Gormenghast - Reviews & Commentary

By B. Allen

The Gormenghast trilogy is one of the true classics of fantastic literature. It's beautiful, clever, funny, mysterious and filled with astounding imagery and creativity.
At the same time, Gormenghast can be daunting to take on. The names are weird, the setting bizarre. The books are big, and so is their reputation. It seems like you can't be a proper literary snob without enthusing about these books. Not everyone is ready to join that cult.
The thing is, Gormenghast is really, really good. So, how to get a foot in the door? That's what this e-book is for. It's a collection of spoiler-free reviews of the three books, as well as a series of little articles that breaks the book up into bite-size sections, and provides a second opinion on what it all means - what's really going on, and why.
If you've heard of Gormenghast and wondered what the fuss was about, or wanted to read the trilogy, but been put off by its reputation, this book can get you on your way. It's like having a mini-book club that reads at your speed, and only meets when you want it to.
Keep in mind that the articles here are reader-friendly mini-essays that make no pretense of scholarly analysis. Their only goal is to share a look at the beauty of Gormenghast, and to encourage worried readers to go ahead and take the leap. So jump in!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Metaphorosis Books
• Release date: Feb 27, 2015

Book preview

Gormenghast

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Reviews & Commentary

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B. Allen

Metaphorosis Reviews

Neskowin

Foreword

The Gormenghast trilogy is one of the true classics of fantastic literature. It's beautiful, clever, funny,  mysterious and filled with astounding imagery and creativity.

At the same time, Gormenghast can be daunting to take on. The names are weird, the setting bizarre. The books are big, and so is their reputation. It seems like you can't be a proper literary snob without enthusing about these books. Not everyone is ready to join that cult.

The thing is, Gormenghast is really, really good. So, how to get a foot in the door? That's what this e-book is for. It's a collection of spoiler-free reviews of the three books, as well as a series of little articles that breaks the book up into bite-size sections, and provides a second opinion on what it all means - what's really going on, and why.

If you've heard of Gormenghast and wondered what the fuss was about, or wanted to read the trilogy, but been put off by its reputation, this book can get you on your way. It's like having a mini-book club that reads at your speed, and only meets when you want it to.

Keep in mind that the articles here are reader friendly mini-essays that make no pretense of scholarly analysis. Their only goal is to share a look at the beauty of Gormenghast, and to encourage worried readers to go ahead and take the leap. So jump in! 

B. Allen, 

Belgrade, 

May 2014

Titus Groan

Review

I can't remember when I first encountered Peake, or how. Sometime after reading the The Castle of Otranto, with its memorable giant helmet, but probably quite a few years later. In any case, I was immediately taken with Titus Groan, or, more properly, with Gormenghast, because while the first book of the trilogy is named after Titus, and the second after the castle, the focus is the other way around. Briefly, Titus Groan deals with the birth of violet-eyed Titus, the 77th Earl of Groan. The Groans inhabit Gormenghast Castle, near Gormenghast Lake, by Gormenghast Mountain. It's a setting and a family entirely and strictly bound by tradition and rules, all carefully written down, and governing everything from breakfast to the order of the day. The rituals are rigidly enforced, and absolutely meaningless. After hundreds of years of stagnation, two wild cards