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Why You Should Read Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2023
- I love this whimsical English fantasy. Here's my reasons why I think you will too - including the much misunderstood third book.
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I have no business with this book. I'm a truck driver from Montana. I dropped out of high school. I usually listen to Stephen King, for lack of something more interesting. But having found this series, my interest in fiction has been sparked anew. I absolutely love the writing. So much going on in such simple scenes. I must've been a proper Victorian Englishman in my previous life
So glad you’re enjoying it. It’s a book that just draws you in.
Ps. I reckon I lived before in early 1700s England! Much more fun. Lots of pubs, drinking, pipe smoking, and arguments about government, sir!
You just lit up my day ! Nice to see a fellow admirer !
From Steerpike, to Prunesquallor, to Titus, to Flannelcat, to Squalor, to Muzzlehatch. Such genius. Would love to discuss it further. Excellent description.Thank you
Ah, those names... Prunesquallor - that IS genius. Thanks for your comment, Johan!
I think this tale, specifically the first book, really shaped by sensibilities when I was about 12 years old. I could've read The Hardy Boys, but for some reason it was Peake that rewired my brain. Watching 'Saltburn' recently, I recalled this series and it all came flooding back. It's almost like a half-remembered dream. I recalled Gormenghast, the second book, being less focussed but shot through with moments of brilliance, amazing prose, humour - and suspense! There's a scene outside the castle between Titus and a.. er... 'close relative' that is extraordinary.
I tried the 3rd book during the pandemic and found it's tone and settings jarring, even though I was aware of its reputation. I will try it again.
Thanks for this comment! I hope you enjoy the third book second time around. It comes as a bit of a shock after the first two, but is really worth persevering with.
@@michaelbartlettfilm Hi Michael. Yes, I’ll give it a go. Read some Gene Wolfe recently and funnily enough it reminded me of Titus Alone!
I absolutely loved every page of 'The Gormenghast Trilogy' and am re-reading it because its such a fantastical journey into another world, beautifully written with so much attention to detail . As the book states 'deeper and darker chasms of the imagination'. My all time favorite read.
Same here!
One of my favourite novel series - thanks for the reminder! The fourth book exists - I have a copy here, it's Titus Awakes, as you say - it's by his wife Maeve Gilmore. The cover reads "based on a fragment by Mervyn Peake". I got about a third of the way through but it didn't feel quite worthy of the other three - I felt it was sullying my memory of the others so sad to say I put it down again.
Yeah, it doesn't appeal, to be honest. But I will try Boy In Darkness, which many people have recommended and sounds fascinating.
I've recently read Titus Groan and Gormenghast, with Titus Alone lined up for sometime in the near future. You have summed up pretty much exactly how I feel about the fantasy world and agree that it should be more well-known and celebrated.
Thanks, Emma! Would love to hear what you make of Titus Alone.
Great video.
I agree that the ending of Titus Alone is powerful.
I understand that Peake was suffering from Parkinson’s disease at the time of the novel’s submission to the publisher and I think it shows in the finished work. But that being said, I see it as a turning point and a significant inversion of theme in a larger unfinished story.
While the first two books deal with the absurdities and rigidities of life within the castle, Titus Alone explores themes of disorientation and alienation in the face of modernity and change. Titus struggles to find his place in this new world, which is in stark contrast to the ordered, if oppressive, life he left behind.
I like to think that if Peake had lived to finish his planned sequels: ‘Titus Awakes’ and ‘Gormenghast Revisited’ Titus’s quest would ultimately have led him to a new understanding of how to balance the preservation of valuable traditions with the necessity of progress and change.
Thanks, Patrick. I love that idea, but I also find the trilogy as it stands perfect in the way it brings us back full circle to Gormenghast at the end of Titus Alone, and this is the exact moment where Titus fully develops as an adult. But I love Peake's writing so much, I just know I would have welcomed a fourth novel despite this!
One of my best book ever, i never read something like this, thanks for your sharing
Merci, Dakodak!
Great discussion. One of my all-time favourite works of fantasy literature and literature in general. Peake's writing is just out of this world.
Glad you enjoyed!
I related it to the two world wars of the last century, as Steerpike rises to rebel and destroy the old order of kingdoms and empire, partially succeeding. Max F. told me that Peake was an artist, and some of the descriptions, for example of candle-lit coloured glass domes in the night time turning the drizzle into a spectrum shifting as Titus (?) walked along the path. And I _knew_ Titus would turn his back on Gormenghast.
@@narratorjay I think I knew too, but it still took my breath away.
Alan Lee chose this as his desert island book. Excellent and succinct review👍
Thanks!
Groan was recommended to me on the gene Wolfe subreddit, I am an acolyte of the new sun as it were.
I have been loving Titus Groan thus far. It’s gothic, it’s whimsical… it seems maybe apocalyptic.
It is a decay riddled delight
"Decay riddled delight" - love it!
Same as me. What do you like better - Peake or Wolfe?
Thank you for a sensitive and well done review.
Thank you!
Great video! I've read "Titus Groan" and at least some of "Gormenghast" (pretty sure I didn't finish it), and that many years ago. I must dig them out for a re-read and continue on with "Titus Alone". Peake's descriptive powers are top-notch, but then he was an artist first, so I imagine he saw the settings and people pretty vividly in his mind. The illustrated versions will be worth getting, I expect.
Thank you! Yeah, I love his illustrations. They're enigmatic enough that they don't spoil the image you're forming in your head of the characters, but strong enough that they add to the atmosphere of the text.
I very much appreciate your making this. It really gets at the sense of what makes special and unique works such as this so important. I have been wanting to get this trilogy since about a decade ago when I found it on a list of surreal works. I have just ordered it and cannot wait to begin. Wish you well!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video and, more importantly, I hope you enjoy the books!
Read the first two in 2017 and was blown away but left the third due to mixed reviews and like you didn’t want to spoil the wonderful experience. Just re-read them including the third and like you, needn’t have worried. I loved it. It’s in some ways even more bizarre than the others. Maybe someday we’ll even try the forth?
Maybe... But in the meantime, I must check out Boy In Darkness, which many people have recommended to me and is supposed to be linked to the trilogy.
I remember finding Titus Alone and Gormenghast in an old second hand bookstore in Norfolk because I loved the covers (1989).
I read Titus Alone first, it took a few days to finish.
It was just before I took a trip to Swansea and started Gormenghast the day I left.
I felt like the Stranger in a Strange Land (great book) just like Titus did and it helped me overcome anxiety I was dealing with at the time.
It's a special book.
With Gormenghast I was always fascinated with Steerpike and actually felt some pity for him.
He's a great antihero and I think Peake admires his energy and wit. For some odd reason, when I first read it, I was much more attached to Flay. I found his story, the loyal old retainer who is eventually pushed into exile and sees the disintegration of everything he knew, and starts to see the truth of things - that incredible sequence when he witnesses the village woman throw herself from the cliff - really affecting. Not sure what that says about me!
Thank you: a once a decade re-read for me. I'd like to recommend the 1984 BBC radio adaptations of the first two books by Brian Sibley, both of which can readily be found by typing "Titus Groan radio adaptation 1984" and "Gormenghast radio adaptation 1984" into the searchbar above. Memorable for a fine performance by Bernard Hepton as Prunesquallor, and a hammy one by Sting as Steerpike.
Bernard Hepton as Prunesquallor... That's great casting. Thanks for letting me know about these!
it was Ghormenghast for me. I found it in a second hand bookshop. My favourite book ever since.
God bless second-hand bookshops!
In an era where reviews of fantasy books (I almost said 'literature') talk about the 'magic system' and portrayal of combat and use the word 'epic' as a term of automatic approval (and in which people speak of giving up reading Tolkien because of 'too many descriptions'), I fear that Peake's unique brilliance will continue to be underappreciated until the current fads pass.
Yet despite being largely overlooked by many, it's still in print after all these years. So there's reason for optimism. Keep the faith!
Book 1: Style. Book 2: Plot. Book 3: Growth of character and of author...
Incredible.
There’s so much pain in that last book, both for writer and character
A giant of a book, the writing is utterly superb. Any self respecting author should read this for its depth and beauty. Each page is a treat.
Totally agree - it's something to savour
Although there are whimsical names and situations, the overall tone of this book is pitch black. It's bleaker and more depressing than any of the things Kafka wrote. And yes, it's beautiful.
Exactly right. I found Titus Groan incredibly moving when I first read it at university. But I like the darkness in it.
Thank you for this! All three titles have been sitting on my bookshelf for a good part of nearly 20 years now… I’m 37 years old now. I’ve been putting off reading it this whole time, and now I feel like I’m at a stage of maturity where I can truly appreciate the book! 🙏🏽
You're going to love it! Thanks for your comment.
I read this at 14 with a dictionary, I had to know why my father loved this book. The rest is history
With a dictionary? That is commitment; the vocab is these books is immense! So pleased you enjoyed it.
Book of the New Sun brought me here but I remember you from the Fighting-Fantasy top 10. "Peake wrote it during the war and actually lost the manuscript and had to rewrite the whole thing." Thank you so much for that detail, now Book of the new Sun is even cooler. Apparently Gene Wolfe read Gormenghast while writing it ;)
I still haven't got round to Book of the New Sun. On my to-do list.
@@marczwander893 Thanks, Marc!
I hadn’t previously heard of these books, but it was mentioned in another video I stumbled across about a month ago. So I just got the trilogy, and now your video popped up. How funny! It must be a hidden treasure, I am excited to read it. Also I’ll check out your channel! 🙂
Thank you! Hope you find other stuff you like. I've done four or five books vids.
An extraordinarily man. A very heartfelt reflection. I remember that same feeling, finishing it.
Thanks, Steven!
I just subscribed. I love your assessment and your speaking voice is so lovely and comforting.
Thank you, Velouria! Welcome to the channel.
@@michaelbartlettfilm I only know the tv trilogy. Have you seen it? But, your review of the books has encouraged me to buy them.
@@Velouria2024 I saw the one with Jonathan Rhys Mayers as Steerpike. It had some good actors in it, but I didn’t like the production or the tone of it really. I’d like it to have been more realistic, weirdly!
Great video! Now I want to read whole trilogy
Thank you!
I travelled to Asia & India in '89 and took Titus Groan as my book. The sentence structure prose left me in awe ❤
Great travel book. Though I'd probably get more interested in the book than the travel! Thanks for your comment, Maria!
@@michaelbartlettfilm Both went hand in hand as 35 years ago India was as fantastical as the book. ;)
Read it. 3rd book was such a bummer I wrote the series off.
Howl howl...
Don't know if Peake lost the manuscript or not, but I do know that T.E. Lawrence lost the manuscript for The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, at Reading Station and had to rewrite it. The Gorenghast Trilogy is also one of my favorites, as well. Are you familiar with Boy in Darkness, though not officially part of the trilogy, the boy is without doubt Titus.
Another subscriber told me about Boy In Darkness and I've put it on my Amazon Wish List. (Got a few other books to finish off first!) Sounds incredible.
Currently getting over covid and listened to radio productions of the trilogy. Oh my, first read this when I was about 13, and I loved it all over again. Perfect to revisit in our current era. Directly speaks to our current hurling toward extinction.... Or returning to what is natural and beneficial for everyone, based on turning toward the self to take full responsibility for ourself through facing unbearable suffering.... So beautifully written, using the second world War as his reference point. It is one of the most stunning books. I suggest along with 1984, IQ84, brave new world and animal farm. Moves me beyond all description.
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Thanks for your lovely comment, Kath. Hurtling towards extinction... I know that feeling. Hard to be hopeful, but at least humanity produced Mervyn Peake and the other books you mentioned. We've still got a chance. (One to add to that list - Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.)
I came across this trilogy by chance as was in a book club in the 80s and got sent it by mistake. I tried it anyway and i would definitely say the 1st two are my favourite books ever. Will have to give the last on another chance as I've re read the others a few times. Great review by the way 👍
Thanks, Mark. Please do give the last book another go. It's a beauty.
The 3rd wasn't even written by him and is a total offshoot. Not even remotely related to the first two. I always tell people to skip it. The first two are a complete story
Fell in love with the first 2 books when I came across the BBC miniseries on PBS way back in like 2000. But it's the 3rd book that's always felt the most personal to me. Even though it was written by a man in mental decline and complete/edited by others after his death.
But merely the idea of what it is; a coming-of-age tale about a medieval princeling who hitchhikes his way through a science fiction society that was always just out of sight from the world he and everyone he knew was aware of, and survives all his ordeals by almost nothing more than his own cynicism and indifference, and the fact that he's a living curiosity. It just feels very ahead of its time. Reminds me of 70s surrealist sci fi like Holy Mountain or Fantastic Planet. But I'm not sure I've ever seen such an enticing fish out of water story in my life. And on top of it all, some really cool futurism.
I love the way you've summed up the third book. It's doing my heart good to see all these positive appraisals of it in these comments. I always got the impression it was ignored. But it's such a beautiful novel. Thanks for your comment!
I bought the first American printing recently (Titus Groan). It is my favorite book, and have read all three volumes. I greatly enjoyed your video, thank you.
Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for your response...nice whilst I'm recovering in ma bed. Bit of company welcome. I shall give your suggestion as a go...never heard of it! Happy Sunday to you 😊
Melvyn peake is to art and literature what Orson Welles was to theatre and film..two unique artists that always walked their own walk..
Thanks, Shawn. I love this comparison!
These masterful works of imagination are among my all-time favorite books. The third novel does tend to be undervalued relative to the preceding two, but I actually preferred it when I first explored Peake's magnum opus in my early adolescence. I think that extraordinary ending resonated with my young self, yearning for freedom and possibility, and this underrated artist captured that spirit so exquisitely and succinctly.
I know of no other works quite like these (though my father, who read them before I did, has noted that the extravagant characters suggest Dickens on steroids), and Peake's beautiful lyric style and uncanny descriptive powers combine to make him a neglected master of English letters.
Thanks for your comment, Barry. Beautifully put.
just started it yesterday! loving it so far
Yes! I envy you reading it for the first time.
Very nice summary!
Thank you!
now you have made me want to reread it
I'm thinking of doing a re-read myself towards the end of this year.
American here. Just a warning to all those in TL/DR land. Mervyn Peake was a painter and an illustrator. He wrote from that perspective. I.e., he used a lot of exposition to describe the scenes in his story in minute detail. He used writing as a form of painting. And since 'one picture is worth a thousand words,' he puts out thousands of words just to give you that one picture. And then onto the next scene. In our fast paced, media-drenched age, its a culture shock to read him. It like you have to go from 70 mph to 1 mph to read him. The other thing about Titus Groan is that none of the characters like each other very much. That's alluded to in the character names as mentioned: Rottcodd, Flay, Swelter, Slagg, Steerpike, Sourdust, Prunesquallor, Shrattle. All names signifying a malevolent view of the characters. Titus Groan's mother even has a noticeable absence of maternal instinct. And everything is covered with dust and falling partly to ruin. I found it so depressing that I stopped reading when Steerpike finally met The Twins. It was later able to see how the story worked out by watching the BBC presentation of the book. But that's me. I can tell you I did get all the way through Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow." I can do a slog. I just can't do a depressing slog. Reading only it on a deserted island is probably the only way most modern people will ever read it through.
Hi, thanks for your comment. All the elements you warn about...I love! The prose is sublime, so beautiful. And far from depressing, I find the book whimsical, romantic, melancholy, atmospheric, and also very funny. A twisted sense of humour perhaps, but still comical. Ah, well. (PS. What does TL/DR mean?)
@@michaelbartlettfilm Too Long/Didn't Read.
The letters became a feature of internet forums where it would be a reply to a overlong post someone had made and was a request for the content to be summarized or a message for them to shut up.
Eventually it was discovered that prolonged internet usage caused attention spans to decease over time.
A lot of school kids today cannot read long works of literature.
I just realized I made a wall of text again. Just added paragraphs. Sorry.
@@EndingSimple ha, ha, no worries! Depressing thought. But I have faith there’s some new readers out there. I’ve seen some good young BookTubers discussing literature. Even Richardson’s Clarissa!
bought the entire trilogy a few months ago. gonna start it after i finish my current read!
Hope you like it! I'm sure you will, it's a treat.
@@michaelbartlettfilmi’m preparing myself in advance as it’s quite a long read. i tend to struggle with 600+ page books, but at the same time this is a trilogy in one, sooo hoping it’ll go well.
definitely seems like a classic
@@vizalloteafilter I'd leave a gap and read something else inbetween each part of the trilogy. That way, you can savour it longer!
Very information but the title should indicate that there are some plot spoilers.
Hi, sorry if it spoiled your enjoyment, but I like to discuss all aspects of the book, which is hard if some plot bits are off-limits. I still think this trilogy is so special, it can stand a bit of spoilerage!
I need to read these novels.
They're beauties. You'll love 'em.
The fourth book was completed by Mervyn's family and released twelve years ago.
I've heard this, Sheridan, but I haven't got round to reading it yet. I also need to get round to Boy In Darkness, a related short story, which I'm told is wonderful.
Excellent video but good grief I don't want to hear what the ending is
Ha, sorry, I'll put spoiler warnings on vids in the future!
One of those books that allows your imagination to soar. There was a TV adaptation that I was really looking forward to but it came across as irreverent and comical to my eyes and didn't portray the darkness I imagined when reading it. Then again, JG Ballard is my favourite author so maybe it's me.
JG Ballard! Favourite author of mine too. I agree about the TV version. It was well cast, but the director got the tone all wrong.
btw your voice is very soothing!
Thanks! I hope it's not so soothing it sends you to sleep, though!
oh not at all! :))
Yes, the 3rd book Titus Alone haunts me every day, as its epic plot evokes a sense of apocalyptic actions taken by Muzzlehatch and Titus. Muzzlehatch and Keda from the first two novels are two of my all-time fave characters, I guess because of their extraordinary decisions that haunt you due to their tragic fates. @TroyBoy
These novels may have modern relevance to today. One example is Steerpike sequestering the forgotten and shunned Groan twin sisters on the rationale he was protecting them from a disease in the castle. Sound familiar?
And the sister's fate; the ultimate haunting?
I'm happy you appreciated the 3rd book, but I didn't like it at all. The 3rd wasn't even written by him and is a total offshoot. Not even remotely related to the first two. I always tell people to skip it. The first two are a complete story on their own
It's true the first two make a complete story, but I love the third one, and I think it deepens that story. Ah, well. Thanks for your comment!
Dark comedic tragedy. Read on!