What I’m Reading

I did it!! I finished ‘The Gormenghast Trilogy’! Hurrah!

Now, if you’ve never heard of this series (like me), my immense sense of joy and relief will probably mean nothing to you. However, if you have heard of them, you will probably be sighing right along with me, and for that, I thank you.

Sitting somewhere on the fantasy spectrum (although unusually so, as these novels feature no magic, no fantastical creatures), Mervyn Peake has created a world unlike any other inhabited by humans. It’s as though he’s combined an ancient world with a futuristic one; the man’s imagination was certainly a wild one, with more than a touch of madness thrown in for good measure.

‘Titus Groan’
Young Titus, the long-awaited seventy-seventh Earl of Groan, is born into a family controlled by a long tradition of rituals and customs. From the moment he arrives, every action is governed by a pre-determined set of rules; rules which Titus very quickly desires to flout. From the very start, it’s apparent that the characters – the inhabitants of Gormenghast Castle – are a quirky, crazy bunch. Sepulchrave, the seventy-sixth Earl, is obsessed with his library of books, and descends into madness following a fire which destroys every volume. His wife, Gertrude, is surrounded by swarms of white cats and birds, and appears to love them more than her own children. Titus’ sister, Fuschia, is a moody young girl who comes to love her brother as they bond over the madness of their family. Flay, attendant to Sepulchrave, is consumed by his love for the Groans and Gormenghast, and his fatal hatred of the fat cook, Swelter. Steerpike is the young kitchen apprentice with evil designs on the running of the castle; his mastery of Sepulchrave’s gullible twin sisters leads to their ultimate destruction.

‘Gormenghast’
The second book follows Titus as he grows from a boy of seven to a young man of seventeen. From an early age he dreads the pre-ordained ritual that governs every aspect of castle life. His desire for freedom is all-consuming, and he makes various attempts to escape the castle; however, he always returns to his sister, with whom he has developed a strong and loving bond. When Steerpike is eventually unmasked as traitor and murderer, a timely flooding of the castle leads to his death at the hands of Titus. The death of the novel’s main protagonist means Titus is free to reign over the castle, but his desire to leave is so strong that the end of the novel sees him determined to leave.

‘Titus Alone’
The final in the series, this novel was completed and edited after Peake’s death, but if you didn’t know this, you wouldn’t be any the wiser – the editor has captured Peake’s imaginative style (and therefore the main characters’ madness) perfectly. It follows Titus’ abdication from his family home and his role as Earl of Groan. He flees from Gormenghast and finds himself in a foreign land where no one has heard of Gormenghast, or can tell him how to get back there. Through meetings with another bunch of insane characters and unlikely situations, Titus begins to doubt his own history and questions his own sanity; his seeming descent into madness mirroring that of his own father. The overriding impression is that Gormenghast is lost in the past, among traditions and rituals the origins of which have been long-forgotten; the contrast with the advanced city in which he finds himself alludes to this.

Did I enjoy the trilogy? I’m not sure.

Am I quietly stoked that I made it through? Most definitely.

Would I recommend you read them? Um…doubtful.

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I’m currently lost amongst the pages of an amazing memoir: ‘Bloom’, by Kelle Hampton. This book follows Kelle through the birth of her second daughter, Nella, and their first year dealing with Nella’s Down syndrome. I’m finding it impossible to set this aside, and have been thankful for a few moments where Pickle will only sleep on me, forcing me to stay on the couch with babe in one arm, this book in the other. It is beautifully and honestly written, and I’ve been moved to tears countless times. You can get a taste of the book by reading the story of Nella’s birth on Kelle’s blog, Enjoying the Small Things.

(I won my copy in a giveaway of Meghan‘s; she wrote a little review which says it all)

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