Saturday, March 24, 2012

Gormanghast - Mervyn Peake

Started: 28 Jan 2012
Finished: 26 Feb 2012


This book continues the story of Gormenghast and the youth of Titus Groan, Earl of Gormenghast and the centre of the age-old rituals that drive the daily lives of the inhabitants of this realm.

This book deals much more with Titus as he grows in maturity through childhood and adolescence and in the decline of Steerpike, who featured heavily in the first part of the trilogy.

There are many twists and turns in this story.  The epic scale of the Gormanghast kingdom is emphasised, together with the slavish devotion to rituals, many of which have lost their original significance and/or utility, but are nevertheless re-enacted according to the complex schedules laid down in the library of ritual.

The principal driver of the plot is rebellion:  Steerpike plotting a personal rebellion against his peers and his overlords in his quest for ever more power.  Titus is also rebelling, in his case against the duty that he is required to follow as he is the central figure around which all of the ceremonies are performed.  It is these rebellions that cause disruption in the daily lives of the citizens of a society that cannot countenance or even conceive of anyone that does not consider the structure of Gormenghast to be integral to their being.

Once again Mervyn Peake treats us to a narrative that delivers sweeping descriptions of a vast, but ultimately crumbling kingdom.  The characters are as extreme as in the first novel, but with the unfolding of the story, the individuals also develop and I felt more involved with them.  Overall I thought this was a worthy continuation of the tale.

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