(Prologue) A copy of the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake came into the library to be shelved, just as I’m about to read it. By read it, I mean the second book in the trilogy called Gormenghast. I’ve already read the first one, Titus Groan. An amazing piece of weird fiction. The first book has haunted me ever since I read it, and it’s about time I got to the second one.
Started Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. It begins with a brief profile of what had gone before, particularly those who had died in Titus Groan and were now ghosts haunting the halls of the keep. Very mordant, very delicious and a great way to do exposition. Ah, the journey begins!
I’m coming to the end of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast. What an experience it’s been. I recently had a conversation about this book with a colleague who is also a big fan. I voiced the opinion that Peake should have re-titled the first two books as Gormenghast first and Titus Groan second, as this second one is more about Titus as he comes into his manhood (in the first he was only a baby). She agreed. At present the castle is under a massive flood, its many ramparts appearing as isolated islands in an archipelago of ruined edifices, and the inhabitants are getting about amongst them in whimsical carved boats. Titus has just discovered the whereabouts of that villain Steerpike, who is revelling in his new status as ‘the monarch of darkness’, and the trap is closing in on him. This is the point where a major character dies, and it’s very sad, but clearly a necessary plot point (I won’t say who – you have to read it for yourself!). What shall I ever do when it’s all over? Read the next book, Titus Alone! No, that will have to wait. I’ll be going from floods to The Drought with JG Ballard.
Finished Gormenghast. The death of Steerpike was so drawn out. It came down to a fight in the tangle of ivy. It was just as strange and amazing as everything that came before it, so it was satisfying. The only things I didn’t love were the deaths of Titus’s sister Fuschia and the creature called ‘the Thing’. They were so random and sudden. They weren’t earned the way Steerpike’s was. They were unfair. I wanted to see more of the Thing, to have her interact more with Titus, and to see Fuschia happy. Oh well. Farewell Gormenghast, for now.