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The Gormenghast Novels

by: Mervyn Peake

: The Gormenghast Novels
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780879516284
ISBN: 0879516283
Label: Overlook TP
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 1168
Publication Date: December 01, 1995
Publisher: Overlook TP
Sales Rank: 15942
Studio: Overlook TP



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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
A doomed lord, an emergent hero, and a dazzling array of bizarre creatures inhabit the magical world of the Gormenghast novels which, along with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, reign as one of the undisputed fantasy classics of all time. At the center of it all is the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, who stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle and its kingdom, unless the conniving Steerpike, who is determined to rise above his menial position and control the House of Groan, has his way.

In these extraordinary novels, Peake has created a world where all is like a dream--lush, fantastical, and vivid. Accompanying the text are Peake's own drawings, illustrating the whole assembly of strange and marvelous creatures that inhabit Gormenghast.
Introductory Essays by Anthony Burgess and Quentin Crisp
Twelve critical essays
Fragment of the unpublished novel, Titus Awakes

'Mervyn Peake is a finer poet than Edgar Allan Poe, and he is therefore able to maintain his world of fantasy brilliantly through three novels. It is a very, very great work . . . a classic of our age.'-- Robertson Davies

'[Peake's books] are actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the range of possible experience.'-- C. S. Lewis

'This extravagant epic about a labyrinthine castle populated with conniving Dickensian grotesques is the true fantasy classic of our time.'-- The Washington Post Book World

Amazon.com Review:
Mervyn Peake's gothic masterpiece, the Gormenghast trilogy, begins with the superlative Titus Groan, a darkly humorous, stunningly complex tale of the first two years in the life of the heir to an ancient, rambling castle. The trilogy continues with the novels Gormenghast and Titus Alone, and all three books are bound together in this single-volume edition.

The Gormenghast royal family, the castle's decidedly eccentric staff, and the peasant artisans living around the dreary, crumbling structure make up the cast of characters in these engrossing stories. Peake's command of language and unique style set the tone and shape of an intricate, slow-moving world of ritual and stasis:

'The walls of the vast room which were streaming with calid moisture, were built with gray slabs of stone and were the personal concern of a company of eighteen men known as the 'Grey Scrubbers'.... On every day of the year from three hours before daybreak until about eleven o'clock, when the scaffolding and ladders became a hindrance to the cooks, the Grey Scrubbers fulfilled their hereditary calling.'


Peake has been compared to Dickens, Tolkien, and Peacock, but the Gormenghast trilogy is truly unique. Unforgettable characters with names like Steerpike and Prunesquallor make their way through an architecturally stifling world, with lots of dark corners around to dampen any whimsy that might arise. This true classic is a feast of words unlike anything else in the world of fantasy. Those who explore Gormenghast castle will be richly rewarded. --Therese Littleton



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Have fun storming the Castle
Titus Groan/Gormenghast/Titus Alone;Introductory essays by Anthony Burgess and Quentin Crisp, critical ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Surprisingly influential for its time.
I found these novels in the late eighties when they were out of print. The first two in the series, particularly, ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - the gormenghast novels
a wonderful book. Read it many years ago and it brought back pleasant memories. An inspired author.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - "A Fairy-tale with no Fairies"
A contemorary of Peake described Titus Groan as "a fairy-tale with no fairies", and nothing could summarize the trilogy ... Read More


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Verbose
Bought this after seeing >100 reviews @ 4.5 stars. Glad I got it used.

The author never met an adjective or ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.