Titus Groan
Ratings62
Average rating3.5
DNFed, kept waiting and waiting for a plot and fantastical elements, but I guess this is just very, very low fantasy.
I actually really enjoyed this, but the density of description made me move through this at a slow pace, and then I had to return it to the library. I'd like to read it again now that I better understand what to expect from it.
This book was a chore. I kept at it, hoping it would at some point offer up something more respectful of the time endorsement it required, but nothing came. Every character says every line of dialogue twice, for some reason. Perhaps two or three things happened in total. Maybe this is the kind of book that may have been right to be written, but not so much one to be read.
That's a very scathing paragraph, so here are some things I liked: I enjoyed how specific the descriptions were of the characters. I enjoyed the characters' eccentricities. I also liked Saul Reichlin's narration.
I will say one more thing. Having finished both Titus Groan and The Bible, I'm pretty sure I could finish any book now.
Deep and beautiful descriptions along with very lyrical prose and extremely interesting characters. The pace is somewhat slow but this is an awesome read overall.
Personal rating: 4.115/5
Очень необычная книга, очень тягучее неспешное повествование. Чтение ее подобно рассматриванию картины Брейгеля или собиранию пазла элементов так на 1000. Кажется что на описание события уходит чуть ли не вдвое больше времени, чем на само событие. Не знаю, почему в описаниях часто упоминается жанр фэнтези. От фэнтези здесь только разве некоторые декорации. Это скорее готичное что-то, особенно ближе к концу.
Wow, this was such an atmospheric read. The writing is so descriptive I can imagine all the characters and the castle clearly.
The Character and the setting is just... weird. These people are all eccentric and somehow facinating.
Overall it reminds me of a Tim Burton Movie.
“Tito di Gormenghast” è un romanzo che incanta i lettori con la sua maestosa e oscura atmosfera gotica, immergendoli in un mondo ricco di dettagli e misteri. Scritto dal talentuoso autore Mervyn Peake, questo è il primo capitolo della trilogia di Gormenghast che stupisce e cattura l'immaginazione dei lettori con la sua prosa magnificamente evocativa.
La storia ci riporta all'interno delle maestose mura del castello di Gormenghast, un luogo intriso di rituali secolari e di una rigidità sociale implacabile. In questo contesto, il giovane erede al trono, Tito, si trova ad affrontare il suo destino in un mondo che sembra più interessato a perpetuare le tradizioni che a riconoscere la sua individualità. La sua lotta per scoprire la sua vera identità e la sua ricerca di libertà interiore si intrecciano con una trama intricata e coinvolgente, tenendo i lettori incollati alle pagine fino all'ultimo capitolo.
Peake dimostra una maestria straordinaria nell'evocare l'atmosfera gotica e nel dipingere personaggi complessi e affascinanti. Le descrizioni dettagliate del castello, con le sue stanze labirintiche e le sue torri maestose, danno vita a un mondo vivido e surreale. I personaggi, a loro volta, sono dipinti con un realismo affascinante, ognuno con le proprie peculiarità, desideri e conflitti interiori. L'abilità dell'autore nel creare questo intricato mosaico di personalità rende la storia ancora più coinvolgente e appassionante.
Ma ciò che rende “Tito di Gormenghast” davvero straordinario è la profondità dei temi trattati. Peake esplora il conflitto tra il desiderio di libertà individuale e la tirannia delle tradizioni, il senso di appartenenza e la ribellione contro i vincoli imposti dalla società. Il tutto è affrontato con una sensibilità e una comprensione che catturano il cuore del lettore, facendolo riflettere sulla sua stessa esistenza e sulle dinamiche del potere e dell'identità.
In conclusione, “Tito di Gormenghast” è un capolavoro gotico che affascina e incanta. La sua prosa evocativa, i personaggi vividi e complessi e la profondità dei temi trattati lo rendono un libro imprescindibile per gli amanti della narrativa gotica e per chiunque sia alla ricerca di una lettura coinvolgente e stimolante. Mervyn Peake ha creato un mondo indimenticabile, in cui i lettori possono immergersi e perdersi con piacere.
Mi sento di consigliare questo libro a chi ha voglia di avventurarsi in un mondo affascinante dalle atmosfere gotiche, con personaggi fuori dal comune; dunque se siete in un periodo in cui tutte le letture vi sembrano uguali, questo è il libro giusto per voi.
Ah, heerlijk. Een boek dat gemaakt is om te beluisteren, en om van te genieten. Jawel: audioboek! Er zijn mensen die er absoluut niet van moeten weten, maar dat zijn mensen die verkeerd zijn. Wij zijn gemaakt om verhalen te vertellen aan mekaar, en er is iets visceraal anders aan een voorgelezen verhaal, dat er niet is als je het zelf leest.
Als ik zelf lees, dan is dat tegen wil en dank aan tweehonderd per uur, kan ik bijna niet stil staan, wil ik altijd vooruit, verder, het vervolg weten. Voorgelezen is dat niet mogelijk. Is het de auteur die beslist, niet ik. En voor sommige verhalen is dat meer dan de moeite waard: Gormenghast is er één van, en Simon Vance zet het kasteel en zijn bewoners magistraal neer. Meer nog: Gormenghast is beter als het door Simon Vance voorgelezen wordt dan als ik het zelf lees.
Mervyn Peake is de anti-Tolkien: geen draken, geen magie, geen kaart die landmark voor landmark afgegaan wordt, en jawel, geschreven in 1946 maar niéts clichématigs. Het is de reis die belangrijk is, niet de bestemming. Euh, niet dat er een reis of een bestemming is in Titus Groan, wegens iedereen blijft in de buurt van het kasteel, maar toch.
Sepulchrave is de 76ste graaf van Groan. Hij heeft zich er al jaren bij neergelegd dat hij van zijn geboorte tot zijn dood geleefd zal worden, met een ritueel voor bijna elk uur van elke dag van het jaar en met precedenten voor al wat er ooit zou kunnen gebeuren. Zijn vrouw, Gertrude, heeft schijnbaar alleen oog voor haar legioen witte katten, en voor de dozijnen vogels die ze voortdurend rond haar heeft. Hij heeft een dochter van 15, Fuchsia, die zowat alleen in haar eigen wereld leeft en nog het meest contact heeft met de quasi-demente Nannie Slagg, al generaties lang kinderverzorgster. Dan zijn er nog de twee zussen van Sepulchrave, de tweeling Cora en Clarice: jaloers op Getrude en de wereld, willen de macht veroveren zonder eigenlijk goed te begrijpen wat ‘macht' is, en en zonder eigenlijk om het even wat goed te begrijpen.
Het kasteel van Gormenghast is een microcosmos waar jaar na jaar quasi niets verandert. En dan, om het met de krantenkoppen van de laatste jaren te zeggen, gebeurt dit.
In de gigantische keukens van het kasteel, waar de al even gigantische Swelter de plak zwaait, is de zeventienjarige Steerpike het zodanig beu dat hij ontsnapt. Op de dag dat Titus geboren wordt, de zoon van Sepulchrave en Getrude, en dus de toekomstige 77ste graaf.
Steerpike werkt zich in het leven van Fuchsia en van de tweeling, en wordt de helper van Dr. Prunesquallor, de dokter van het kasteel.
Verandering! In een wereld die niet kan omgaan met verandering!
Ik vind dit een heerlijk boek. Fantastisch. Wondermooi van taal, hilarisch grappig en diep ontroerend bij momenten, verschrikkelijk spannend ook. Oh, en ik heb het niet eens gehad over mijn favoriete personage: Flay, waarschijnlijk de meest onveranderlijke van alle onveranderlijke mensen in het kasteel (denk Christopher Lee op zijn droogst), die pas begint te leven als hij noodgedwongen moet veranderen. Meesterwerk.
(Fair warning: er zijn mensen die zot zijn van Gormenghast, en dan zijn er mensen die Gormenghast haten. Ik denk niet dat er veel mensen zijn die ergens tussenin zweven, zo van “mwofja, niet slecht maar ook niet goed”.)
Finally, after some 20 years, I managed to re-read it, and this time I liked it. I don't know why...
I mean, I don't know why I found it so horrible 20 years ago. Yes, it is slow, it's cruel, it's incomprehensible, but the story is so... fascinating.
This was a deeply descriptive book that took me into a world with fascinating characters who have their own idiosyncrasies. I look forward to reading what happens next to Titus in Gormenghast.
I just completed this for the second time and enjoyed it more than I did the first time around. This is the first of a trilogy, although it was never meant to be a trilogy, just that Mervyn Peake died too soon.
The imagery that this novel conjures up is simply wonderful. The descriptive writing is some of the best I have read and Peake's use of the English language is a joy to behold.
The story is about the 77th Earl of Groan, Lord Titus. He is born in Gormenghast, a place of strange rituals whose origins seem to have been forgotten, but which are rigorously adhered to nonetheless.
The calculating and devious Steerpike manages to escape from the kitchens and the abhorrent chef, Swelter and beings manipulating the characters of Gormenghast for his own personal gain. He throws the castle into turmoil with his antics and therein lies the tale.
I ‘read' the audiobook, downloaded from Audible, and it was very well read indeed. I highly recommend this book.
I've been (re-)reading Mervyn Peake, [a:Jack Vance 5376 Jack Vance http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207604643p2/5376.jpg], and [a:Robert Silverberg 4338 Robert Silverberg http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1366300348p2/4338.jpg], all at the same time. I was surprised by the similarity between Vance and Silverberg, but more on that (and Silverberg and Peake, for that matter) in my eventual review of [b:Lord Valentine's Castle 252838 Lord Valentine's Castle (Majipoor, #1) Robert Silverberg http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173157310s/252838.jpg 245141]. I expected some similarity between Vance and Peake, who both leave the impression of dense, intricate language to which the plot is subsidiary. That's true, but there are substantial differences. With Vance, it's all about the language itself, the way he uses words - you're left with a sense that the text itself was beautifully, artfully arranged. With Peake, it's more about the images - striking descriptions that stay with you for a very long time - for example, of one of the Mud Dwellers standing “in a pool of his own midnight”.I can't remember when I first encountered Peake, or how. Sometime after reading the [b:The Castle of Otranto 12923 The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166512753s/12923.jpg 46432], 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 stangation, two wild cards enter the scene - Titus the baby, and Steerpike, a kitchen boy carefully, slyly, jumping himself up from one status to another.At first, though, it's the setting itself that captures your attention. Peake starts in Gormenghast's Hall of Bright Carvings, a neglected chamber on an upper level of the castle. It's an image that has stayed with me since I first read the book (and one that the good BBC series gets sadly wrong). Floor thick with dust, caretaker sleeping in a hammock at the end, single window shuttered, the hall collects the painted wooden figures that are the culmination of the lives of the Bright Carvers, one of the few intersections between castle dwellers and those outside. We soon leave the Hall, but as we follow Steerpike on his early escapades, we get a sense of just how vast the castle is. Peake isn't terribly clear on the layout (though there are north, south, east, and west wings), but the point is really that the castle is vast, and essentially flows from horizon to horizon in complex waves of rooftops, walls, and towers. The ruinous Tower of Flints stands above it all, inhabited only by owls. The place is so large, with so many secrets, that there are literally lakes and plains, birds and horses, all within or upon the castle. There's some of everything in the castle, and it's all in disrepair.Titus disrupts this unintentionally, providing a focus for the human stories of the queer characters that inhabit the story - his teen sister Fuchsia, Nanny Slag, Keda the wetnurse, Doctor Prunesquallor and his sister Irma, Steerpike, the Earl and his wife, the Earl's two sisters, the servants Flay and Swelter, and a few others. They're all memorable, exaggerated creatures. Steerpike is a Machiavellian schemer and rebel. Flay is taciturn but devoted to his troubled master the Earl. Swelter is a massive, clever presence ruling the kitchens. While the focus is on Steerpike, a substantial, tense sub-plot is devoted to a feud between Flay and Swelter.The few notes of relative reality are provide by Fuchsia, a scatterbrained, dreaming girl, and Keda, Titus' wetnurse. Keda, the widow of a Bright Carver, is one of the few links between outside (where the Carvers, in mud huts against the castle wall, live only to carve) and inside (where few think about the Carvers at all). Both live lives of strict, unbending ritual. Attempts to break free of its strictures end badly.Imagery and tradition taken together leave an indelible impression of Gormenghast's vast, crumbling, reaches and static but faltering society. It's a great book, and I strongly recommend it.