There was probably an old Mervyn Peake thread, but search function says no, so here I am.

I found the Gormenghast trilogy omnibus last Saturday. Joy! I've finished the first one, starting on the 2nd. What is there to say? Wow. It seduces and overwhelms the imagination. I had fitful dreams of vast stinking wings and breadcrumbs in moonlight. Not much plot or narrative structure, but I soon made my peace with that and just let the language and description take over.

Steerpike's ruthless cunning, his sword-cane, and his affinity with poisons makes me wonder if maybe there's some of him in Lord Vetinari. And I'm fairly sure that the appearance of Count Olaf is partly based on Dr Prunesquallor. *opens up the book to Peake's illustration of Prunesquallor* See? Well of course you don't. But the glasses and the hair are the same.

ZoneSeek

Is it like this illustration?




This is on PBS' website for the TV series version of the trilogy, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/gormenghast/

- Cho

The illustrations in my book are different, but the resemblance is there. And thanks for the link! I'm going to be wandering Gormenghast in spirit for a while yet.

quote:

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[John]Sessions's love for Peake's work is so great he would probably have considered reconstructive surgery to play Prunesquallor. "I read it when I was a teenager," he recalls. "It fell into my generation's 'books you have to read' category. It is quite miraculous and utterly unique. It is like Dickens on crack.

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Hah. Oh, and I can so relate to Lord Sepulchrave. I think I'd go nuts too, if all my books were burned.

Inspired by this very thread, today I purchased and begun to read the Gormenghast trilogy.

Congratulations!

I should probably re-read it myself, if for no other reason than to decide whether I feel like passing it on to the 12-yr-old in our lives.

Wait a minute, does Count Olaf wear glasses? Maybe that was just something I saw in a movie promo.

Real greatness makes the lesser mortals seem smaller in comparison. Lemony Snicket and China Mieville are good, competent writers, but Peake is overshadowing them in my imagination.

I haven't read the last novel yet, but the first two were absolutely amazing. Mervyn Peake really influenced my writing style insofar as I realized how minimizing plot and elevating exposition can actually be quite effective.

But I like plot! That was my problem with Gravity's Rainbow, I kept thinking where is Pynchon taking me? Where is this going?

I'm told that the 3rd book is fragementary and has a "wtf?" ending, Peake got sick and died before he could really finish the book.

I wonder if I can still read King's Dark Tower after this?

He was already ill when he was writing it. Its still good, just, different. And slightly weirder.