Hah! I really think Peake is worthy of the comparisons - he seems to be consciously drawing from most of those authors as far as I can tell! If you're in the mood for mid 20th century fantasy book, this is the one for you!
I love that Peake is finally getting more attention from people my age. I first came across the Gormenghast novels my sophomore year of high school, when a relative left boxes upon boxes of books to my family, and i’ve love the series ever since. How i’ve come to understand Peake is that he was an artist first, a poet second, and a novelist third, and these novels are all the better for that. Gormenghast is a painting too big for any canvass, a world of ideas that cannot be expressed in just a few poetic lines. I particularly love the beauty of the marble scene in the second book, where Peake describes Titus discovering, and truly appreciating color for the first time (chapter 14 i think)
Peake was born to missionaries in the last years of Imperial China, and spent a lot of his childhood in a walled compound in Tianjin; his experience of the western inhabitants and their Chinese staff, as well as the culture radiating from the Forbidden City in it’s final throes was an abiding influence on Peake and most especially on Gormenghast.
Thanks so much for making this review! I’ve been wanting to get this trilogy for about a decade now, so I’m glad more videos have popped up about it-this is super comprehensive!
I've been trying to get people to read this since I read it in the late '70s, but I've been unsuccessful. A college friend recommended it to me and I'm glad she did. I haven't been able to re-read it myself because it was pretty much unavailable here in the US for decades until the edition you feature was published, which I promptly purchased but haven't had the time to read it. The 2000 BBC series is very interesting, but the sense of the castle as a character is missing, and the castle itself was what I loved the most in the book.
It's interesting that this series seems to have cultivated a kind of "cult" following for the past 50 or so years. I really like books that manage to do that. It definitely isn't a book for everyone, but, like you, I really think more people should read it! I'm interested in checking out that BBC series - I haven't seen anything from it, but I'd be interested to see where someone even began to adapt the books. It's a shame that the castle doesn't play a prominent role though - it makes me wonder what a big budget adaptation could do!
'Gormenghast' (the second novel in the series) blew me away. Titus Groan is great too and for all of its strangeness and lack of polish, I thoroughly enjoyed Titus Alone as well. But the second book really hits me. The flood section is probably the best sequence in a book that I've read to date. Titus conceptualizing Steerpike as his own personal dragon sticks out as a particularly engaging subversion of traditional fantasy storytelling. There are so many things I can think of where Peake subverts your expectations of how a character or situation will end up. Flay's turn from sycophant to hero, Steerpike almost coming off as a protagonist at first who's true nature is subtly revealed to the reader, Bellgrove seeming like a symbol of idiotic authority yet turning out to be a kind soul and a fine suitor for Irma. And additionally, the tonal shifts are absurdly well done. To me, a story feels more lifelike the more it can properly simulate the tonal shifts of everyday life. Some scenes are sweet, some darkly comedic, some gut-wrenchingly somber, all of it fits together and ties in with the mundane (and extraordinary) doldrums of daily traditional life in Gormenghast. And all of that said without touching on arguably the two greatest elements of Gormenghast: the atmosphere and the prose. All in all, Peake was a master of his craft who died way too young. I support anyone willing to put the good word out there so that more people will read these books. Great video!
All great points! The subversion of expectations when it came to traditional fantasy tropes was exceptionally well-done. I also really liked the second novel - I think that one was my favorite as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Dude you’re always putting me on to the best hidden gems of literature! I literally just bought this trilogy from my local library bookshop. I had never heard of it but was very intrigued by the first couple sentences which I thought were so beautifully written and intriguing. I decided to just search it up on RUclips to see what people had to say about it, if anything, and I see you have a video on it! You have completely sold me on this trilogy and I think I’m going to pick it up after I finish The Name of the Rose. Thanks Sean! You are legit one of my favorite people to watch talk about books on the internet !
Thank you for the kind words - I'm glad you find the videos useful! Gormenghast is so unique and the sentence level writing is indeed gorgeous. I'm eager to hear how you get on with it!
After a steady diet of Tolkien-esque books as a teen, Peak's Gormenghast completely changed how I approached anything creative. The Gormenghast novels are not an easy read, at lest that was my experience, but what an experience it was! I have always had trouble reading, but the way the prose is written caught my attention. The passages seem to slowly build layers upon layers of intricate visuals, where one can find delight in a mere mote of dust; where after a stint, I am left dumfounded. Mervyn Peak has influenced the way I create as an aspiring illustrator in a fundamental way. Speaking of which, he was quite a good illustrator himself, and his wife Maeve Gilmore an excellent painter. In addition to the Gormenghast novels, I highly recommend the side story novella, Boy in Darkness.
That's a great way of putting it - the prose as building layers and layers of visuals. His illustrations are great too! I actually picked up a secondary work called "The Voice of the Heart: the working of Mervyn Peake's Imagination," by G. Peter Winnington, which includes a bunch more of his illustrations and analyzes them alongside his prose. Very cool how he influenced your art as well. I'll be sure to pick up a copy of Boy in Darkness the next time I come across a used copy - thanks for the recommendation!
@@travelthroughstories While what is shown in the Overlook Press and the Vintage Classics editions is great, I find it interesting that Peak did not spend time developing his own illustrations more for the Gormenghast books. Illustration was his primary means of income, maybe he could not afford to spend too much time on it? I have not heard of that title, I'll have to look out for it! The publisher Peter Owen has put out Boy in Darkness as "Boy In Darkness And Other Stories" which include poetry.
I have it on my shelf trying to find the time to get to it. Great review. I love gothic stories and all the atmosphere and richness of the prose. Sounds like this will be perfect.
Great review. One of my favourite writers. His prose style is brilliant. I often grab the books off the shelf and just read a page or two at random just to get a slice of that amazing writing.
I read it in my teens. He surely had a very tragic view of life (which as I get older I better appreciate). Lord Dunsany, ERR Eddison, and JB Cabell truly created modern epic fantasy as we know it, even if Tolkien and Lewis chose very different ways to develop it further. It's hard to say what the precedents for Gormenghast are though.
Just stumbled into your channel and I’m really enjoying your videos! I watched the video on the top books of 2022, which led me to this video for a deeper review. I’ve decided to get the book and look forward to the experience of reading it! 🙂
I have never heard of Gormenghast before and you completely have me sold on wanting to read it! I don’t mind a contained fantasy story, especially one with a setting that has that much dimension. I’ll have to figure out when I can fit this in. Excellent review!
Thank you! It's quite long, but I think it's really worth it - Gormenghast is such a unique classic fantasy book. It's also just a ton of fun! I hope more readers of modern fantasy check it out.
Oooh, I picked it up at an indie bookstore several years ago but then got busy reading other things. I am definitely moving it to the top of my TBR list. Love this video!
The Gormenghast series is amongst my most favourite of fantasy books! Great review! If you have not done so yet, make sure to check out the British Mini-series, its a fun experience! :D
In the 60’s and 70’s the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series came out. Many old classics were brought back with artistic covers. Gormenghast was part of these. The list is on Wikipedia but it is fun to Google those old covers also.
Just read/listened to the first two books. And fell in love. Your comparison to other authors is spot on, and I also love the characters, the quirks and especially the prose. Now on to Titus Alone (which I know causes mixed feelings).
Hello, new to the channel and first comment here. This is a wonderful review. I am a huge LOTR and Gormenghast fan. I mourn the premature loss of the genius Mervyn Peake and the episodes in Titus' life that we will never see. Simply in a league of his own. When I read it the first time, my reaction was 'Language can do this'? I think only 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' left me similarly dumbstruck. Inspired by George RR Martin's quote ' Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot', I am currently reading TH White's 'The Once and Future King' to 'complete' this trio of British fantasy classics by authors who were all impacted by the horrors of the World Wars and which manifested in their works in very different ways.
I just finished reading Gormenghast. I wanted to wait until I finished reading the book before I clicked on your video. I heard about this novel through another youtube video and was surprised that it was available at my library. I was a bit hesitant to check it out when I saw the size of it, but thought, well, even if I read the first book in the trilogy, I would have expanded my horizons with this genre. What an understatement that was. haha.I had to renew the book twice and finished it two days after the final return date. I couldn't return it with 50 pages left to go! I spent most of today finishing it and my head is now like a cotton ball. Your description of the writing is really spot on. All the characters are amazing, and I found the story to be multi layered with heart breaking and beautiful descriptions while being so "out there" at the same time. Although I felt myself getting lost at times, I wasn't able to stop reading it and am so happy and proud of myself for sticking with it to the end. I loved it! I am so sad that it ended the way it did, but at the same time, it is the perfect finish to an amazing adventure! Wow! Thanks for a great review.
An exquisite series of books - not sure it can be contrasted to Tolkien. The intrigues in LOTR are nought compared to TGT. Tolkien is a salve - Peake presents what we really are.
I was obsessed with Gormenghast in my teens. I used to replay the 2000s BBC mini series, which I taped on VHS, so much that I have a few lines memorized:) So happy to see someone talk about an otherwise underrated book! P.S. Love your sweater!
What a treasure of a channel you have here. That's the best first 25 seconds I've heard in a long long time 😀 Just picked this book up from a lovely bookstore in India and cannot wait to read it after your review!
First time viewer, now subscriber. You do a wonderful job of piquing interest while also setting the stage for the works. I'll be reading the books this spring. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
Learnt about Gormenghast after seeing it on a list of Robert Smith's favourite books, checked it out and got hooked from the start thanks to the style of the prose. I'm just a few chapters in and I can't wait for what's ahead, although I want to take my time with it to savor the experience. 😌
So happy you liked this!! I have been haranguing people to read this in every single tag video I can since joining Booktube haha! Great analysis. He wrote this literally in the trenches, if I recall. It’s no wonder the core themes came out. I knew you’d love the prose. It took him ages and ages to write, and you can tell!
It's so damn good - I'll join in your continual harangue for sure! I really do wish more fantasy books read like this one. You can tell how much effort was put into the sentence level craft. Interesting that he wrote this while serving in the military...that does explain many of his themes (and also connects him further to Tolkien. I do wonder if they read each other...).
@@travelthroughstories yeah, it would be interesting to read a biography and see what the intersections with Peake are. And yes, agree. Really wish there was more literary fantasy out there. I’d be curious if you’d like my other favourite fantasy series, The Prince of Nothing trilogy. Id say it’s dark fantasy and literary, interrogating misogyny in an interesting way. Love the prose work. And even if it fails at what it’s doing, far more interesting than any upmarket fantasy. By a far, far margin. The author is a PHD in philosophy and the magic system is -incredible-. However. It’s hard to get ahold of, I think. But the audible versions of the trilogy are excellent. In some ways they’re superior too, since the names are somewhat hard to pronounce. Though some versions have a section of pronunciations and other world building information, I think. (It’s middle eastern inspired). Would love to hear your thoughts on them, if you ever get to them.
@@SpringboardThought I've been eyeing that series ever since I heard you mention it - you've made it sound really enticing. I've been interested in trying out more fantasy recently (I've also been eyeing the Malazan books - I read the first one like a decade ago and thought it was just ok, but I've heard really good things about the rest of the series), so I'll do some research on The Prince of Nothing trilogy. Good to know about the audiobook too - I usually prefer fantasy via audiobook anyways. Fantasy books are just so damn long...haha. Such a commitment.
@@travelthroughstories I’ve heard good things about Malazan as well, but my issue there is everyone always says how it does really “click” until the third book?? I just am not sure I can abide a mediocre experience of large books until then, when it supposedly comes together. And then it continues to grow longer and longer with each new attachment to the main series, which is really intimidating to me. I tried the first book and dnf’d it. But on audio only, I think. People always recommend it to people who loved The Prince of Nothing. But the prose work is completely different. Bakker is completely engrossing, Malazan didn’t feel that way to me. Yeah, on the Prince of Nothing trilogy. I love them. But also loved the entire series. Some people find it uneven but I found really interesting things in absolutely every book. Even a character I _hated_ to read about came together by the end. Incredible ending. But yeah. 7 fairly large books there. And annoyingly, the later 4 books have a different narrator, produced not by audible, and the guy mispronounces named. Even the main character lol which is wild since there’s a pronunciation guide in those later ones. A dip in production that’s fairly stark and only borderline acceptable if you really want to consume the books that way. The strength of the writing still shines through. Just maddening that you suddenly get a new person pronouncing multiple main character names differently and incorrectly. So disrespectful to the author too. Wild.
@@SpringboardThought Oh, I completely agree - I can give a book 200, 300, even 400 pages no problem, but the idea that it doesn't "click" until book 3 is pretty ridiculous. Re audiobook narrators: that happened in the Witcher series as well (dan-DIL-li-on transmogrified, sometime around book 3 or so, into DAN-di-lie-on -- doesn't seem like much, but man it was annoying)! Perhaps I'll make that my next "big" book, depending how I'm feeling in a few weeks. I'm mid-way through The Books of Jacob and just (stupidly) started Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones, so we'll see. I could definitely use a nice fantasy series to dip in and out of over the next few months though! They seem readily available down here too, so next time I'm ordering books on abebooks, I'll pick the first one up.
I came to Gormenghast by way of Mordew and I'm really glad I did. So many of the books I read have a lot owed to these books and I'm glad I have the reference.
I just ran across this review. I see Gormanghast as the most successful piece of surrealistic long fiction. When he intones Joyce's Ulysses when Bellgrove asks his students to name an ismuth. The tonality and rhythem of the prose are only equaled by Joyce and Beckett. My one challenge is for anyone to read king's dark tower especially from wolves of the callah to the end. And see just how extensively he pulled characters and places from titus alone. As someone who works with his hands i have listened to the robert whitfield audiobook. If you are getting bogged down in the prose, let this brilliant actor bring it to life. I have proselytized this work for the last 30 years. I have read and listened to it dozens of times and there is more and more to discover.
I reread these last year and was contemplating buying a copy of the illustrated edition that you show here. That's how I found my way here. It's one of my favourite series of all time, if not my absolute favourite.
I am not very interested in fantasy novels and l find Tolkien clunky. I have no idea where Peake drew his inspiration but it is one of the greatest books l have ever read. It is an extraordinary act of imagination.
I read the Gormenghast trilogy about 20 years ago. The prose struck me as a combination of Charles Dickens and Samuel Becket. The books deserve to be more widely read.
This is a marvelous discussion. I've been meaning to return to these books for quite some time (I actually haven't yet read the final book in the trilogy). You did a fantastic job describing the sumptuousness of Peake's prose. I can think of no other work which is so intensely visual. I agree that the books are largely about the oppression of tradition, but I think there is a level of ambiguity in their attitude. Peake seems to be just as critical of revolt as he is of conservatism. I think the way that Flay begins as a grotesque parody of devotion to tradition but eventually turns out to be a kind of hero is significant.
Thank you! Good point - Peake does seem to expose the flippantness of revolt-for-revolt's sake just as much as tradition-for-tradition's sake. I think that there is an argument to be made that without the latter, the former wouldn't exist, but I do think this is a fair critique of my argument. Flay is one of the most interesting characters for this reason (and he's definitely one of my favorite!). As you say, he's the sort of overly-loyal man who does become incredibly sympathetic by the end. Thanks for making this point, Jordan!
Great analysis! But you forgot to mention one his biggest influences: Robert Louis Stevenson. Mervyn Peake was a romanticist and adventurist at heart, underneath the beautiful poetry and haunting imagery of his writing. They're probably my favorite books of all time, which is quite significant because I thought nothing would surpass Lord of the Rings for me.
I went to see the theatre version of gormenghast about 15 years ago and did not really understand it. I had never heard of gormenghast till then. I have now over the past couple of days began to read the trilogy, if that’s what you can call it. After reading the first few chapters I am now starting to understand the opening scenes of the theatre production. I must say that I agree with your comments and have seen the gothic tones of the book.
I can't imagine how they would adapt Gormenghast to the theatre, but now I'm really interested in checking it out. I'm glad you're reading the book though - let me know how you get on with it!
The Castle is the most beautiful/terrifying setting I can imagine: Castle of Otranto vibes. I've tried drawing so many examples but it can always be more beautiful and expansive.
Like another commenter, I read the first book 40 years ago - largely because Sting played Steerpike in a radio adaptation! I can still clearly recall the characters, which was helped by the illustrations and their fantastic names (Prunesqallor, Swelter). I remember the text being so dense that I needed a break after the first book and for some reason never returned. But I agree with all you said about it and will try to get back to it soon.
Interesting! I haven't watched or listened to any of the adaptations yet - I wonder if any of them hold up? Agreed ! The characters' names are all wonderful. Peake's prose is definitely dense - Gormenghast isn't a light read by any means. I found it to be an absolute joy to read his prose as it reminded me more of the sort of literary fiction that I like rather than the "fantasy" genre-lit that I'm familiar with, but I can see it being a slog for some readers.
Thanks for making this video! Somene said that C S Lewis read this book and liked it. I have a paperback edition that also has illustrations and all three books--hopefully it has all the same illustrations! Recently read the first chapter. It really did remind me of Charles Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Edgar Allen Poe!
I’m totally blown away by its eccentric characters, mixing odd supernatural elements with dizzying heights and gothic architecture. The twins are unsettling to say the least. The curator is one of the first introduced and for some reason, I just couldn’t get him out of my mind. Daunted by the size of the 3 volumes, I put it off for 15 years. Now , digging in , I fully regret not having read it sooner.
I re-read Titus Groan over Christmas, completely, for only the second time. I knew I loved it, but there is always the fear that, as the years have passed, one's appreciation changes. If anything, I love it more. There are times when Peake's prose is too much, when one almost has to say "enough - get on with it" - and then a paragraph hits that is so beautiful, so emotional that everything is forgiven. I have the same edition you do - and Peake's illustrations are perfect. The Folio Society are releasing what will be beautiful editions in May - but not illustrated by Peake, which means that even though I adore the books, they will probably not be gracing my shelves. That's it - fanboy moment over!
I discovered Gorminghast by accident. I was looking for another trilogy after reading Lord Of The Rings a few times. Initially I couldn't get into it because it starts out so slow. Finally I did get into it and I got totally immersed in the story. I've gone back and read it repeatedly. I've never read "Titus Awakes" because it was put together by Peak's widow from a few notes he made before he died.
Rereading the trilogy that I first read as a young adult 40 years ago. I loved it then but I don’t think I realised at the time how influential it would be on my life choices. And, it so stands the test of time, I rarely have to set aside modern ideas around class or gender or discrimination. Aesthetically it is so full of such a luxurious world of the ugly beautiful, it is such an emersive read, it is mind boggling that it is not better known.
Read it when I was 12. It took me a loooong time before I discovered prose that could compete with its brilliance. This was perhaps because I had to become an adult and read more adult fiction to discover McCarthy, etc... but wow, what an early gem in my reading journey!
It's listed in the second appendix of Stephan King's book Danse Macabre, a recommended list of books he felt were influential in the horror genre. It's really good, there's nothing like it.
Ive seen a review that with the prose the setting can be seen as a character. Is that similar to the way McCarthy had did so in blood meridian. The writing style is enticing and I’m curious enough to try it out.
1:35 I'd actually argue that a lot of people were deeply influenced by Peake (or if they weren't influenced by Peake (because in several cases they came before him) at least existed in a similar space of using elaborate surrealism rather than myths/fairy tales as their mode of the fantastic to do world-building), they just never had the same kind of commercial success. Not only is that true of later New Weird and New Wave writers like Gene Wolfe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany, China Miéville, Jeff VanderMeer, Simon Ings, Brian Aldiss, M. John Harrison, Angela Carter, Michael Cisco, J. G. Ballard, and Joanna Russ, but in terms of ones who were more contemporaries of him and existed in a similar space, people like Paul Scheerbart, David Lindsay, Anna Kavan, Leonora Carrington, Alfred Cabin, Borges, and Hope Mirrlees. Also, while I do respect fans of Tolkien even though I myself and not one, I'm not entirely sure it's accurate to say he was the father of fantasy. He got a lot of his ideas on how to rework mythology from E. R. Eddison, William Morris, George MacDonald, Selma Lagerloff, and Lord Dunsany.
I read Gormenghast second time and i think these books Are about (the absence of the "real"?)Identity, Memory and Time/also i cant say any particular interpretation IS "correct", but for me Titus and Steerpike Are two extremes of the Same rebellion against the mechanical nature of existence and the experience of this rebellion IS happening inside of the mind of a reader
Just finished the first one as an audiobook. It's certainly in a category of its own and putting it on a fantasy shelf is an odd choice, perhaps part of the reason it is often overlooked. Perhaps it resembles some Tolkien, but mostly in the ways that Tolkien doesn't resemble most of the rest of the shelf. It's quite an experience. The book is dense poetry from start to end, only slightly less impenetrable that Joyce's Ulysses. You have to concentrate hard in audiobook form because the sentences can be insanely long and the point of them is often not revealed until the end. It's easy to lose the narrative thread when it digresses (or does it?) down long involved descriptions and metaphors of what happens to be in any given setting. Most of it is told in present tense, like a guided hypnotic trance induction, giving it a dreamlike quality. This made it both compatible and incompatible with my usual use of fantasy audiobooks, which is to help me fall asleep. Unlike so many, in which soft easily digested pulp fiction lulls/bores me to sleep, this would transport me to a dreamlike world, but one where I wanted to stay awake to see what would happen. I would inevitably fail, but then wake up some time later, and given the nature of the narrative it could take quite a long time to realize that I had missed many hours and would now have to painstakingly go back to find where I'd drifted off. In the end I gave up and saved it for when I woke up early in the morning instead and would listen to it for hours, and the on the way to work, and during the day. In other words, it was to good to waste on falling asleep over. You need your wits about you to read this book, because it is worth reading.
Peake's drawings and sketches appear almost like caricature. Likewise, his writing approaches that line without ever crossing it. Both the characters and the settings in the books feel larger than life. I guess it's fantasy with it's awe and wonder, but there's no literal magic in this series. His writing is dense but vivid. I found it worth the time; there's nothing quite like it. Slight spoilers for the second book: In the second book there's a long scene where the stakes are very high for several of the protagonists. Peake's writing style really ramped up the tension here to a degree that I had not experienced before in any other book.
I'm listening to this right now and I quite like it. I'm on the first book just now and I've found the humour great and characters unique. I had to come and check out a review to help me place it, if you know what I mean 😄 I tried reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell last year but I really didn't like it, but I'm getting similar vibes as that from this book. Maybe i'd be better off going back to Jonathan Strange via audiobook. Thanks for the video 👍
The audiobook version is so good! The narrator does a great job capturing the humor, I think. I haven't gotten around to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell yet, but that one has been on my tbr for years. I can definitely see the similarities though. Thanks for watching - I hope you enjoy Gormenghast!
"Yes!" to Gormanghast! Nice to see shelves of books not infiltrated by FS or other fine press editions. Love of books. Love of reading. I read Titus Groan years ago and Peake's prose is more than match for his illustrations. Highly influential in my own developing style back in the 1980s. I think of Peake as Imaginative literature as opposed to Fantasy, if that makes any sense. I'm looking forward to reading it again in the near future along with the sequels which I haven't read. Thanks for spreading the word. I loved your teaser. Great exposition. I generally find these "Why you should read" videos tiresome and ultimately pointless. (Worse are the "How to read this book" videos). Perhaps it's you. Perhaps it's Peake. You do a very good job explaining without giving anything away and address the work itself in an engaging literary fashion. Well done.
Thank you very much for the kind words! Good points. I agree that Peake is better thought of as "imaginative literature" rather than "fantasy" - he's certainly aware of all the fantasy tropes, but he's never beholden to them as are so many who write in the genre.
Never heard of this, but sounds good! Why? Cos your introducing is always phenomenal like this time. So in the future i'll pick up this one as well. I better like old school fantasy. Poe was just brilliant on his way. Lovecraft. Yeah, his work was a bit strange and very close to horror fantasy. But how about Robert E. Howard? I mean all his lifetime's work not only Conan.. And Tolkien. Tolkien is just magic. Never gets me bored! No, not because of P. Jackson's movie.. Let's be honest! I don't like when the movie shows some weird character wich is not even in the book. ☝️ Thanks for this videó, i really enjoyed :)
I've just finished Titus Groan and I'd say it's hard to clearly identify the protagonists. As OP says, practically everyone is a victim of the setting.
I think that's a fair assessment! The third book has a bit of a different tone as well. I think one could just read the first two books and ignore the third if they wanted to, though I found the third book really interesting because of how tonally different it is from the rest of the series.
In his defense, Mervyn Peake was horribly ill and bed ridden during the process of the third book. The fact he managed to get one made at all before his death was a miracle.
The BBC televised a four part production of Gormenghast in 2000. It was an ambitious labour of love, featuring a constellation of British acting and comedy luminaries including Christopher Lee, Zoë Wanamaker, June Brown, Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan among many others. I loved it, the character acting was spot on, however despite the lush production and excellent acting the story's dark quirkiness and slow pace left audiences non-plussed resulting a 40% slump in viewership by the end of the series. A rare, unexpected and expensive flop for the Beeb.
I long for a Mervyn Peake as fantasy godfather world. I'm far more drawn to huge Dickensian characters in a murky setting is than more rigid characters in a clearly delineated setting.
Are you familiar with John Cowper Powys? -I hadn’t heard of him until watching a SherdsTube video that cited ‘A Glastonbury Romance’ as a masterpiece of convoluted writing. From scanning blurbs and such it tends to get described as modernist Thomas Hardy. (Just by way of this video’s into.)
I'm sold on this book and will definitely seek it out...super good review... in the mean time spermwhales and their favorite food giant squid using echolocation as means of locating them...some theorize they use sound to stun the squid into submission as "acoustic debilitation" ...giant squids by the by are the largest invertebrate in the world...very rarely seen as the live way way way way below the surface...they have eyes 11'" in diameter... later...
I only know of this work from the BBC(?) adaptation that I saw only a couple of episodes of, and of which I missed the beginning. It was *so weird*, but also strangely compelling, absurdist, and yes, claustrophobic, because the castle (which is, yes, like another character). It probably would have made much more sense if I'd watched from the beginning. I didn't realize the books had been written so long ago, but you definitely have piqued my interest and I think I shall have to read it! If you're interested, you might look up the adaptation, as I definitely got the feels you describe from it. Just not a story you can start in the middle of!
That sounds so interesting! I haven't seen the BBC adaptation, but I can imagine it being very good as the books just feel very "cinematic," if that makes sense. I just looked up the cast and they have Christopher Lee as Mr. Flay?! I'll definitely be watching this soon. Thanks for the recommendation!
dude...that first 25 seconds has me completely sold! That might be the most exciting book description I have ever heard!
Hah! I really think Peake is worthy of the comparisons - he seems to be consciously drawing from most of those authors as far as I can tell! If you're in the mood for mid 20th century fantasy book, this is the one for you!
Yesss. The most underrated fantasy novel of all time. Everybody talks about Tolkien by Peake is king imo.
I was just about to write the same thing! Instantly sold on both the book and the channel!
I love that Peake is finally getting more attention from people my age. I first came across the Gormenghast novels my sophomore year of high school, when a relative left boxes upon boxes of books to my family, and i’ve love the series ever since.
How i’ve come to understand Peake is that he was an artist first, a poet second, and a novelist third, and these novels are all the better for that. Gormenghast is a painting too big for any canvass, a world of ideas that cannot be expressed in just a few poetic lines. I particularly love the beauty of the marble scene in the second book, where Peake describes Titus discovering, and truly appreciating color for the first time (chapter 14 i think)
I remember reading this in my early 20s in NYC. Life-changing. Has stayed with me through darkness and light.
Peake was born to missionaries in the last years of Imperial China, and spent a lot of his childhood in a walled compound in Tianjin; his experience of the western inhabitants and their Chinese staff, as well as the culture radiating from the Forbidden City in it’s final throes was an abiding influence on Peake and most especially on Gormenghast.
No books have ever made such an impression on me. Thank you for this review. Peake was not prolific, what he did write was very profound.
Thanks so much for making this review! I’ve been wanting to get this trilogy for about a decade now, so I’m glad more videos have popped up about it-this is super comprehensive!
Love Gormenghast. I’m planning to read it again, the illustrated edition, so had to tune in. Enlightening review! Thanks.
I agree, an often overlooked masterpiece. Great review.
Thank you! Yes - it's all too overlooked for sure.
I've been trying to get people to read this since I read it in the late '70s, but I've been unsuccessful. A college friend recommended it to me and I'm glad she did. I haven't been able to re-read it myself because it was pretty much unavailable here in the US for decades until the edition you feature was published, which I promptly purchased but haven't had the time to read it. The 2000 BBC series is very interesting, but the sense of the castle as a character is missing, and the castle itself was what I loved the most in the book.
It's interesting that this series seems to have cultivated a kind of "cult" following for the past 50 or so years. I really like books that manage to do that. It definitely isn't a book for everyone, but, like you, I really think more people should read it! I'm interested in checking out that BBC series - I haven't seen anything from it, but I'd be interested to see where someone even began to adapt the books. It's a shame that the castle doesn't play a prominent role though - it makes me wonder what a big budget adaptation could do!
@@travelthroughstories The BBC series is a bit of a curate's egg. There was an audio book version with Sting as Steerpike which has some merit though.
'Gormenghast' (the second novel in the series) blew me away. Titus Groan is great too and for all of its strangeness and lack of polish, I thoroughly enjoyed Titus Alone as well. But the second book really hits me. The flood section is probably the best sequence in a book that I've read to date. Titus conceptualizing Steerpike as his own personal dragon sticks out as a particularly engaging subversion of traditional fantasy storytelling. There are so many things I can think of where Peake subverts your expectations of how a character or situation will end up. Flay's turn from sycophant to hero, Steerpike almost coming off as a protagonist at first who's true nature is subtly revealed to the reader, Bellgrove seeming like a symbol of idiotic authority yet turning out to be a kind soul and a fine suitor for Irma. And additionally, the tonal shifts are absurdly well done. To me, a story feels more lifelike the more it can properly simulate the tonal shifts of everyday life. Some scenes are sweet, some darkly comedic, some gut-wrenchingly somber, all of it fits together and ties in with the mundane (and extraordinary) doldrums of daily traditional life in Gormenghast. And all of that said without touching on arguably the two greatest elements of Gormenghast: the atmosphere and the prose. All in all, Peake was a master of his craft who died way too young. I support anyone willing to put the good word out there so that more people will read these books. Great video!
All great points! The subversion of expectations when it came to traditional fantasy tropes was exceptionally well-done. I also really liked the second novel - I think that one was my favorite as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Dude you’re always putting me on to the best hidden gems of literature! I literally just bought this trilogy from my local library bookshop. I had never heard of it but was very intrigued by the first couple sentences which I thought were so beautifully written and intriguing. I decided to just search it up on RUclips to see what people had to say about it, if anything, and I see you have a video on it! You have completely sold me on this trilogy and I think I’m going to pick it up after I finish The Name of the Rose. Thanks Sean! You are legit one of my favorite people to watch talk about books on the internet !
Thank you for the kind words - I'm glad you find the videos useful! Gormenghast is so unique and the sentence level writing is indeed gorgeous. I'm eager to hear how you get on with it!
After a steady diet of Tolkien-esque books as a teen, Peak's Gormenghast completely changed how I approached anything creative. The Gormenghast novels are not an easy read, at lest that was my experience, but what an experience it was! I have always had trouble reading, but the way the prose is written caught my attention. The passages seem to slowly build layers upon layers of intricate visuals, where one can find delight in a mere mote of dust; where after a stint, I am left dumfounded. Mervyn Peak has influenced the way I create as an aspiring illustrator in a fundamental way. Speaking of which, he was quite a good illustrator himself, and his wife Maeve Gilmore an excellent painter. In addition to the Gormenghast novels, I highly recommend the side story novella, Boy in Darkness.
That's a great way of putting it - the prose as building layers and layers of visuals. His illustrations are great too! I actually picked up a secondary work called "The Voice of the Heart: the working of Mervyn Peake's Imagination," by G. Peter Winnington, which includes a bunch more of his illustrations and analyzes them alongside his prose. Very cool how he influenced your art as well.
I'll be sure to pick up a copy of Boy in Darkness the next time I come across a used copy - thanks for the recommendation!
@@travelthroughstories While what is shown in the Overlook Press and the Vintage Classics editions is great, I find it interesting that Peak did not spend time developing his own illustrations more for the Gormenghast books. Illustration was his primary means of income, maybe he could not afford to spend too much time on it? I have not heard of that title, I'll have to look out for it! The publisher Peter Owen has put out Boy in Darkness as "Boy In Darkness And Other Stories" which include poetry.
Astonishing novels, but up for discussion, it a duology or a trilogy.
I have it on my shelf trying to find the time to get to it. Great review. I love gothic stories and all the atmosphere and richness of the prose. Sounds like this will be perfect.
Great review. One of my favourite writers. His prose style is brilliant. I often grab the books off the shelf and just read a page or two at random just to get a slice of that amazing writing.
I read it in my teens. He surely had a very tragic view of life (which as I get older I better appreciate). Lord Dunsany, ERR Eddison, and JB Cabell truly created modern epic fantasy as we know it, even if Tolkien and Lewis chose very different ways to develop it further. It's hard to say what the precedents for Gormenghast are though.
I've had this book on my shelves for the past 20 years, but your review just made me add it to my TBR. Thanks!
I'm so happy to hear that! I hope you enjoy Gormenghast as much as I did.
Just stumbled into your channel and I’m really enjoying your videos! I watched the video on the top books of 2022, which led me to this video for a deeper review. I’ve decided to get the book and look forward to the experience of reading it! 🙂
I have never heard of Gormenghast before and you completely have me sold on wanting to read it! I don’t mind a contained fantasy story, especially one with a setting that has that much dimension. I’ll have to figure out when I can fit this in. Excellent review!
Thank you! It's quite long, but I think it's really worth it - Gormenghast is such a unique classic fantasy book. It's also just a ton of fun! I hope more readers of modern fantasy check it out.
Funny Enough the books were recommended by my ex who didn’t even read fantasy and quickly became my favorite books ever
Oooh, I picked it up at an indie bookstore several years ago but then got busy reading other things. I am definitely moving it to the top of my TBR list. Love this video!
Thank you! It's a really fun and really smart book - I hope you enjoy!
The Gormenghast series is amongst my most favourite of fantasy books! Great review! If you have not done so yet, make sure to check out the British Mini-series, its a fun experience! :D
One of my favourite books. Always reread it now and again as I love to get lost in the prose and the peculiar, quirky world of the Groans.
In the 60’s and 70’s the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series came out. Many old classics were brought back with artistic covers. Gormenghast was part of these. The list is on Wikipedia but it is fun to Google those old covers also.
I'm sold! Look forward to what I hope is a delightful convoluted creative world of characters. Thanks for the review!
Glad to hear! I hope you enjoy the wonderful and bizarre world of Gormenghast!
Just read/listened to the first two books. And fell in love. Your comparison to other authors is spot on, and I also love the characters, the quirks and especially the prose. Now on to Titus Alone (which I know causes mixed feelings).
Hello, new to the channel and first comment here. This is a wonderful review. I am a huge LOTR and Gormenghast fan. I mourn the premature loss of the genius Mervyn Peake and the episodes in Titus' life that we will never see. Simply in a league of his own. When I read it the first time, my reaction was 'Language can do this'? I think only 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' left me similarly dumbstruck.
Inspired by George RR Martin's quote ' Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot', I am currently reading TH White's 'The Once and Future King' to 'complete' this trio of British fantasy classics by authors who were all impacted by the horrors of the World Wars and which manifested in their works in very different ways.
I have just watched the TV adaption after many years of ignoring it for some reason. I'm now intrigued enough to give the book a go.
I found Gormenghast in a Second hand book store when I was 15. And I've loved the trilogy ever since. Hands down my favourite book/trilogy ever. ❤️
I just finished reading Gormenghast. I wanted to wait until I finished reading the book before I clicked on your video. I heard about this novel through another youtube video and was surprised that it was available at my library. I was a bit hesitant to check it out when I saw the size of it, but thought, well, even if I read the first book in the trilogy, I would have expanded my horizons with this genre. What an understatement that was. haha.I had to renew the book twice and finished it two days after the final return date. I couldn't return it with 50 pages left to go! I spent most of today finishing it and my head is now like a cotton ball. Your description of the writing is really spot on. All the characters are amazing, and I found the story to be multi layered with heart breaking and beautiful descriptions while being so "out there" at the same time. Although I felt myself getting lost at times, I wasn't able to stop reading it and am so happy and proud of myself for sticking with it to the end. I loved it! I am so sad that it ended the way it did, but at the same time, it is the perfect finish to an amazing adventure! Wow! Thanks for a great review.
An exquisite series of books - not sure it can be contrasted to Tolkien. The intrigues in LOTR are nought compared to TGT. Tolkien is a salve - Peake presents what we really are.
Irma is the doctor's sister.
But yay for someone recommending this book series
Came here to say this!!
I was obsessed with Gormenghast in my teens. I used to replay the 2000s BBC mini series, which I taped on VHS, so much that I have a few lines memorized:) So happy to see someone talk about an otherwise underrated book! P.S. Love your sweater!
Thanks, Teresa! I still need to see the BBC series -- I'm really interested in seeing how they depict Gormenghast itself.
What a treasure of a channel you have here. That's the best first 25 seconds I've heard in a long long time 😀 Just picked this book up from a lovely bookstore in India and cannot wait to read it after your review!
Thanks so much! I'm glad you found a copy -- I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I believe I have come across the Gormenghast trilogy at my local Barnes and Noble bookstore. Great review, thanks. :)
Gosh I love your bookshelves. I only, now, have one bookshelf :( ........
Alan Lee's desert island book😎Really appreciate your book review Sean.Jjust ordered from Amazon via your link.👍
Gormenghast is my favorite book! So great to see that it’s not totally lost to memory.
First time viewer, now subscriber. You do a wonderful job of piquing interest while also setting the stage for the works. I'll be reading the books this spring. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
Learnt about Gormenghast after seeing it on a list of Robert Smith's favourite books, checked it out and got hooked from the start thanks to the style of the prose.
I'm just a few chapters in and I can't wait for what's ahead, although I want to take my time with it to savor the experience. 😌
I just came across this trilogy and your excellent review definitely sold it for me. Just ordered my copy. Thanks!
Cool review man, I enjoyed your take on the series. One thing to point out is that Irma is the sister of the Doctor, wife of the headmaster.
Exceptional series. Beautifully written.
So happy you liked this!! I have been haranguing people to read this in every single tag video I can since joining Booktube haha!
Great analysis. He wrote this literally in the trenches, if I recall. It’s no wonder the core themes came out. I knew you’d love the prose. It took him ages and ages to write, and you can tell!
It's so damn good - I'll join in your continual harangue for sure! I really do wish more fantasy books read like this one. You can tell how much effort was put into the sentence level craft. Interesting that he wrote this while serving in the military...that does explain many of his themes (and also connects him further to Tolkien. I do wonder if they read each other...).
@@travelthroughstories yeah, it would be interesting to read a biography and see what the intersections with Peake are.
And yes, agree. Really wish there was more literary fantasy out there. I’d be curious if you’d like my other favourite fantasy series, The Prince of Nothing trilogy. Id say it’s dark fantasy and literary, interrogating misogyny in an interesting way. Love the prose work. And even if it fails at what it’s doing, far more interesting than any upmarket fantasy. By a far, far margin. The author is a PHD in philosophy and the magic system is -incredible-. However. It’s hard to get ahold of, I think. But the audible versions of the trilogy are excellent. In some ways they’re superior too, since the names are somewhat hard to pronounce. Though some versions have a section of pronunciations and other world building information, I think. (It’s middle eastern inspired). Would love to hear your thoughts on them, if you ever get to them.
@@SpringboardThought I've been eyeing that series ever since I heard you mention it - you've made it sound really enticing. I've been interested in trying out more fantasy recently (I've also been eyeing the Malazan books - I read the first one like a decade ago and thought it was just ok, but I've heard really good things about the rest of the series), so I'll do some research on The Prince of Nothing trilogy. Good to know about the audiobook too - I usually prefer fantasy via audiobook anyways. Fantasy books are just so damn long...haha. Such a commitment.
@@travelthroughstories I’ve heard good things about Malazan as well, but my issue there is everyone always says how it does really “click” until the third book?? I just am not sure I can abide a mediocre experience of large books until then, when it supposedly comes together. And then it continues to grow longer and longer with each new attachment to the main series, which is really intimidating to me.
I tried the first book and dnf’d it. But on audio only, I think. People always recommend it to people who loved The Prince of Nothing. But the prose work is completely different. Bakker is completely engrossing, Malazan didn’t feel that way to me.
Yeah, on the Prince of Nothing trilogy. I love them. But also loved the entire series. Some people find it uneven but I found really interesting things in absolutely every book. Even a character I _hated_ to read about came together by the end. Incredible ending. But yeah. 7 fairly large books there. And annoyingly, the later 4 books have a different narrator, produced not by audible, and the guy mispronounces named. Even the main character lol which is wild since there’s a pronunciation guide in those later ones. A dip in production that’s fairly stark and only borderline acceptable if you really want to consume the books that way. The strength of the writing still shines through. Just maddening that you suddenly get a new person pronouncing multiple main character names differently and incorrectly. So disrespectful to the author too. Wild.
@@SpringboardThought Oh, I completely agree - I can give a book 200, 300, even 400 pages no problem, but the idea that it doesn't "click" until book 3 is pretty ridiculous. Re audiobook narrators: that happened in the Witcher series as well (dan-DIL-li-on transmogrified, sometime around book 3 or so, into DAN-di-lie-on -- doesn't seem like much, but man it was annoying)! Perhaps I'll make that my next "big" book, depending how I'm feeling in a few weeks. I'm mid-way through The Books of Jacob and just (stupidly) started Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones, so we'll see. I could definitely use a nice fantasy series to dip in and out of over the next few months though! They seem readily available down here too, so next time I'm ordering books on abebooks, I'll pick the first one up.
I came to Gormenghast by way of Mordew and I'm really glad I did. So many of the books I read have a lot owed to these books and I'm glad I have the reference.
I just ran across this review. I see Gormanghast as the most successful piece of surrealistic long fiction. When he intones Joyce's Ulysses when Bellgrove asks his students to name an ismuth. The tonality and rhythem of the prose are only equaled by Joyce and Beckett. My one challenge is for anyone to read king's dark tower especially from wolves of the callah to the end. And see just how extensively he pulled characters and places from titus alone. As someone who works with his hands i have listened to the robert whitfield audiobook. If you are getting bogged down in the prose, let this brilliant actor bring it to life. I have proselytized this work for the last 30 years. I have read and listened to it dozens of times and there is more and more to discover.
Thank you! A very intelligent and engaging critique! Subbed!
I reread these last year and was contemplating buying a copy of the illustrated edition that you show here. That's how I found my way here. It's one of my favourite series of all time, if not my absolute favourite.
This sounds really good. Great video. I may need to give this series a try as I love literary fiction and genre fiction. Thank you for that.
Thank you! I think Gormenghast is a really nice blend of the fantasy genre and literary fiction.
I am not very interested in fantasy novels and l find Tolkien clunky. I have no idea where Peake drew his inspiration but it is one of the greatest books l have ever read. It is an extraordinary act of imagination.
I highly recommend the short story Boy in Darkness by Mervyn Peake also!
I just bought it,because of your review. Thank you
I read the Gormenghast trilogy about 20 years ago. The prose struck me as a combination of Charles Dickens and Samuel Becket. The books deserve to be more widely read.
This is a marvelous discussion. I've been meaning to return to these books for quite some time (I actually haven't yet read the final book in the trilogy).
You did a fantastic job describing the sumptuousness of Peake's prose. I can think of no other work which is so intensely visual.
I agree that the books are largely about the oppression of tradition, but I think there is a level of ambiguity in their attitude. Peake seems to be just as critical of revolt as he is of conservatism. I think the way that Flay begins as a grotesque parody of devotion to tradition but eventually turns out to be a kind of hero is significant.
Thank you! Good point - Peake does seem to expose the flippantness of revolt-for-revolt's sake just as much as tradition-for-tradition's sake. I think that there is an argument to be made that without the latter, the former wouldn't exist, but I do think this is a fair critique of my argument. Flay is one of the most interesting characters for this reason (and he's definitely one of my favorite!). As you say, he's the sort of overly-loyal man who does become incredibly sympathetic by the end. Thanks for making this point, Jordan!
Great analysis! But you forgot to mention one his biggest influences: Robert Louis Stevenson. Mervyn Peake was a romanticist and adventurist at heart, underneath the beautiful poetry and haunting imagery of his writing. They're probably my favorite books of all time, which is quite significant because I thought nothing would surpass Lord of the Rings for me.
I went to see the theatre version of gormenghast about 15 years ago and did not really understand it. I had never heard of gormenghast till then. I have now over the past couple of days began to read the trilogy, if that’s what you can call it. After reading the first few chapters I am now starting to understand the opening scenes of the theatre production. I must say that I agree with your comments and have seen the gothic tones of the book.
I can't imagine how they would adapt Gormenghast to the theatre, but now I'm really interested in checking it out. I'm glad you're reading the book though - let me know how you get on with it!
It starts with flay walking up and through the passageways with the soundtrack of creaking bones . It’s a stage adaptation by John Constable
The Castle is the most beautiful/terrifying setting I can imagine: Castle of Otranto vibes. I've tried drawing so many examples but it can always be more beautiful and expansive.
Completely agree! It's so unique and seems ever-expanding. Thank you :)
Like another commenter, I read the first book 40 years ago - largely because Sting played Steerpike in a radio adaptation! I can still clearly recall the characters, which was helped by the illustrations and their fantastic names (Prunesqallor, Swelter). I remember the text being so dense that I needed a break after the first book and for some reason never returned. But I agree with all you said about it and will try to get back to it soon.
Interesting! I haven't watched or listened to any of the adaptations yet - I wonder if any of them hold up? Agreed ! The characters' names are all wonderful. Peake's prose is definitely dense - Gormenghast isn't a light read by any means. I found it to be an absolute joy to read his prose as it reminded me more of the sort of literary fiction that I like rather than the "fantasy" genre-lit that I'm familiar with, but I can see it being a slog for some readers.
@@travelthroughstories I think it was a slog in my early twenties but I should be better prepared now!
@@ianp9086 That makes sense - I think I would have felt the same way had I read it when I was younger.
Thanks for making this video! Somene said that C S Lewis read this book and liked it.
I have a paperback edition that also has illustrations and all three books--hopefully it has all the same illustrations!
Recently read the first chapter. It really did remind me of Charles Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Edgar Allen Poe!
I’m totally blown away by its eccentric characters, mixing odd supernatural elements with dizzying heights and gothic architecture. The twins are unsettling to say the least. The curator is one of the first introduced and for some reason, I just couldn’t get him out of my mind. Daunted by the size of the 3 volumes, I put it off for 15 years. Now , digging in , I fully regret not having read it sooner.
You have convinced me to try it next year. I keep failing to finish the boyventure that is LOTR.
I re-read Titus Groan over Christmas, completely, for only the second time. I knew I loved it, but there is always the fear that, as the years have passed, one's appreciation changes. If anything, I love it more. There are times when Peake's prose is too much, when one almost has to say "enough - get on with it" - and then a paragraph hits that is so beautiful, so emotional that everything is forgiven.
I have the same edition you do - and Peake's illustrations are perfect. The Folio Society are releasing what will be beautiful editions in May - but not illustrated by Peake, which means that even though I adore the books, they will probably not be gracing my shelves.
That's it - fanboy moment over!
I discovered Gorminghast by accident. I was looking for another trilogy after reading Lord Of The Rings a few times. Initially I couldn't get into it because it starts out so slow. Finally I did get into it and I got totally immersed in the story. I've gone back and read it repeatedly. I've never read "Titus Awakes" because it was put together by Peak's widow from a few notes he made before he died.
Rereading the trilogy that I first read as a young adult 40 years ago. I loved it then but I don’t think I realised at the time how influential it would be on my life choices. And, it so stands the test of time, I rarely have to set aside modern ideas around class or gender or discrimination. Aesthetically it is so full of such a luxurious world of the ugly beautiful, it is such an emersive read, it is mind boggling that it is not better known.
Well said! Thanks for sharing your experience with Gormenghast!
Read it when I was 12. It took me a loooong time before I discovered prose that could compete with its brilliance. This was perhaps because I had to become an adult and read more adult fiction to discover McCarthy, etc... but wow, what an early gem in my reading journey!
This sounds exactly like what I’m looking for. Can’t believe I never heard of this before
Omg I love Gormenghast! I hunted down the trilogy after i saw the series. It's fabulous and obscure.
I've really got to read this now...thanks!
Great! It's a really compelling piece of fantasy literature.
0:25 , Say no more... Ordered on Amazon !!!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
It's listed in the second appendix of Stephan King's book Danse Macabre, a recommended list of books he felt were influential in the horror genre. It's really good, there's nothing like it.
Currently reading. Very beautiful and profound.
I am reading The Gormenghast Trilogy and have finished the first book
Great analysis
I tried reading the first book and couldn’t really get into it. I didn’t care for any of the characters. Your review makes me want to try it again.
Loved the mini series but been meaning to read it
Gormenghast is amazing, and as you say, the castle itself is the principal character.
Check out Anthony Burgess’s introduction to the Overlook Press edition.
Great video. Making one about this book now. More people need to know about it.
Awesome! Looking forward to your video on it.
@@travelthroughstories Just uploaded. Would love to hear what you think: ruclips.net/video/tkQlaD8-1lY/видео.html&ab_channel=FellPurpose
Ive seen a review that with the prose the setting can be seen as a character. Is that similar to the way McCarthy had did so in blood meridian. The writing style is enticing and I’m curious enough to try it out.
Loving it at the mo, 300 ish pages in
1:35 I'd actually argue that a lot of people were deeply influenced by Peake (or if they weren't influenced by Peake (because in several cases they came before him) at least existed in a similar space of using elaborate surrealism rather than myths/fairy tales as their mode of the fantastic to do world-building), they just never had the same kind of commercial success. Not only is that true of later New Weird and New Wave writers like Gene Wolfe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany, China Miéville, Jeff VanderMeer, Simon Ings, Brian Aldiss, M. John Harrison, Angela Carter, Michael Cisco, J. G. Ballard, and Joanna Russ, but in terms of ones who were more contemporaries of him and existed in a similar space, people like Paul Scheerbart, David Lindsay, Anna Kavan, Leonora Carrington, Alfred Cabin, Borges, and Hope Mirrlees. Also, while I do respect fans of Tolkien even though I myself and not one, I'm not entirely sure it's accurate to say he was the father of fantasy. He got a lot of his ideas on how to rework mythology from E. R. Eddison, William Morris, George MacDonald, Selma Lagerloff, and Lord Dunsany.
Fantastic! Just started reading it.
I read Gormenghast second time and i think these books Are about (the absence of the "real"?)Identity, Memory and Time/also i cant say any particular interpretation IS "correct", but for me Titus and Steerpike Are two extremes of the Same rebellion against the mechanical nature of existence and the experience of this rebellion IS happening inside of the mind of a reader
Great review
What about c.s. kewis ir moorcok (a friend and supporter of peake)
Just finished the first one as an audiobook. It's certainly in a category of its own and putting it on a fantasy shelf is an odd choice, perhaps part of the reason it is often overlooked. Perhaps it resembles some Tolkien, but mostly in the ways that Tolkien doesn't resemble most of the rest of the shelf.
It's quite an experience. The book is dense poetry from start to end, only slightly less impenetrable that Joyce's Ulysses. You have to concentrate hard in audiobook form because the sentences can be insanely long and the point of them is often not revealed until the end. It's easy to lose the narrative thread when it digresses (or does it?) down long involved descriptions and metaphors of what happens to be in any given setting. Most of it is told in present tense, like a guided hypnotic trance induction, giving it a dreamlike quality.
This made it both compatible and incompatible with my usual use of fantasy audiobooks, which is to help me fall asleep. Unlike so many, in which soft easily digested pulp fiction lulls/bores me to sleep, this would transport me to a dreamlike world, but one where I wanted to stay awake to see what would happen. I would inevitably fail, but then wake up some time later, and given the nature of the narrative it could take quite a long time to realize that I had missed many hours and would now have to painstakingly go back to find where I'd drifted off. In the end I gave up and saved it for when I woke up early in the morning instead and would listen to it for hours, and the on the way to work, and during the day.
In other words, it was to good to waste on falling asleep over. You need your wits about you to read this book, because it is worth reading.
Great analysis! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your experience.
Peake's drawings and sketches appear almost like caricature. Likewise, his writing approaches that line without ever crossing it. Both the characters and the settings in the books feel larger than life. I guess it's fantasy with it's awe and wonder, but there's no literal magic in this series. His writing is dense but vivid. I found it worth the time; there's nothing quite like it.
Slight spoilers for the second book:
In the second book there's a long scene where the stakes are very high for several of the protagonists. Peake's writing style really ramped up the tension here to a degree that I had not experienced before in any other book.
I'm listening to this right now and I quite like it. I'm on the first book just now and I've found the humour great and characters unique. I had to come and check out a review to help me place it, if you know what I mean 😄 I tried reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell last year but I really didn't like it, but I'm getting similar vibes as that from this book. Maybe i'd be better off going back to Jonathan Strange via audiobook. Thanks for the video 👍
The audiobook version is so good! The narrator does a great job capturing the humor, I think. I haven't gotten around to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell yet, but that one has been on my tbr for years. I can definitely see the similarities though. Thanks for watching - I hope you enjoy Gormenghast!
@@travelthroughstories the narrator is very good! I hope I enjoy it too 👍
"Yes!" to Gormanghast! Nice to see shelves of books not infiltrated by FS or other fine press editions. Love of books. Love of reading. I read Titus Groan years ago and Peake's prose is more than match for his illustrations. Highly influential in my own developing style back in the 1980s. I think of Peake as Imaginative literature as opposed to Fantasy, if that makes any sense. I'm looking forward to reading it again in the near future along with the sequels which I haven't read. Thanks for spreading the word. I loved your teaser. Great exposition. I generally find these "Why you should read" videos tiresome and ultimately pointless. (Worse are the "How to read this book" videos). Perhaps it's you. Perhaps it's Peake. You do a very good job explaining without giving anything away and address the work itself in an engaging literary fashion. Well done.
Thank you very much for the kind words! Good points. I agree that Peake is better thought of as "imaginative literature" rather than "fantasy" - he's certainly aware of all the fantasy tropes, but he's never beholden to them as are so many who write in the genre.
@@travelthroughstories I look forward to sampling further videos.
Never heard of this, but sounds good!
Why? Cos your introducing is always phenomenal like this time. So in the future i'll pick up this one as well.
I better like old school fantasy. Poe was just brilliant on his way. Lovecraft. Yeah, his work was a bit strange and very close to horror fantasy. But how about Robert E. Howard? I mean all his lifetime's work not only Conan..
And Tolkien. Tolkien is just magic. Never gets me bored! No, not because of P. Jackson's movie.. Let's be honest! I don't like when the movie shows some weird character wich is not even in the book. ☝️
Thanks for this videó, i really enjoyed :)
Love it, very original without being too cliche. It is an awesome series by the BBC.
Thank you i will check it out:)
Btw is it a character driven story? I'm looking for a book with a complex protagonist.
I've just finished Titus Groan and I'd say it's hard to clearly identify the protagonists. As OP says, practically everyone is a victim of the setting.
@@phuzzo1 thank you for the answer
I read it back in the 70s, when I was about 15. I loved the first 2 books, but I have a nagging memory that the third was inferior and "rushed".
I think that's a fair assessment! The third book has a bit of a different tone as well. I think one could just read the first two books and ignore the third if they wanted to, though I found the third book really interesting because of how tonally different it is from the rest of the series.
Yes. From what I've read, the writing of the trilogy was a race against Parkinson's and dementia.
In his defense, Mervyn Peake was horribly ill and bed ridden during the process of the third book. The fact he managed to get one made at all before his death was a miracle.
The BBC televised a four part production of Gormenghast in 2000. It was an ambitious labour of love, featuring a constellation of British acting and comedy luminaries including Christopher Lee, Zoë Wanamaker, June Brown, Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan among many others. I loved it, the character acting was spot on, however despite the lush production and excellent acting the story's dark quirkiness and slow pace left audiences non-plussed resulting a 40% slump in viewership by the end of the series. A rare, unexpected and expensive flop for the Beeb.
The prose is incredible
I long for a Mervyn Peake as fantasy godfather world. I'm far more drawn to huge Dickensian characters in a murky setting is than more rigid characters in a clearly delineated setting.
I’m here tu check if people felt the same as I did reading the books I had to learn reading it so unique a whole experience
I will deffo be reading this trilogy
Are you familiar with John Cowper Powys? -I hadn’t heard of him until watching a SherdsTube video that cited ‘A Glastonbury Romance’ as a masterpiece of convoluted writing. From scanning blurbs and such it tends to get described as modernist Thomas Hardy. (Just by way of this video’s into.)
I'm not familiar with him, no. I'll definitely look him up though - a "modernist Thomas Hardy" sounds wonderful!
I'm sold on this book and will definitely seek it out...super good review...
in the mean time spermwhales and their favorite food giant squid using echolocation as means of locating them...some theorize they use sound to stun the squid into submission as "acoustic debilitation" ...giant squids by the by are the largest invertebrate in the world...very rarely seen as the live way way way way below the surface...they have eyes 11'" in diameter...
later...
Thanks! Glad to hear that you'll check it out. Interesting factoid. I would not want to get between a sperm whale and giant squid...
Um, Irma Prunesquallor is Dr Alfred Prunesquallor's sister, not wife.
My sincerest apologies for misspeaking that single word.
I only know of this work from the BBC(?) adaptation that I saw only a couple of episodes of, and of which I missed the beginning. It was *so weird*, but also strangely compelling, absurdist, and yes, claustrophobic, because the castle (which is, yes, like another character). It probably would have made much more sense if I'd watched from the beginning. I didn't realize the books had been written so long ago, but you definitely have piqued my interest and I think I shall have to read it! If you're interested, you might look up the adaptation, as I definitely got the feels you describe from it. Just not a story you can start in the middle of!
That sounds so interesting! I haven't seen the BBC adaptation, but I can imagine it being very good as the books just feel very "cinematic," if that makes sense. I just looked up the cast and they have Christopher Lee as Mr. Flay?! I'll definitely be watching this soon. Thanks for the recommendation!
Fabulous read
Original escapist fantasy series
Seriously underatted