any furthering of this vast and witty trove.

In literature, Peake may have come the closest to completing a book which balances complex psychology, deep character, poetic style, exploration of reality, and a surreal mixture reality and fancy. Peake's books were very audacious, and though he sometimes fails to reach his own lofty ideals, the really remarkable thing is that sometimes, he doesn't.

My Fantasy Book Suggestions (less)

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Jun 29, 2012 Bill Kerwin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, gothic

I like "Titus Groan" very much, but I like "Gormenghast" even more. The visual set pieces are equally vivid, but the style seems less labored, more fluid--less like cubist painting and more like a movie photographed by a cinematographer with a unique and eccentric palette. At first I thought this was principally due to Peake's maturing writing style--and still believe that this has somewhat to do with it--but I have also come to understand that the growing ease in style, the flow of the narrativ...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Suna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favourites, fantasy

I continuously swing backwards and forwards between this being my favourite, and Titus Groan being my favourite.

In Gormenghast, we are inexorably drawn beyond recall into the deeper machinations of the castle and its inhabitants.
We are introduced to completely new areas: The school with its rigid boarding school set-up, the professors, wonderfully quirky buggers one and all, continually locked in more-intellectual-than-thou one upmanship.
Titus is a young boy and we have a brief glimpse of his li...more

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Dec 03, 2009 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 25, 2008 Phil Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who read Titus Groan and liked even a tenth of it.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Gormenghast is the sequel to Peake's earlier work Titus Groan. Despite the deaths and disappearances of many of the previous book's cast, life in the castle continues: like a colony of insects, the system is far more important than the insects that make it up. However, things are not well.

...more

There is a disease and its name is Steerpike. Throughout the book he contrives to climb even higher than he managed in Titus Groan. He has his sights set on the Earldom. His plan involves many steps: firstly, to kill Barquentine and take his position, thus gaining control of the rituals by which Gormenghast is run. Though his murder is successful, Steerpike is burned and disfigured by the act, and this has dire consequences later on. While delirious and recovering, he lets slip the clue 'and the twins will make it five', rousing his former master Doctor Prunesquallor's suspicions.

Seducing Lady Fuchsia is the next part of his scheme: thus he hopes to gain her support and legitimise his claim to power, using the threat of scandal to keep her at bay. Boldest of all is his plan to kill Titus. He sets about this task with all the audacity of a Fantômas or Zenith the Albino, but all it takes is for one thing to go wrong and the whole plan unravels. Luck is not on his side.

But what of Titus? In the last book we saw him grow from a baby to a toddler. In this book we see his childhood and adolescence, and the development of a young rebel. His resentment of the role his birthright has thrust upon him is tangible: the rituals seem increasingly tedious and pointless and his desire to be free of it all grows throughout the book.

Meanwhile, Steerpike grows increasingly unstable. Though he has taken Barquentine's position, Prunesquallor and Titus's mother are thoroughly suspicious of him. Flay's secret return to the castle to watch over Titus makes Steerpike's life and schemes even harder.

Unsurprising, then, that things go wrong for him. His attempt to seduce Fuchsia backfires and his deeds are found out. Forced to go rogue, he brings his bid for power forward, attempting to murder Titus and evading capture. Only when the castle is flooded are they able to corner him, and Titus manages to kill him, more by luck than judgement.

The body count continues to climb throughout the novel: Nannie Slagg, Flay, Cora and Clarice, Barquentine; small wonder that at the end of it Titus wants to put it all behind him. The book closes with Titus abdicating and riding away from the castle.

So much for the plot.

On the whole it's a gripping read, much like the book that came before it. The same evocative language, the same vivid images: it's one of Peake's most famous books and deservedly so. Although I didn't mention it in the summary of the plot, my favourite part of the story is Irma Prunesquallor's manic pursuit of a husband. Her decision to court the professors is one of the most hysterical things I've read in a novel; with two people in their late middle years, who, owing to the cloistered nature of their upbringings or professions, have had a bare minimum of contact with the opposite sex. Bellgrove is one of the more likable characters in the book, and seeing him try to handle his insolent staff is always good for a laugh.

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Nov 25, 2008 Marilyn Maykron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

The Gormenghast Trilogy is amazing. I don't know whether it's because it was written by an artist, but it is without a doubt the most painterly novel I've ever read. Peake's use of language incredibly beautiful and visual. Steerpike becomes so malignantly evil in the book, at some points I could only read short bits at a time. And the operative word is "becomes". Peake draws Steerpike not merely as a one dimensional character, but allows you to see his mental and physical disintegration over tim...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Smcleish rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in November 2000.

Gormenghast is where Peake's writing all comes together. In contrast to most mid-trilogy novels, it is the best by a long way. It combines an exciting story, one of the most famous and evocative backgrounds of any novel, deeper levels of symbolism, humour, tragedy and a hero who is easy to identify with.

The story tells of the adolescence of Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. He and some others - foppish, apparently foolish Dr Prunesquallor and the do...more Originally published on my blog here in November 2000.

Gormenghast is where Peake's writing all comes together. In contrast to most mid-trilogy novels, it is the best by a long way. It combines an exciting story, one of the most famous and evocative backgrounds of any novel, deeper levels of symbolism, humour, tragedy and a hero who is easy to identify with.

The story tells of the adolescence of Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. He and some others - foppish, apparently foolish Dr Prunesquallor and the dowager countess - have begun to realise that the centuries of tradition making Gormenghast what it is are under threat. The former kitchen boy Steerpike has risen to the place of assistant to Barquentine, curator of traditional observance, as he has worked out just how much power controlling the lives of the castle's inhabitants to the minutest degree will give him.

The background, the castle of Gormenghast, is less self-consciously described than it was in Titus Groan. It is more a background, without the lengthy florid descriptions which fill the earlier novel. Peake makes more of the way in which it affects every part of every inhabitant rather than exhibiting the castle directly.

On a deeper lever, there are clearly meanings to many of the events in Gormenghast and its surrounding countryside. It is easy to read something different into it from what Peake meant - the novel has been read as a Christian allegory, for example - but some things at least are clear. The tradition of the castle has something at least to do with the conventions of society; the freedom that Titus yearns for is represented by his foster sister, the wild forest-dwelling Thing; and her death is clearly important though its meaning is less so.

The humour of Gormenghastis mainly provided by the dusty boarding school at which Titus is educated, taught by fossilised pedagogues, and by the desire of vain, stupid Irma Prunesqallor to marry. (She achieves her aim by inviting the senior teachers to a bizarre party.)

The other side of the coin, tragedy, is acheived through Flay, banished manservant to Titus' father. He has a truer love for Gormenghast as an institution than any other character, and yet for a relatively minor infraction he has to live in a hut on the mountain overlooking the castle, all the time gazing at the beloved home to which he cannot return and which he knows is in grave danger from Steerpike.

Titus is the hero. Aside from conventional attributes of heroism - youth, good looks (which can be assumed since the assembled grotesques of Gormenghast think him hideous), an enemy - he has an ambiguous attitude to the castle which makes him easy to identify with. He is far more a true rebel than Steerpike; Steerpike wants to rule the castle and uses its traditions and puts himself outside the traditions as a means to this end, while Titus wants to escape the traditions entirely. The reasons that Titus opposes Steerpike are simply that he dislikes him and because Steerpike has attacked those Titus holds dear.

Peake has assembled all these elements to make up one of the greatest cult classics of the twentieth century. What is more, Gormenghast really deserves this status.(less)

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Mar 19, 2011 Nicholas Whyte rated it 3 of 5 stars

The second book of the famous trilogy, in which the evil Steerpike's plans to dominate Gormenghast Castle are resolved in vicious single combat with Titus Groan, the 77th earl. When I first read this, at least a quarter of a century ago, the two scenes that really stuck in mymind were the grotesque deaths of Deadyawn the headmaster, killed in a bizarre incident where his wheelchair intersects with a dealy schoolboy game, and of the twin aunts of Titus and Fuchsia, locked away by Steerpike to die...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Lauren O'Farrell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mine-all-mine-mwa-ha-haaaaa

Gormenghast and Titus Groan are two of my favourite books in the world. To read them is to lose yourself in the dusty, crumbling and moss-grown shadows of a magnificently decaying grand world.
Mr Peake creates an aging castle so real you almost feel like blowing the dust from the pages before you read them.
The characters, with names that wrinkle the nose, furrow the brow or make you raise your chin when you say them out loud, are freakish, bizarre and eccentric but oddly lovable. Every voice i...more

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Jul 26, 2012 TJ Radcliffe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, historical

My initial thought is that Tim Burton should've made a movie out of this. A quick check of IMDB turns up this production instead, which looks brilliant: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0197154/

Gormenghast isn't so much horror--although if you mediate for a few minutes on the lives these people are trapped in you'll find plenty of that--as it is a grotesque, the literary equivalent of an old-style circus freak-show, which it's characters all pushed to the far extremes of caricature. Peake manages for...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Jim McDonnell rated it 5 of 5 stars

As ever, as good a read today as it was when I first found it in the late 1970s. Everything I said about 'Titus Groan' still holds true - language is detailed, vivid and descriptive (I read another review in here that described Peake's style as 'painterly', and when I thought about it that was pretty spot-on), the setting of the castle, its surroundings and the strange inhabitants still gripping, byzantine (or is it baroque?) and funny by turns - I particularly like the Schoolmasters, and the in...more

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May 07, 2011 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The fabulous enchanted macarbre world of Gormenghast opens out to you like a vast dream that wends it's tendrils around your imagination until you are well and truly hooked, pulled under and throttled with a club of pure audacity. I read this as a teenager and it opened a world of mystery and imagination to me that laid a foundation of inky surrealist humorous horror to my literary loves. Mervyn Peake, a master of language, paints a beautiful but fragile world around Titus Groan, heir to the cru...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Yngvild rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gothic

Gormenghast is the second of Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan trilogy and by far the best. Where Titus Groan (#I) is quirkily clever but rather erratic, Gormenghast (#2) is beautifully written, has a real narrative, and finishes with several chapters of cliff-hanging suspense and a satisfying ending.

The pity is that Gormenghast is not a standalone book. All the characters are introduced in Titus Groan. If you begin the Titus Groan books with Gormenghast, it is just like starting a book in the middle....more

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Jul 24, 2012 Bill Moore added it

Randy Wayne White (hard to say it - sounds like "Randy Wainwright) with a speech impediment) reminds me a little of the Men's magazines my uncle used to read. Hard action, lots of machismo, very bad guys showing up, gratuitious violence. So why read this? He's a smart writer, and his characters are engaging. "Doc" Ford, now a marine biologist, was once a covert operator for Naval Intelligence. His stoner sidekick, Tomlinson, has a covert past of his own. There's often a little thread of the supe...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

An extremely curious experience.

I had no idea what to expect, except that I was expecting a lot. This book is often mentioned in the same breath as that father of modern epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings, and spoken of in hushed, reverent tones as a fantasy classic. I've put it on my fantasy shelf for want of a better place, but there is little of what you generally associate with that genre here. In fact, but for the immense size and vast proportions of Gormenghast, this story could be histor...more An extremely curious experience.

I had no idea what to expect, except that I was expecting a lot. This book is often mentioned in the same breath as that father of modern epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings, and spoken of in hushed, reverent tones as a fantasy classic. I've put it on my fantasy shelf for want of a better place, but there is little of what you generally associate with that genre here. In fact, but for the immense size and vast proportions of Gormenghast, this story could be historical fiction. There is no magic, no wizards, no dragons or Dark Lords, no quests, no travelling between worlds or multiple races of beings (you could count the Carvers as another race, I suppose, but I thought of them more as a different nationality, living in a different part of the world). There are just people, living in this mass of stones.

And what people there are! Larger than life, with odd names and bizarre exaggerated characteristics, most of the characters in this novel would feel just as comfortable in a Dickens story or in Wonderland as they do in Gormenghast. The story flicks wildly between the drastically serious actions of Steerpike, the somewhat whinging adolescent thoughts of Titus, and the incredible, over-the-top antics of Gormenghast's teaching staff. It is in this last section that most of the Dickensian nonsense takes place, that makes the book feel less like a fantasy than a farce. At times stupidly entertaining, I nevertheless found myself wondering what it all had to do with the story. This was probably the wrong way to approach the book.

Apart from the comical teachers, the most memorable and noticeable thing about this book is the style of writing, or more accurately, the level and consistency of description Peake upholds. I have never read a book whose author clearly had such strong concepts of scenery, and skill enough to convey those concepts to the reader. Often it felt like I was having a painting described to me, one moment caught in time, filled with meaning and movement and colour, but ultimately still. Eventually, I felt like the story was truly being told in a series of still scenes, like walking past a series of paintings, cleverly positioned to make me think I was watching a film. It was all a trick of the light.

This does mean, however, that the book is a lot longer than the very simple story would have you believe. I did often find myself feeling sluggish, bogged down in description and scene-setting and inner monologues when I just wanted to know what happened next. Additionally, I felt that character motivation was probably not Peake's strong point, especially where Titus and the Thing were concerned. That storyline left me cold. His reasoning could have used some questioning, or some editing, or possibly both.

The concept of Gormenghast castle left a deep impression on me. I loved the feeling of size Peake injected into the story, where characters can walk for hours and still be within the castle, where a boy can get lost in a string of tunnels and corridors he never knew existed, where whole wings and buildings and floors haven't been seen, let alone occupied, in centuries. Areas of the castle are named like suburbs, all rooms are furnished even if they have been long forgotten (including a dust-covered table that Flay discovers, laid for two countless years ago, a la Miss Havisham in Great Expectations). I love this idea. Combined with the sense of decay, of losing the battle against nature, of a shrinking population going about their business as their home disintegrates around their ears, the impression is a powerful one, something that gave the story an intense atmosphere.

In the end, this book is unlike anything I've read before, or am likely to read again. A true original, a challenging read, a visual feast and a strange journey, I feel content at having finished this one for now, although I won't discount reading the others if they come my way.(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Kyle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

With Titus Groan, Peake awakened me to what is possible when writing pen and brilliant mind are in perfect harmony. He created a tapestry of humanity and community uniquely compendious, woven together with threads of absolutely breathtaking writing. Yet for all its magnificence, it's purpose was still largely to set the foundation for the second book, Gormenghast.

And such a second book it is. Gormenghast is Peake unleashed. In its pages he manages to pry humanity open, examine and play with all...more With Titus Groan, Peake awakened me to what is possible when writing pen and brilliant mind are in perfect harmony. He created a tapestry of humanity and community uniquely compendious, woven together with threads of absolutely breathtaking writing. Yet for all its magnificence, it's purpose was still largely to set the foundation for the second book, Gormenghast.

And such a second book it is. Gormenghast is Peake unleashed. In its pages he manages to pry humanity open, examine and play with all its viscera, and stitch everything back together in a way of his own choosing. Peake forces the reader to become his toy, his plaything. Like a cat he plays with us, and trapped within the strings of his pages we cannot help put be tugged and batted along.

Gormenghast, in its dark and dreamlike way, will demand a heavy mental and emotional price, yet it will reward readers who allow the heavy castle stones and it's inchoate characters to permeate their mind.

He no longer wanted to kill his foe in darkness and in silence. His lust was to stand naked upon the moonlight stage, with his arms stretched high, and fingers spread, and with the warm fresh blood that soaked them sliding down his wrists, spiralling his arms and steaming in the cold night air - to suddenly drop his hands like talons to his breast and tear it open to expose a heart like a black vegetable- and then, upon the crest of self-exposure, and the sweet glory of wickedness, to create some gesture of supreme defiance, lewd and rare; and then, with the towers of Gormenghast about him, cheat the castle of its jealous right and die of his own evil in the moonbeams.

There is more "action" in this, the second book, than was in Titus Groan, and the book itself feels like a faster read. Yet, I found myself taking longer to read it only for the reason that I wanted to savor it. So complete was my enjoyment, so deep was my investment of this book, that I find myself truly mourning Mervyn Peake's death. I bemoan his loss to the world, and I weep whenever I remember that the story of Titus Groan will never be completed.

I eagerly await the chance to dive into Titus Alone, the third book, yet I will need to take a small break before I do. I will need to reflect and chew on everything I've already experienced, and prepare myself for the mysterious journey ahead still calling to me from the pages Peake's masterpiece.

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Sep 13, 2009 Mark added it

I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I did the preceding one (Titus Groan). It wasn’t bad, necessarily, and in parts I was fairly captivated, but overall it just lacked the spark. I think it’s mostly because this novel is a coming of age story for a heroic character as opposed to a villainous one, and hence, structurally, just a lot less fun. The sub-plot about Irma Prunesquallor and Belgrove took up a lot of space in the novel as well, but as far as I could tell went nowhere and did nothing. I’...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Katie Grainger rated it 3 of 5 stars

The second novel in the trilogy focuses on Titus Groan as he begins to grow up. As the novel progresses Titus becomes more and more disillusioned with the world he knows, despondent with the ritual’s be is forced to suffer daily and longs to be free.

The second novel in the Gormenghast trilogy is a dark and bizarre as the first. Although a number of key characters died in the first novel the void is filled with equally bizarre personalities namely the Professors but also Keda’s child, who becomes...more

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Jun 03, 2010 William Herschel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to William Herschel by: 1001 books

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, library-loan, 2010, 1001, castle

If I could afford to judge people by their opinion of a book this one just might be it.

This was 10x better than Titus Groan. Or perhaps I was simply more adapted to the setting and writing style this time around. But this definitely had a better balance of description, characters, action, grimness, humour...

The first two books of the Gormenghast trilogy center around a vast castle governed by monarchy and strange, symbolic rituals (rituals in which even the inhabitants are unaware of the symboli...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Esther rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: couldn-t-finish

Wanted to like this. Tried hard to read it. Realized I couldn't force myself to slog through this self-indulgent wallowing in shabby-romantic blather. And yet! I thought it was a great idea - why did no one ever tell Mervyn to Keep It Simple? Somebody should have introduced him to Hemingway. That would have been funny. Anyway, we all know how THAT would have ended - Hemingway would shoot any man named Mervyn, just for the principle of it. Man! Now I'm getting all sorts of great ideas for rewriti...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Adam Fisher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Vast improvement over the first.

The first felt much like the work of a poet trying his hand at prose; it was lengthy, well described, yet unconcerned with plot and filled with stilted and odd dialogue. You got the sense, reading his characters, that they didn't talk to each other, but rather spat tangentially related non-sequiters at each other. Above all there was an oppressive sense of the emptiness of Gormenghast, the endless useless rituals, and a cast of unsympathetic characters whose perso...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Megan Baxter rated it 4 of 5 stars

How to rate this one? Three stars or four? Well, I'm unlikely to read this again, so I guess three. Or am I? Maybe I'll try it again some day. Four?

I find the Gormenghast books a bit exhausting, and they fall under the category of books that I respect, but that I don't particularly like. The characters are all too distant, the writing too ornate, the world too much like a painting by someone who can capture moments, but not depth of feeling.

And yet I found the second volume slightly more access...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Kerry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this, taking an excruciatingly long time, when I was really sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and it was perfect - a scenario that was even more depressing than the one I was living thorugh.

Recommended for those with an extremely black sense of humour, or else an abilty to survive endless descriptions of colourless, bleak, aristocratic morons. Helps if you don't like the English upper classes!

It is, having said all that, a classic of gothic fantasy literature, and quite snidley takes a...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Pedro León rated it 4 of 5 stars

Segunda entrega de la trilogía. Este libro es mucho mas negro que el anterior, aunque sigue teniendo grandes momentos de humor. Es un gustazo ver como el autor te lleva por los pasillos del castillo, sus habitantes, tan dispares, las costumbres de un mundo imaginario.... todo ello perfectamente descrito y sin descuidar a unos personajes que ganan en matices tal y como avanzan las páginas. Muy buen libro este segundo, incluso mejor que el primero. Lástima que me ha pillado una época de mucho trab...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Danie Ware rated it 3 of 5 stars

I know it's a classic, I know it's groundbreaking and a phenomenal creative achievement. I know his vision was superb, his plotting exact, his characters supremely well-observed - sympathetic and horrifying and humorous in equal measures, making the storyline more complex than a simple tale of betrayal and vengeance (inhale). I know his prose is spectacular...

...but bloody hellfire does there have to be so MUCH of it?

Dear Gods. I did get to the end this time (it's previously defeated me on a cou...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Ian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-books

Very much a continuation of Titus Groan, but stands on its own just as well. Titus grows into manhood, but with a rebellious streak. His mother is stirred into life by the villainous Steerpike. The real star of the show though is Gormenghast itself - a mass of unfathomable tunnels, dark chambers, ritual, tradition and meaningless pomp. It took a ridiculous imagination to detail the nightmarish setting, and great skill to make such bizarre characters come alive. That said, I found the novel's pac...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Graham Tapper rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'd heard so much about this book but had never read it, or any of the others in the series. I was waiting for them to become available from someone on Bookmooch but as it happened the first on offer was this one rather than the first in the trilogy - Titus Groan. So, it was with some trepidation that I started reading Gormenghast, not knowing if it would be a mistake to do so as it had been trying to read one of Stephen King's Dark Tower series out of order. I needn't have worried.

Gormenghast s...more I'd heard so much about this book but had never read it, or any of the others in the series. I was waiting for them to become available from someone on Bookmooch but as it happened the first on offer was this one rather than the first in the trilogy - Titus Groan. So, it was with some trepidation that I started reading Gormenghast, not knowing if it would be a mistake to do so as it had been trying to read one of Stephen King's Dark Tower series out of order. I needn't have worried.

Gormenghast stands it's ground as a novel in its own right; you do not need to have first read Titus Groan to be able to get full enjoyment from this second book in the series, although I will go back and read the first when I can lay my hands on a copy.

Gormenghast can best be described as a Gothic Black Comedy but even this doesn't really do it justice. The setting is so bizarre that it almost stands as a genre in its own right. Certainly, I've never read anything quite like it, even from masters of the Gothic like James Herbert and the aforementioned Stephen King.

We find ourselves in a decaying world of ancient privilege set within a grounds of a vast citadel that is part seat of power, castle and city. However, the various buildings and districts are largely deserted of their original occupants, whose fate is unexplained. Those parts within the walls of the citadel that are occupied are so by the family Groan and their servants and dependants. Outside is mostly unknown and inhabited by the destitute, who have virtually no interaction with the citizens.

The two main characters are Titus Groan himself who, with the death of his father has assumed the titles of the seventy-seventh Earl of Groan. He is as yet a teenager and so under the influence of his mother and her entourage. Supposedly he lives a life determined by protocol and ceremony based on rules devised hundreds of years earlier and whose purpose is largely lost in the mists of time.

The second character is Steerpike who, it appears, was a kitchen boy in the first novel in the series but one with ambitions above his station. Steerpike want to depose the family Groan and assume ruler-ship of the domain for himself. He is determined to achieve his objective by any means possible, preferably murder.

Titus, in growing into his predestined role is being brought up as a "normal" youngster, educated alongside the children of the families which serve the Groans. However, he has serious doubts about whether he even wants to assume the leadership of this decayed dynasty. If Steerpike has his way, the decision will be taken out of his hands.

As the bodies pile up, the identity of the villain has yet to be discovered but Titus is on the hunt. Who will finally triumph and, what then?

Peake's writing style is quite extraordinary: I have yet to read a book where there is so much narrative compared with the events that are being described. You find that you may have read four or five pages and yet nothing has actually happened. Peake describes the thought of characters and their situations in minute detail. Even when you reach the end you sit and think, "What has actually taken place that could possible occupy over 500 pages!"

Don't get me wrong though, I loved the book. You just get lost in the narrative, so rich is the writing. This is truly painting with words in the finest possible sense. It is fair to say that the action does tend to rattle along towards the end when the battle between the major protagonists takes place.

I will certainly return to the first book in due course and will also read the final book written entirely by Peake (a sequel finished by his widow was also published) - Titus Alone. As it is, if you like me, was curious to find out what all the fuss was about then, don't hesitate.(less)

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Jun 17, 2012 Cookie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, not-mine, read2012

Im zweiten Teil der Gormenghast-Reihe steht wieder das labyrinthische Anwesen der Familie Groan im Mittelpunkt. Es gibt ein Wiedersehen mit vielen bekannten Schlossbewohnern aus dem ersten Teil, doch hier rückt vor allem das Leben des heranwachsenden Titus in den Fokus, der – je älter er wird – immer mehr aus dem ritualisierten Alltag ausbrechen möchte. Doch auch Steerpike lebt noch immer auf Gormenghast und spinnt weiterhin seine Intrigen, bis es schließlich zum großen Showdown zwischen den bei...more Im zweiten Teil der Gormenghast-Reihe steht wieder das labyrinthische Anwesen der Familie Groan im Mittelpunkt. Es gibt ein Wiedersehen mit vielen bekannten Schlossbewohnern aus dem ersten Teil, doch hier rückt vor allem das Leben des heranwachsenden Titus in den Fokus, der – je älter er wird – immer mehr aus dem ritualisierten Alltag ausbrechen möchte. Doch auch Steerpike lebt noch immer auf Gormenghast und spinnt weiterhin seine Intrigen, bis es schließlich zum großen Showdown zwischen den beiden kommt.

Dieser Teil ist wieder gewohnt skurril und düster wie „Der junge Titus“. Doch die Aufmerksamkeit rückt ein wenig weg von der Familie Groan und den Ritualen, hin zur Entwicklung von Titus und dem Schulalltag im Schloss. Ein großer Teil des Romans widmet sich den Lehrern rund um Direktor Bellgrove. Schließlich bahnt sich sogar eine kleine (urkomische) Liebesgeschichte an.. Je älter Titus wird, desto weniger will er in das gewohnte Leben von Gormenghast passen und bricht immer wieder – im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes - aus dem Alltag aus. Was mir daran gut gefiel ist, dass der Leser so auch erfährt, was sich außerhalb des Schlosses im Gormengwald befindet. Steerpike hingegen ist noch immer Teil des Schlosses und ihm gelingt es durch seine Intrigen und seine Morde immer mehr Macht zu erlangen.

Mervyn Peake ist hier eine wortgewaltige Fortsetzung gelungen, in denen er wieder einmal Situationen und Charaktere so grotesk überzeichnet, dass sich zwangsläufig urkomische Szenen ergeben. Doch durch diese haarkleine Schilderung wurde mir auch in manchen Situationen richtig übel und dann war ich war wieder zu Tränen gerührt, denn so skurril die Bewohner doch alle auf ihre Art sind, viele sind einem wirklich ans Herz gewachsen, weshalb ich spätestens beim großen Showdown am Schluss fix und fertig mit den Nerven war. Durch Titus werden auch alle anderen menschlicher, es ergeben sich wirklich rührende Szenen, wenn sich zum Beispiel Bellgrove und Dr. Prunesquallor zu Titus auf den Boden setzen, um mit ihm mit Murmeln zu spielen. Eine Szene, die ich mir so nicht im ersten Band vorstellen könnte. Auch die sonst so eigensinnige Fuchsia entwickelt eine große Liebe zu ihrem Bruder, weshalb ich zum Schluss so sehr mit ihnen mitgefiebert und -gelitten habe. Mein einziger Kritikpunkt: Was mir am ersten Teil so gefiel war, dass vor allem das Schloss als eine Art Protagonist im Mittelpunkt steht, das durch seine schrägen Bewohner regelrecht lebendig wird. Im zweiten Teil geht dies etwas verloren, was für mich auch ein wenig vom Charme einbüßt.

Übrigens, der Leser wird direkt wieder mitten ins Geschehen geworfen und ich würde daher unbedingt empfehlen, vorher den ersten Teil zu lesen. Sonst wird man sich reichlich verloren fühlen, unter den merkwürdigen Geschehnissen und Bewohnern. (less)

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About Mervyn Peake

Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English modernist writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books, though the Titus books would be more accurate: the three works that exist were the beginning of what Peake conceived as a lengthy cycle, following his protagonist Titus Groan from cradle to grave, but Peake's untimely death prevented compl...more

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Quotes from Gormenghast

“He is climbing the spiral staircase of the soul of Gormenghast, bound for some pinnacle of the itching fancy - some wild, invulnerable eyrie best known to himself; where he can watch the world spread out below him, and shake exultantly his clotted wings.” — 3 people liked it

“There was a library and it is ashes. Let its long length assemble. Than its stone walls its paper walls are thicker; armoured with learning, with philosophy, with poetry that drifts or dances clamped though it is in midnight. Shielded with flax and calfskin and a cold weight of ink, there broods the ghost of Sepulchrave, the melancholy Earl, seventy-sixth lord of half-light.” — 2 people liked it

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