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A review by kerrygold
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
5.0
Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake, was originally published in 1946. The Ballantine edition was first published in 1968, with cover art by Bob Pepper. Titus Groan was one of the precursor volumes to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, before Lin Carter became series editor. The book contains Peake’s own brilliant pencil sketches of some of his characters. Over the years, Titus Groan and its sequel Gormenghast are books to which I’ve kept coming back. Peake’s masterpiece is classed as a fantasy, though there is no wizardry and no magical creatures or environments.
The action takes place almost entirely within Castle Gormenghast. Literally, Titus Groan is he who will become the 77th Earl Groan and Lord of Gormenghast. The book begins when Titus is born and finishes a little after his first birthday. A bizarre series of events takes place around Titus, of which, as a baby, he is oblivious.
Gormenghast is a huge structure. Peake describes Steerpike’s escape from servitude in the kitchens as an odyssey over the rooftops of Gormenghast, including a vast stone field that takes Steerpike several hours to circumambulate. Inside, Gormenghast has endless corridors, rooms, staircases, quadrangles, and many other structures. Gormenghast must be the size of a city, not a castle. Peake’s main characters number little more than a dozen. In the background is a large and amorphous crowd of menials, though we rarely see them.
The key inhabitants of Gormenghast are the ruling family of Groan and their chief servants and key functionaries, people like Sepulchrave, Flay, Swelter, Nannie Slag, Dr. Prunesquallor, Sourdust, Rotcod, and so on. Just as Dickens chooses unusual and evocative names for his characters, so does Peake. They are all gloriously eccentric. If you appreciate the exaggerated characters of Dickens, you will enjoy those of Gormenghast. In fact, I read Dickens’ novels because they reminded me of Peake, rather than the other way around. Dickens can be sentimental, with saccharine characters such as Little Nell. There is none of this with Peake.
The life of Gormenghast is rigidly structured, and ritual determined by precedent must always be followed. The “Law of the Stones” has accumulated through many hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years since the beginning of the House of Groan. The Groan family would seem to hold supreme authority, though in reality the Earl is powerless. He must enact the rituals that govern his every day, and he is trapped.
Into this environment steps the villainous Steerpike, and Titus Groan chronicles his rise from Swelters’ kitchens. Steerpike is directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of several of the main characters and banishment of the supremely loyal Flay, his Lordship’s First Servant. Steerpike is a traitor undermining Gormenghast and its ruling House of Groan.
By the end of the book both Dr. Prunesqualor and the Countess of Groan sense that something evil has emerged in Gormenghast, though neither pinning it yet on Steerpike. The book ends on a hopeful note, and the anticipation of more to come in the rise and fall of Steerpike. Peake’s imagination is as vast as Gormenghast and the writing is beautiful.
The action takes place almost entirely within Castle Gormenghast. Literally, Titus Groan is he who will become the 77th Earl Groan and Lord of Gormenghast. The book begins when Titus is born and finishes a little after his first birthday. A bizarre series of events takes place around Titus, of which, as a baby, he is oblivious.
Gormenghast is a huge structure. Peake describes Steerpike’s escape from servitude in the kitchens as an odyssey over the rooftops of Gormenghast, including a vast stone field that takes Steerpike several hours to circumambulate. Inside, Gormenghast has endless corridors, rooms, staircases, quadrangles, and many other structures. Gormenghast must be the size of a city, not a castle. Peake’s main characters number little more than a dozen. In the background is a large and amorphous crowd of menials, though we rarely see them.
The key inhabitants of Gormenghast are the ruling family of Groan and their chief servants and key functionaries, people like Sepulchrave, Flay, Swelter, Nannie Slag, Dr. Prunesquallor, Sourdust, Rotcod, and so on. Just as Dickens chooses unusual and evocative names for his characters, so does Peake. They are all gloriously eccentric. If you appreciate the exaggerated characters of Dickens, you will enjoy those of Gormenghast. In fact, I read Dickens’ novels because they reminded me of Peake, rather than the other way around. Dickens can be sentimental, with saccharine characters such as Little Nell. There is none of this with Peake.
The life of Gormenghast is rigidly structured, and ritual determined by precedent must always be followed. The “Law of the Stones” has accumulated through many hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years since the beginning of the House of Groan. The Groan family would seem to hold supreme authority, though in reality the Earl is powerless. He must enact the rituals that govern his every day, and he is trapped.
Into this environment steps the villainous Steerpike, and Titus Groan chronicles his rise from Swelters’ kitchens. Steerpike is directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of several of the main characters and banishment of the supremely loyal Flay, his Lordship’s First Servant. Steerpike is a traitor undermining Gormenghast and its ruling House of Groan.
By the end of the book both Dr. Prunesqualor and the Countess of Groan sense that something evil has emerged in Gormenghast, though neither pinning it yet on Steerpike. The book ends on a hopeful note, and the anticipation of more to come in the rise and fall of Steerpike. Peake’s imagination is as vast as Gormenghast and the writing is beautiful.