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The Gormenghast Novels (Gormenghast, #1-3)

Mervyn Peake,

Anthony Burgess

Start date: June 1, 2022

Finish date: July 31, 2022

Discussion: Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Dec 10, 2013 midnightfaerie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

"I am tired of your words," said Titus.
"I use them as a kind of lattice-work," said Muzzlehatch. "They hide me away from me...let alone from you. Words can be tiresome as a swarm of insects. They can prick and buzz! Words can be no more than a series of farts; or on the other hand they can be adamantine, obdurate, inviolable, stone upon stone. Rather like your 'so-called Gormenghast' (you notice that I use the same phrase again. The phrase that makes you cross?) For although you have learned, it "I am tired of your words," said Titus.
"I use them as a kind of lattice-work," said Muzzlehatch. "They hide me away from me...let alone from you. Words can be tiresome as a swarm of insects. They can prick and buzz! Words can be no more than a series of farts; or on the other hand they can be adamantine, obdurate, inviolable, stone upon stone. Rather like your 'so-called Gormenghast' (you notice that I use the same phrase again. The phrase that makes you cross?) For although you have learned, it seems, the art of making enemies (and this is indeed good for the soul), yet you are blind, deaf, and dumb when it comes to another language. Stark: dry: unequivocal: and cryptic: a thing of crusts and water."

While the writing style of this third book in the Gormenghast trilogy is so different, it still has the taste and flavor of Peakes eloquent and repugnant writing. This final book, Titus Alone, although still compelling in its script, is a world away from the beautiful and grotesqueness of his first two books. Peake was beginning to struggle with Parkinson's disease and some fans complain that his writing became more disjointed with this third tome. I'm not sure if it was a diminishing mind unable to focus, or higher form of brilliance that formed this book. While more abstract in his writing, he follows some themes that we continue to see throughout this short book, such as can we really escape who we are? Titus runs away, trying to shed himself the burden of duty and obligation, along with the abhorrent ceremony of ritual he has come to hate. But he soon discovers he might be more a part of Gormenghast that he realized, and even though he ends up in a completely different world, he can't seem to rid himself of his inheritance.

Along with the underlying themes pertaining to the human condition, we see longevity and a fan following that is reminiscent of JD Salinger in its intensity. He also displays a unique way of writing and no one that reads Peake can object to his fanciful words that draw you in to his story. All of these things definitely make this story a classic.

I also think the reason I have such an affinity for Peake, are his commonalities with Dickens. You can see this in many ways, but most often in his characters and the naming of them. My love for Charles Dickens bleeds over into Peake's writing with a severity I don't often find in other authors. The two have similarities, but in the end, they are their own original entity.

I really liked this book. I honestly can't decide if I liked it better than the first two or not. Usually I don't like such nonconcrete writing, however, there were some recondite sentiments in the story line that I found beautiful. The first two books were definitely easier to read, and this book almost seemed to change the genre of how I first envisioned Gormenghast and its entirety. But I don't think it should be easily dismissed because of that. And I don't believe anyone can say definitively if Peake didn't intend this outcome right from the beginning.

Titus is lost, and throughout the story, continues to be lost until he realizes what he needs to be found. He tries to find his identity in a separate existence than his home. Gormenghast represents everything he loathes, and because of that, he wants to sever ties with it. So the development of his character and the progression of his life away from Gormeghast, of which is this novel, is the most important in finding out who he is. The whole architecture of this trilogy depends on it. This theme is wrapped up, if not necessarily tidily with a bow, but completely at the end. I think the only thing that I didn't care for was the ending, only because I began to see myself in Titus and it's not what I would have done. Shame on him for going against my nature. For Titus though, with no proof of Gormenghast, he has no proof of his identity. So to prove that he has matured and found it, he must make the choice he did - leaving Gormenghast after having just found it again - or the purpose that has been built to, is rendered invalid.

Overall, it's simply a brilliant piece of work. The writing is superb and the originality is nothing to be compared to. I have never read such descriptive and detailed writing as this. The imagery alone is worth the effort of reading these books:

"She goes through hell," muttered Titus. "She wades in it, and the thicker and deeper it is, the more I long to escape. Grief can be boring."

I hope as time goes on, this largely unknown classic, only acquires more admirers.

ClassicsDefined.com ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2021 Laura (Reading is a Doing Word) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-trad-and-modern, all-time-favourites

Absurd, macabre, grotesque and unpredictable.
I loved it!

4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 12, 2013 midnightfaerie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Absolutely loved these books. Somewhere around a 4.5 for me. It would have been a 5 except it wasn't finished, and I think if it had, we would have seen more of our beloved Gormenghast. Here are my reviews for each book:

Titus Groan

Gormenghast

Titus Alone

Titus Awakes ...more

3 likes · Like · see review