lisagreen65's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
breeperscreepers's review against another edition
I'm happy to leave things where they ended in Gormenghast. Titus was never a favorite of mine and I find him to be a poor main character this time. The writing has turned into a fever dream with none of the ridiculous charm or cohesion the previous books had. The lovely dusty world of Gormenghast has turned into an oddly sleek city with elevators and machines and cars. This doesn't feel anything like the first two and sadly it's not to my taste.
And the names- to stray from gorgeous names like Prunesquallor and Flannelcat to uncreative ones like Mr. Thirst and Mrs. Grass was a disappointment.
And the names- to stray from gorgeous names like Prunesquallor and Flannelcat to uncreative ones like Mr. Thirst and Mrs. Grass was a disappointment.
ipb1's review against another edition
3.0
I hesitated before embarking upon this. Whether it was the failed effort of a sick man or an intentional plan for a radical shift as part of some overarching trajectory is largely moot, as the outcome is a crashing disappointment. 3* is probably more generous than I actually feel, and there were flashes of the unique vision of the previous two novels, but ultimately I wish I had left this unread.
thomasgoddard's review against another edition
4.0
I think one day I’ll love this title as much as the other two. I think I will, if nothing else Stockholm will set in at some point, I’m sure.
The uncomfortable reality of this one is that I think quite a lot of the magic is lost when the character who wants to flee... leaves... The tension and drama dries up the moment he gets away. After that he becomes Titus Alone... in every sense. Just adrift and with that comes an imprecision that isn't familiar to the reader from the exactness of the previous two books. And I’m still in so many minds as to whether that works or doesn’t.
I think I feel that reading this is like reading fanfiction, in a sense. The character that purports to be authentic but feels artificial in some way. Boy in Darkness both is and isn’t Titus. It is him, but there is an added veil outside the setting. But here Titus is very clearly presented and I find it hard to recognise him. And I feel horrible saying all this because it still has so much skill to the writing, pared back from the flamboyance used in the first two novels. More streamlined. It has pace and motion. A certain lack of clarity in places like motion blur. There is an undeniable presence of Peake within it, but he also feels so much more distant here.
And there’s a sexual element that is entirely natural for a 20-year-old Titus. But it seems like an awkward gear shift.
Throughout the book there is this question of ‘certainty’ at work. The fear of madness is, in a sense, a fear of being wrong about the world in some simple and obvious way. He holds on to what he is, where he is from. Totemic in the shard of flint. But then action removes the question and he just cruises on.
This is powerful to me. I have my own issues with mental health and I struggle, keenly aware that I too will follow that path towards an eventual miserable disorientation. It keeps me stocked with nightmares.
I guess the message is very much one of ‘we are only a thing which acts upon the world be it the action of ritual or the spontaneous reaction to events’. Trying to theorise yourself wastes time.
Here concludes a journey, the path of which was never finished. Gormenghast is better for Titus leaving, because it cements it as a place of madness. Peake really gave a priceless gift to us and I will reread it until my own end.
The uncomfortable reality of this one is that I think quite a lot of the magic is lost when the character who wants to flee... leaves... The tension and drama dries up the moment he gets away. After that he becomes Titus Alone... in every sense. Just adrift and with that comes an imprecision that isn't familiar to the reader from the exactness of the previous two books. And I’m still in so many minds as to whether that works or doesn’t.
I think I feel that reading this is like reading fanfiction, in a sense. The character that purports to be authentic but feels artificial in some way. Boy in Darkness both is and isn’t Titus. It is him, but there is an added veil outside the setting. But here Titus is very clearly presented and I find it hard to recognise him. And I feel horrible saying all this because it still has so much skill to the writing, pared back from the flamboyance used in the first two novels. More streamlined. It has pace and motion. A certain lack of clarity in places like motion blur. There is an undeniable presence of Peake within it, but he also feels so much more distant here.
And there’s a sexual element that is entirely natural for a 20-year-old Titus. But it seems like an awkward gear shift.
Throughout the book there is this question of ‘certainty’ at work. The fear of madness is, in a sense, a fear of being wrong about the world in some simple and obvious way. He holds on to what he is, where he is from. Totemic in the shard of flint. But then action removes the question and he just cruises on.
This is powerful to me. I have my own issues with mental health and I struggle, keenly aware that I too will follow that path towards an eventual miserable disorientation. It keeps me stocked with nightmares.
I guess the message is very much one of ‘we are only a thing which acts upon the world be it the action of ritual or the spontaneous reaction to events’. Trying to theorise yourself wastes time.
Here concludes a journey, the path of which was never finished. Gormenghast is better for Titus leaving, because it cements it as a place of madness. Peake really gave a priceless gift to us and I will reread it until my own end.
devinb333's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
bmip666's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
antonism's review against another edition
5.0
5 / 5
And thus, having turned the final page of Mervyn Peake’s masterpiece, a journey is ended. A journey magical, unique, wonderful and amazing, through lands and characters and thoughts and symbolism, born on the wings of Peake’s unrivalled and incomparable prose. But what is Titus Alone and why is it so good, I hear you asking! Let me start from the beginning!
Titus Alone, by Mervyn Peake, is the final book of the Gormenghast trilogy. It is the final book not because Peake intended so (on the contrary, he would have probably continued) but because of his untimely death due to a severe mental illness. When I finished the first book of the trilogy, I was initially hesitant to continue with this series. You see, I had read that the last book was unfinished, that Peake died before publishing it and it was an incoherent mess that would spoil the enjoyment of his previous two books. After having just finished this last book, all I can think now is that I feel so lucky and privileged to have read such a brilliant work of literature!
I’m not sure this book can be reviewed in my usual structured way but I will give it a try. And if I don’t make it… well, read the books anyway! But before I go any further, it would be useful if you could read my review of the 2nd book as a lot is common and I don’t want to repeat myself (unless necessary!).
Format:
I read the book in an electronic version that contained 196 pages. It was divided into many many small chapters, sometimes as small as half a page long. I generally like short chapters as they make a book easier to read and in this case, considering the chaotic nature of the plot, it actually helps the reader understand things better.
Characters:
Gone are all the characters from the previous two books. Only Titus remains and he’s a completely different person. Maybe you start to wonder, is this good? Keep calm and trust Peake to deliver amazing characters, wondrous and realistic, believable and implausible at the same time. As before, no matter how strange or peculiar the character in question is, the connection is almost immediate. There’s a part of us or someone we know in them. And Peake goes deeper, as while his characters become his playthings, the playthings of fate and circumstances, he lets us know all their memories, thoughts and feelings, even the ones that they are not consciously aware of. Their actions sometimes become unbelievable but still we are always convinced that what happens is the only natural way and outcome. And all this is part of the magic and awe of Peake’s writing.
World building:
And suddenly, we’re not in Gormenghast any more. Why would an author who had so meticulously constructed the defining concept of his whole series (and his career!) just abandon it like that? Because, as the central idea of his whole series is change, it was time for Titus to change as well, to expand, to move, to progress into a different world and culture. Surprisingly enough, the new world is more incredible and strange than Gormenghast was; vast, unlimited and populated with all kinds of people and societies. The sense of exploration and discovery features strongly during the whole book, something that creates tension and unwavering interest in turning pages.
Plot & story:
Plot: What a glorious, blindingly brilliant mess it is! If it was hard to describe the plot for the previous two books of the trilogy, it is nigh impossible to do so for this last one! Titus wanders a new land. He makes acquaintances, friends and enemies. Eventually, the guilt, the nostalgia, the home-sickness begin to take hold and gradually threaten to drive him insane.
--
Plot-threads appear to move and intersect at random but it always feels as if there’s some pattern, some ultimate aim. I don’t want to spoil anything but suffice it to say that you need not fear that this is an incomplete novel with a bland, unsatisfactory ending. On the contrary, the ending is so encompassing and grand you will be amazed of Peake’s vision!
Writing & pacing:
Here was another big surprise, as pacing was much faster and brisk in stark contrast to his two previous work. Of course that is to be expected, considering the nature and milieu of those books. Still, I find it strange but I have to admit that Titus Alone was a definite page turner! Amazed? So was I!
As for the writing, I hope you will excuse me my indolence by copying-pasting what I said in my previous review:
If you are still not persuaded and convinced enough, I will just leave here some random quotes!
--
--
Conclusion:
What is more to say? People who have read Peake’s previous books need and should read this one. Those who loved the 2nd, will almost certainly love and be in awe of this one as well. I might even dare say that this one is the best of the three, a veritable and unique literary masterpiece! Well done Mr. Peake, I salute you as you distinctly made your mark on this reader’s heart and mind. Highly recommended!
5 / 5
And thus, having turned the final page of Mervyn Peake’s masterpiece, a journey is ended. A journey magical, unique, wonderful and amazing, through lands and characters and thoughts and symbolism, born on the wings of Peake’s unrivalled and incomparable prose. But what is Titus Alone and why is it so good, I hear you asking! Let me start from the beginning!
Titus Alone, by Mervyn Peake, is the final book of the Gormenghast trilogy. It is the final book not because Peake intended so (on the contrary, he would have probably continued) but because of his untimely death due to a severe mental illness. When I finished the first book of the trilogy, I was initially hesitant to continue with this series. You see, I had read that the last book was unfinished, that Peake died before publishing it and it was an incoherent mess that would spoil the enjoyment of his previous two books. After having just finished this last book, all I can think now is that I feel so lucky and privileged to have read such a brilliant work of literature!
I’m not sure this book can be reviewed in my usual structured way but I will give it a try. And if I don’t make it… well, read the books anyway! But before I go any further, it would be useful if you could read my review of the 2nd book as a lot is common and I don’t want to repeat myself (unless necessary!).
Format:
I read the book in an electronic version that contained 196 pages. It was divided into many many small chapters, sometimes as small as half a page long. I generally like short chapters as they make a book easier to read and in this case, considering the chaotic nature of the plot, it actually helps the reader understand things better.
Characters:
Gone are all the characters from the previous two books. Only Titus remains and he’s a completely different person. Maybe you start to wonder, is this good? Keep calm and trust Peake to deliver amazing characters, wondrous and realistic, believable and implausible at the same time. As before, no matter how strange or peculiar the character in question is, the connection is almost immediate. There’s a part of us or someone we know in them. And Peake goes deeper, as while his characters become his playthings, the playthings of fate and circumstances, he lets us know all their memories, thoughts and feelings, even the ones that they are not consciously aware of. Their actions sometimes become unbelievable but still we are always convinced that what happens is the only natural way and outcome. And all this is part of the magic and awe of Peake’s writing.
Her thoughts like scales began to shed themselves until there was an absolute nothingness in her head, a nothingness made necessary, for the intensity of her dark thoughts had been horrible and could not be kept up forever, short of madness.
World building:
And suddenly, we’re not in Gormenghast any more. Why would an author who had so meticulously constructed the defining concept of his whole series (and his career!) just abandon it like that? Because, as the central idea of his whole series is change, it was time for Titus to change as well, to expand, to move, to progress into a different world and culture. Surprisingly enough, the new world is more incredible and strange than Gormenghast was; vast, unlimited and populated with all kinds of people and societies. The sense of exploration and discovery features strongly during the whole book, something that creates tension and unwavering interest in turning pages.
Plot & story:
Plot: What a glorious, blindingly brilliant mess it is! If it was hard to describe the plot for the previous two books of the trilogy, it is nigh impossible to do so for this last one! Titus wanders a new land. He makes acquaintances, friends and enemies. Eventually, the guilt, the nostalgia, the home-sickness begin to take hold and gradually threaten to drive him insane.
[…] and he yearned suddenly for his home, for the bad of it no less than for the good of it - yearned for the smell of it and the taste of the bitter ivy.
--
There is no calm for those who are uprooted. They are wanderers, homesick and defiant. Love itself is helpless to heal them though the dust rises with every footfall - drifts down the corridors - settles on branch or cornice - each breath an inhalation from the past so that the lungs, like a miner's, are dark with bygone times.
Whatever they eat, whatever they drink, is never the bread of home or the corn of their own valleys. It is never the wine of their own vineyards. It is a foreign brew.
Plot-threads appear to move and intersect at random but it always feels as if there’s some pattern, some ultimate aim. I don’t want to spoil anything but suffice it to say that you need not fear that this is an incomplete novel with a bland, unsatisfactory ending. On the contrary, the ending is so encompassing and grand you will be amazed of Peake’s vision!
So quickly did they flow one into another, these sensations of pity, physical greed, revulsion, excitement and tenderness, that they became burred in an overriding impetus, a desire to hold all this in his outflung arms; to bring the total of their relationship to a burning focus. To bring it all to an end. That was the sadness of it. Not to create the deed that should set glory in motion but to bring glory to an end - to stab sweet love: to stab it to death. To be free of it.
Writing & pacing:
Here was another big surprise, as pacing was much faster and brisk in stark contrast to his two previous work. Of course that is to be expected, considering the nature and milieu of those books. Still, I find it strange but I have to admit that Titus Alone was a definite page turner! Amazed? So was I!
As for the writing, I hope you will excuse me my indolence by copying-pasting what I said in my previous review:
There’s no writer like Mervyn Peake and you haven’t read anything like it. Peake, while verbose and eloquent, writes with clarity and lucidity, with an obvious purpose and aim, with each word flowing effortlessly into sentences and then into paragraphs that reading this book is like magic. He describes things that are in front of our eyes but we never actually see, he dares dive deep into the human psyche, into feelings we know exist but we avoid facing and brings them up in front of our eyes. Exactly like an experienced photographer who can see things with a different eye and then present that to us in a way we’ve never seen it before. Or like a skilled psychologist who knows which questions to ask to make you realize things about yourself you always knew were there but you never recognized. Well, this is exactly how Peake writes.
If you are still not persuaded and convinced enough, I will just leave here some random quotes!
So Juno returned to her home, and it was true that it had already become a place of echoes, shadows, voices; moments of pause and suspense; moments of vague suffering or dwindling laughter, where the staircase curved from sight; moments of acute nostalgia where she stood all unwittingly at a window in a haze of stars; or of sweetness hardly to be borne when the shadow of Titus came between her and the sun as it rose through the slanting rain.
--
The shadows of leaves and branches lay upon the table like grey lace and moved imperceptibly to and fro.
--
Around three sides of the yard the walls of a massive stone-built building blocked the dawn away, save in one place where the slanting rays ran through a high eastern window and out of an even higher western window to end their journey in a pool of radiance upon a cold slate roof.
Conclusion:
What is more to say? People who have read Peake’s previous books need and should read this one. Those who loved the 2nd, will almost certainly love and be in awe of this one as well. I might even dare say that this one is the best of the three, a veritable and unique literary masterpiece! Well done Mr. Peake, I salute you as you distinctly made your mark on this reader’s heart and mind. Highly recommended!
5 / 5
emhanc's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ostrava's review against another edition
1.0
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it's a mess.
Utterly irredeemable? Probably not, but not worth a read in my opinion, unless you're deeply curious about what might have been a potential third novel and don't mind digging up a poor draft to get one. The book is impatient about revealing itself to you, and it comes across as jarring as a result.
Now, I get that the author was going through some serious struggles at the time of writing this, so I'm not going to pretend it only boils down to a miss. It's actually quite amazing how much Peake managed to do at this moment of his life. There are great images and some ideas here and there that do have potential, but very little of it actually goes somewhere. As I see it, this feels like a book of what-ifs rather than of genuine substance.
So, sorry, but I'll recommend skipping it.
P.S: I also wanted to say that Muzzlehatch is one of my least favorite characters in anything in a minute. What the hell was his deal...
Utterly irredeemable? Probably not, but not worth a read in my opinion, unless you're deeply curious about what might have been a potential third novel and don't mind digging up a poor draft to get one. The book is impatient about revealing itself to you, and it comes across as jarring as a result.
Now, I get that the author was going through some serious struggles at the time of writing this, so I'm not going to pretend it only boils down to a miss. It's actually quite amazing how much Peake managed to do at this moment of his life. There are great images and some ideas here and there that do have potential, but very little of it actually goes somewhere. As I see it, this feels like a book of what-ifs rather than of genuine substance.
So, sorry, but I'll recommend skipping it.
P.S: I also wanted to say that Muzzlehatch is one of my least favorite characters in anything in a minute. What the hell was his deal...