About this title: As the first novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born, he stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that stand for Gormenghast Castle. Inside, all events are predetermined by a complex ritual, lost in history, understood only by Sourdust, Lord of the Library. There are tears and strange laughter; fierce births and deaths beneath umbrageous ceilings; dreams and violence and disenchantment contained within a labyrinth of stone.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Ballantine 25041 (c.1968) 7th printing 1975 paperback, cover art by Bob Pepper, CONDITION: VERY GOOD, a little edge wear & light interior age toning o/w a nice copy, very good condition SERIES-The Gormenghast Trilogy Volume 1. read more
Edition: [Rev. ed.].6th printing
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 1974
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. cover wear. ALL pages very readable. 543 p. illus. 18 cm. Includes Illustrations. The 1st vol. of the author's trilogy, the 2d of which is Gormenghast, and the 3d, Titus alone. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Poor. In this illustrated Gothic trilogy, a young heir matures within the confines of bleak Gormenghast castle. This is Volume 1 of the Gormenghast Trilogy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780749394929ISBN:0749394927
Description: Very Good. Paperback With Shelf Wear To The Edges & Corners Of The Cover. Clean Pages. Great Customer Service. We Stand Behind All Of Our Products. read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine, NY
Date Published: 1968
Description: Good. Volume I of Gormenghast Trilogy. All about a massive castle and its heir Titus, to the House of Groan. Water damage to top page edges, spine creases. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Ballantine (73007)
Date Published: 1968
Description: Pepper, Bob. Good. No dust jacket as issued. 543 p. 1st paperback edition from Ballantine (730070, 1968. GOOD only, reading copy. Bob Pepper cover, author interior art. read more
"The first 30 or so pages I found hilarious (Anthony Burgess found them terrifying) in their atmosphere of degradation, misery, and grime. After that the going got slow: funny or awful, the reader can only take so much lengthy description of every little thing as depressing and every person as depressed without it being not funny, not awful, but only tiresome.
I can imagine this is the sort of thing an author gets their fill of after a while, and after a couple hundred pages this might well turn good. Or maybe it's not for me-- Burgess loved it, after all, and Burgess's own works haven't done much for me."
"I couldn't decide whether this should be a four-star book or a five-star book. Then, I realized that I got everything out of this book that I want out of a fantasy novel. I suppose that means it should get five stars, right?
This book has the utterly compelling and original setting of Groan Castle, a monstrous behemoth of a castle where whole sections have been forgotten and abandoned. It has many wonderful characters who are simultaneously outlandish and complex. And one of these characters is Steerpike, an upstart boy who is clever enough to turn all of Groan Castle on its head, and gradually maneuvers his way from a kitchen helper to a quite prestigious position (and one gets the sense his ascension is going to continue in the sequel). I don't want to spoil anything because I definitely recommend this book. The only flaw was the pacing is sometimes slow. Unfortunately, the first hundred pages or so are fairly slow as you gradually discover the environment of the castle. But, when the plot starts to thicken, it quickly becomes very hard to put down."
"The Gormenghast books are considered to be the beginning of the 'mannerpunk' genre, and along with Tolkien, Moorecock, and Howard, Peake is one of the fathers of the modern Fantasy genre. Mannerpunk is a genre typified by complex psychology, plots driven by character interaction, and a strong sense of mood. It is also notable for the characters rather than the world being fantastical. In this sense, mannerpunk, and certainly the Gormenghast books, work in the vein of surrealism (meaning not 'unr...more The Gormenghast books are considered to be the beginning of the 'mannerpunk' genre, and along with Tolkien, Moorecock, and Howard, Peake is one of the fathers of the modern Fantasy genre. Mannerpunk is a genre typified by complex psychology, plots driven by character interaction, and a strong sense of mood. It is also notable for the characters rather than the world being fantastical. In this sense, mannerpunk, and certainly the Gormenghast books, work in the vein of surrealism (meaning not 'unreal', but 'more than the real'); not unlike the Russian Gogol.
The genre is based upon the works of authors like Jane Austen, the Brontes, Baroness Orczy, Swift, de Cervantes, and Dumas pere.
Peake himself was a polymath, excelling not only as an author, but a poet and artist. In fact, he has works hanging in Britain's National Portrait Gallery. As a poet, he has a mastery of language and conceit that places him above popular 'jingle man' Poe.
This makes him quite unlike Tolkien, whose long stretches of verse tend to be stilted and unfeeling. Then again, Peake is more passionate than than Tory Tolkien.
Despite his mastery of language and evocative characterization, Peake is not an easy read. Indeed, his thick prose and slow pace can quickly tire the mind. Like a skillful chess opponent, Peake demands much of his reader. He is not content to let the reader be a passive escapist, so his work engages and challenges. It would take a great and knowledgeable mind to meet each of these challenges on equal footing, but even we lesser minds may find amusement, shock, and beauty.
Peake's original idea was to chronicle the life of a character from birth to death. The first book deals with infancy. The second takes him into adulthood in a sort of bildungsroman. The third involves the adventures of young adulthood. Unfortunately, Peake's slide into dementia prevented any furthering of this vast and witty trove.
In literature, Peake may have come the closest to completing a book which balances complex psychology, deep character, poetic style, exploration of reality, and a surreal mixture reality and fancy. Peake's books were very audacious, and though he sometimes fails to reach his own lofty ideals, the really remarkable thing is that sometimes, he doesn't"
"I first read this work by Mervyn Peake many years ago, and it (together with the other two volumes of the Gormenghast trilogy) made a lasting impression. The trilogy is strongly influenced by the darker elements of Dickens, Kafka, Lewis Carroll and the Brothers Grimm. It is tempting to mention Tolkien and C S Lewis as well, but the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Narnia series both commenced publication a few years after Titus Groan, although the publication of volumes in the three series then overlapped. The period from 1946 to 1959 was certainly an extraordinarily productive period for the genre."
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