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I know of no author in all of the English language who is like Peake, or who could aspire to be like him. His voice is as unique as that of Milton, Bierce, Conrad, Blake, Donne, or Eliot, and as fully-realized. I am a hard and critical man, cynical and not easily moved, but there are passages in the Gormenghast series which so shocked me by the force of their beauty that I snap the book shut, overwhelmed with wonderment, and take a moment to catch my breath.
I would drop my head. My eyes would se ...more
I would drop my head. My eyes would se ...more

A thing of beauty, like the words it contains: carefully bound, with sumptuous illustrations. I'm often wary of pictures in adult books, but Peake was a painter and illustrator as well as a writer, so I make an exception in this case. He sketched in the margins of most of his writings, as he wrote. Artistic symbiosis.
Two of my three favourite books, plus a third I’ve learned to like, in one volume, with an excellent introduction by China Mieville, and Sebastian Peake's note about the illustrat ...more
Two of my three favourite books, plus a third I’ve learned to like, in one volume, with an excellent introduction by China Mieville, and Sebastian Peake's note about the illustrat ...more

So...guess who finally gave in and had to order this volume to read the rest of the novels when I heard about it. Thank you Kyle for reminding me...

I re-read the first two parts of this every couple of years or so. The first time I read it was back in High School, right after finishing Lord of the Rings. Someone recommended it and I started it thinking it was more of the same.
Completely wrong.
Despite the mass acceptance of LotR, I really enjoy these books much more; the mood, the curious characters, the life of rules (or the rules that govern their life) the castle, the ending of Gomanghast, the prose itself, resonates with me.
One of my key ...more
Completely wrong.
Despite the mass acceptance of LotR, I really enjoy these books much more; the mood, the curious characters, the life of rules (or the rules that govern their life) the castle, the ending of Gomanghast, the prose itself, resonates with me.
One of my key ...more

Mar 31, 2011
Debra
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sai-king-recommends,
fantasy-sci-fi
Stephen King recommended book. Noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981.
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