how many books in the gormenghast series

[schmintan]

i want to read the gormenghast series by Pike. i saw a book calle the gormenghast trilogy in a bookshop a while ago. does this contain the entire series or are there more than 3 books? sorry i dont have more info on the book for you

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The Gormenghast Trilogy -- yes, for all intents and purposes that would be the whole series. (As I understand it, the author was apparently contemplating another book before he died, but it never got past the earliest planning stages.)

The author is Mervyn Peake. The trilogy is long, complex, and written in very sophisticated prose.

For more information:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879516283/?tag=brite-21

 

[GOLLUM]

I want to read the gormenghast series by Pike. i saw a book calle the gormenghast trilogy in a bookshop a while ago. does this contain the entire series or are there more than 3 books? sorry i dont have more info on the book for you

Well I should probably let Brys answer this one for you but seeing that I'm around here's the bare bones of your question....

Peake had intended to write more books in the series but unfortunately died from Parkinson's disease before doing so. Therefore the so-called "trilogy" is a somewhat erroneous label as it's really 3 books in what had been intended to be a longer sereis although the first 2 books Titus Groan and Gormenghast are somewhat more strongly linked than the third Titus Alone as they focus more on Gormenghast castle whilst the 3rd book follows the central character as he leaves the confines of the castle and is generally viewed as the weaker of the 3 novels.

Now fragments or outlines exist of Titus Awakes and Gormenghast Revisited which presumabaly would have constituted the next 2 books in the series as Peake intended to chronicle the entire life of the main character. Some compilations consist of the first 3 books plus the extra fragments plus several essays on the author and his work but going on the title you've suggested I've seen those particular copies about and am fairly certain they contian just the 3 main books but you can always check that yourself.

Having said that the "trilogy" as it stands is still a masterpiece and a great example of dark fantasy with in many ways the castle being the central charater in Peake's wonderfully evocative prose. The story revolves around the various characters who inhabit the castle and does have a plot of sorts but it's not your standard fantasy fare with elves, dwarves, princesses, quests to save the world etc..

Highly recommended although having said that don't expect to come out of the story with all thread resolved or a complete undestanding of the novels etc.. Some will hate it but most people I know enjoy the books very much.

Simply put it is quite unique and therefore difficult to classify which is perhaps a good thing.

Hope this helps....

 

[GOLLUM]

HMMM...looks like Kelpie jumped in whilst I was typing my reply but hopefully our combined posts will fully answer your query....

Please let us know how you find the books...

 

[the_faery_queen]

Well, I personally found them difficult. I liked the first one, but was bored by teh second. Which is ashame, because i loved the bbc adaptation of it. It is a good story, has good ideas, but the style is difficult for me.

 

[GOLLUM]

Well, I personally found them difficult. I liked the first one, but was bored by teh second. Which is ashame, because i loved the bbc adaptation of it. It is a good story, has good ideas, but the style is difficult for me.

Well as I suggested it's fairly heavy going and not eveyone's going to "enjoy" the books if that's the correct word to use, so thank you for confirming my observations about people's mixed feelings on these novels...

It's certainly unqiue, no 2 ways about it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The style is challenging, but where the second book bogs down a bit for me is not in the style (which I love), but by bringing in some less interesting characters. It picks up again by the final scenes, with a return to the abominable Steerpike and those fascinating Groans.

 

[Jay]

Depending on what edition (of Gormenghast) you have, you may or may not have what was a novella written by Peake entitled Boy in Darkness, which was a part of anthology that also included stories by William Golding and John Wyndham, that features Titus.

 

[Brys]

Gollum's explanation is pretty much all you need to know about Gormenghast (other than it's a masterpiece).
I'm looking out for Boy in Darkness - another Gormenghast novella can only be excellent, when written by the master, Peake. I know Peake wrote some other novels as well, but I don't know anything about them.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've read Peake's Letters from a Lost Uncle. It has its moments, but mostly it's just sort of thin and rambling. "Boy in Darkness" probably would have been a better choice, but I balked at putting out so much money (plus shipping) for a novella. The irony was that Uncle turned out to be very short as well.

 

[Jay]

I bought the anthology that originaly included Boy in Darkness last year (first print) Sometimes Never, which includes William Golding's Envoy Extraordinary, Wyndham's Consider Her Ways.

Can't go wrong with 3 masters.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Unfortunately, just as my fancy turns toward Peake again, along comes Dover with their Winter Sale to take a substantial bite out of the family bank account.

 

[GOLLUM]

I'm looking out for Boy in Darkness - another Gormenghast novella can only be excellent, when written by the master, Peake. I know Peake wrote some other novels as well, but I don't know anything about them.

Well like you and it would appear most members here I don't know much about the other works by Peake other than Gormenghast. Following is a summary of his other works, although I've not read them myself it may help give you some idea of what to chase up and to expect as I know you're pretty keen on this author.

Books:

Mr Pye (1953)
Summary:With an almost messianic zeal to covert the islanders to undiluted goodness, Mr Harold Pye’s mission in landing on Sark nearly leads to his downfall in an increasingly personal struggle between good and evil. The prejudices of a close-knit society shine through every page of the story, but in this tour de force the characters, cameos and events add up to a hilarious romp.

Boy In Darkness (1956)
Summary:Man has lost his humanity . . . he survives now as the bullying man-hyena, the sycophantic man-goat, slavishly serving their terrible master, the lamb. The arrival of the young man, Titus, leads to a final conforntation with the lamb. This is the story of faith in the ultimate triumph of the human mind over the forces of adversity and oppression.

Childern's Books:

Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor (1939)
Summary:The adventurous tale of swashbuckler, Captain Slaughterboard, a wild man determined to rule the waves by force. Finding paradise at last on a tropical island, and with a lifetime of bloody encounters, mutinies and piratical subversions behind him, the captain settles down with the Yellow Creature, the only other inhabitant. In this idyll, and under the glittering sun, the two spend their days fishing from high rocks above the sea, oblivious to the outside world.

Letters From A Lost Uncle (1945)
Summary:Letters from a Lost Uncle from Polar Regions is a collection of letters written by an adventurer to his nephew in England. Originally written in 1945 the book was well-received but produced on poor quality paper. Mervyn Peake made several points to the publisher about the way it had been presented and eventually it was withdrawn.

Poetry:

Four collections of poems were published during his lifetime; Shapes & Sounds 1941, The Glassblowers 1950, Poems & Drawings 1965, and, A Reverie of Bone 1967. After his death in 1968, there were two other publications; Selected Poems - Mervyn Peake 1972 and The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb 1973.

His works are described as a mixture of subjects ranging from wartime to self-analysis with a predomniant emphasis on romantisicm and some so-called nonsense poems including his Book Of Nonsense published in 1972.

Other:

Peake is also well known for his illustrations including those on a publication of Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, Treasure Island and Brothers Grimm Fairytales.

Peake was also a fairly active artist exhibiting at both the Royal Academy of London and Cooling Galleries in addition to other locations prior to WWII in adition to benig commisioned as a War Artist during WWII of whcih a number of his works are exhibited at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Clearly a very talented individual....