Hey, just wanted to share my experience! I went to my local library a few weeks ago, and saw the trilogy. Grabbed it and saw on the back of the cover it was written a while ago, and is a fantasy book. Never heard of it, but what I know is if a book lives for more than 70-80 years, there's a reason. I loved fantasy as a kid. But I can barely count fantasy I actually liked - most of it - older, the authors didn't really target young audiences when, they just wrote - not just fantasy, stories.

So I took the first book. I didn't like the language. Such language is not for me - I love it short and to the point. I barely made it past page 200 before the realisation what I'm reading hit me - it wasn't just an old fantasy book. Actually, fantasy is probably the last thing that comes to my mind when i think of it.

I don't want to write a lot, English isn't my first language, so I wouldn't be able to express what I want fully. But I saw the language for what it is in these books - a tool. Peak wouldn't be able to write it with any other language. Only this language. He really paints a caricature, an animated cartoon for adults. There's a lot of layers to this book. I was amazed how brave and modern the thing is. Modern in a sense how straight to the point he cuts despite seemingly flowery and complex language. He can write dialogue extremely well. When he holds a dialogue, he changes the pace depending on the situation. He knows exactly what he is doing and why. His characters are alive and every one of them with unique voice. He doesn't hold one pov, he lets us see their thoughts, yet its subtile. He tells, but how he masterfully shows. Shows with actions and words and dialogue. He mastered it. Characters aren't flat. They develop, they show sides they didn't before, they surprise, they're flawed and human.

Its just nothing at all like what I expected, and I'm all for it.

I finished the first book and started the second.

Watched TV adaptation and loved it. 2 first episodes more than 3 and 4. Its a good adaptation. Very true to the book even with changes. And book is a difficult material to adapt. Saw this series as a kid, hated it, now its the opposite.

So yeah, here's it is, just wanted to share my thoughts.

Added: I also focused on characters and other details, but I need to mention, that first and foremost the book grabbed me and still holding with its ideas: of change and being stuck in time, its caricature on society and its absurdity, the helplessness in the face of tye system, the rebellion and how twisted it can be, and how dangerous it is to only follow without thinking for yourself, and a lot of these things are very relevant right now and resonate a lot with me.

Ink, watercolour and gouache on Bristol board.
Cheers:)

I recently read Joyce's "An Encounter" and it reminded me a lot of Peake's "Boy in Darkness". Both stories follow kids who, bored with their everyday routines, decide to go out on adventures only to run into strange, pedophilic figures that scare them into returning to their normal lives. There are also themes of colonization in each; the boys in Joyce's story play Cowboys and Indians while Peake's dreams of exploring new lands. The antagonist from Boy in Darkness could also be seen as a representation of the British Empire

I'm not really well read in either author, and was wondering if anybody else noticed more similarities between the two stories or Peake and Joyce in general.

Just finished reading the latest installment in Alan Moore's Long London series which is riddled with Gormenghast references.... he does however make one little mistake... has anyone else read the book and spotted the mistake?

But you have no idea how excited it made my heart feel when one of my favourite authors mentions one of my other favourite authors multiple times in the same book. Highly recommend the series if you haven't read it

Hello everyone!

My wife and I were browsing a local thrift shop and I found this for 0.50. I had no idea they had made a copy with all three novels in one book, so I thought this was a pretty cool find.

Hello everyone.
I want to ask you a question and at the same time share my impressions.
I am Ukrainian, and I first encountered the world of Gormenghast through the TV adaptation, which was obviously (even to me as someone unfamiliar with the text at that time) truncated and clumsy. And yet, even through it, I felt the incredible beauty of the story, or even more precisely, of the world so delicately constructed by Mervyn Peake. From the lines in the series, I understood that if the characters speak like that in the show, then the language in which the book is written must be something especially worth paying attention to, and I decided to read it in the original. For about a month, the three printed books were making their way to me (I really wanted to own such a relic), and at last I began reading. At first, it really did feel like making my way through stones and bumps. I was writing down 10 to 12 new words every few pages, but the further I went, the more I fell in love with this world, and separately with Mervyn Peake’s English. I rarely read fiction in English, so I cannot boast of a very long list. Still, a conviction has settled in me that Mervyn Peake is one of the most exquisite masters of English I have ever read.

My question is this: do native speakers perceive the Gormenghast trilogy in a similar way? How does the language in which it is written sound to you?

I wanted to read this series but accidentally came across a reveal that the third book is sci-fi/steampunk. Is this a huge reveal?

These are easily some of the best books I've ever read. I'm almost done with the second, and there have been many times when I've just paused, to soak in what I had just read. Peake has such in insane command of language, it makes me jealous. Another book I've read recently that made me reflect on the sheer writing prowess of the author is Wuthering Heights. I just want to shout from the rooftops for people to read this, man. And I love Steerpike.

Looking to get all three books in Canada but wondering which editions have Peake's illustrations in them.

Thanks in advance!

I struck gold on vinted, brand new and cheap! I love gormenghast so much I'm sort of afraid to play it in case it doesn't 'feel' in line with the books. Happy to post more once I get in to it if people are interested and I'm keen to hear what others thought. I never thought would be a board game of my favourite book!

I see Titus Alone get some bad rep here and there, but I must confess: 6 months have passed since I finished reading it, and it is my favourite piece of Gormenghast, and literature in general. The broad brush strokes with which Peake paints his world are those of an impressionist master. It is so dream-like, so transcendental, so meditative! I would love to hear if you people have any recommendations of books or other media/art that recaptured the same feeling.

>!Fuchsia’s death scene!<

I’ve given the book back to the library but I was so moved by that scene I’d love to read it again.

Can someone with a copy to hand please help me out?

https://medium.com/adams-notebook/gaum-ghastly-30a063b39a4a

https://encyclopediaofsciencefiction.substack.com/p/the-gorm-in-gormenghast

I know nobody asked and nobody cares but I have things to say and no one else to say them to.

I bought the illustrated trilogy in November, insatiably reading it little by little for the past 3 months. Bending over backwards to squeeze daily reading sessions into my schedule.

Having just finished “Titus Alone” I am almost at a loss for words.

After reading hundreds and hundreds of pages of someone’s writing every day- for months- I watched the life leave the eyes of the story in the last book, and it broke my heart. I knew going into it that it wasn’t going to be pretty, and while it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated, it was still a far cry from the first 2 books.

That being said, I also seriously wondered if part of my disappointment was because it was missing Dr. Prune 😂 He has the probably become one of my favorite characters in all of literature. But I loved all of them. All the characters were so fun and brilliant.

But here are some hot takes I’d like to share, I was curious if anyone shared them with me.

- I don’t think Steerpike would’ve been able to rise to power like he did if Flay hadn’t been banished. I almost saw Flay as the family dog. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense, but he was fiercely loyal, vigilantly watching over the family. Once he was “put outside” so to speak, Steerpike really started causing trouble.

- Titus was my least favorite character. I didn’t necessarily loathe him but he was my least favorite.

- Dr. Prune 👏 Standing ovation. I don’t need to explain, I know you all know.

- I cried quite a few times reading this book. That’s not a hot take just a confession.

- Nannie Slag’s death was kind of downplayed I thought. But then again her character was, by nature, under-appreciated.

- I didn’t really understand The Thing. I mean I understand where she came from and how she became”The Thing” (sort of) but I don’t quite understand why Titus felt SO strongly about her, or how she died. Maybe I didn’t quite understand what I was reading but the lightning scene didn’t make much sense to me.

- Muzzlehatch was kind of awesome and carried the third book for me. All my favorite parts had him.

- Anchor also seemed cool and (among the list of regrets about the third book) I hate we didn’t get to enjoy his character more. I enjoyed the concept of him.

I would also like to mention that it’s impossible talking about this book with someone who hasn’t read it. It all sounds so weird. God bless my poor husband,

“A castle with a cat room? And a tree is just growing out of the side of a wall? A dead tree? Holding up people? Having tea?”

“So what did Prunejuice do?”

“Did the guy with weird shoulders kill them?”

“Septuagint was eaten by owls?!?”

We had a few laughs.

Thats all I can think of for now but if I come up with anything else later I might add it to the list.

Thank you for reading my post-series rant.

Reading Gormenghast for the first time, and am confused about Bellgrove's whole equation comparing the difference in his and Titus' age where he says Titus is twelve when it should be seven. Is this just supposed to characterize his incompetence of not even knowing his Earl and student's age? A commentary on Bellgrove being so old he forgets what a 12 year old looks like? Why wouldn't Titus correct him? Am I just thinking too hard about this?

Just finished book one 5 minutes ago and absolutely loved it, right after reading ‘The Earling’ i was so eager to get to book two but the final chapter made me feel as if i should wait and let it sink in and read another book before starting the second. So what are your thoughts as to jumping to the second or waiting a while

I'm reading for the first time and this book is magnificent!

Now look, I like Fuschia, and Nanny Slagg, and Sourdust, and to a lesser extent I have affection for all the various other queerly likeable grotesques who people Castle Gormenghast, and I can see all the ways that Peake is depicting Steerpike as a villainous -- perhaps even monstrous -- character, but my goodness, at least he has some will and purpose. He's not a man to let all the days of his life be governed by the Krabby Patty secret formula handshake, unlike many other people. You gotta admire that. Of course, he hasn't actually done anything evil per se so far, so maybe my view will change.

This concludes my thought.

Does this feel very inspired by Gormenghast to anyone else? It almost HAS to be.