The Gormenghast trilogy

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By Mervyn Peake
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The scale to Peake's impact was obvious to me even before I read the first page, for on the back of the book, the blurb was written by none other than Anthony Burgess! The idea that this book was praised by the author of a 'A Clockwork Orange', whilst most other fantasy novels are talked up by non-entities from various news papers did not fail to impress me. Anything recommended by Burgess had to be worth reading and it was!
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Here is a book (for my trilogy is in a single volume) so satisfying to read, so dense with words and so rich with mental illumination, that I was obliged to slow down my reading and savour each sentence as though it were a mouthful, consumed over the course of a vast and splendid banquet. Here is indeed a seminal work of imaginative literature if ever I came across one! Almost every other page revealed a chain of connections to other, modern and contemporary works of fiction which have subsequerntly dilluted Gormenghast and reworked it. Not least amongst these are French film makers Caro and Jeunet whose collaborations seem to have rested upon a foundation of characters and idea's lifted straight out of Peake's novels. Other authors are even more blatently inspired by Peake, the most obvious being China Mieville.
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That Caro and Jeunet have been inspired by Peake is pretty obvious once one compares the characters from their films 'Delicatessen' and 'La cité des enfants perdus' and I wonder at how many other films and books have borrowed from Peake. I also wonder at where Peake got his inspiration. There was a distinct Victorian/Doréan atmosphere to be found and time and again I found myself reminded of various old illustrations I'd seen by such personal favourites as Dulac, Heath Robinson and Rackham (see below image). Even old Bosch seemed to be lurking in the background!
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Of the three books, the first two were by far the stronger. They were without remorse and dove deep into their own universe. By comparison the third, written by Peake whilst he was seriously ill and deeply affected by the experience of witnessing Belsen as a war artist, was harder to read, appearing almost disjointed to me, more demanding whilst not giving as much in return. Had I not read the first two, I doubt I would have appreciated the third, though its highly doubtful I would have read it in reverse order....
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The first two were utterly seductive. Almost erotic in their prose and certainly sensual in the depths of their descriptions. I found myself drawn to the characters almost as though I were caressing their hair, fondling their clothing and exploring the textures of their minds. Its been a long while since any book affected me at that level of my imagination and the sensation was so pleasant that I lingered over many a paragraph or sentence, repeating the words to myself simply for the treasure of their flavour. By the time I reached the character of Juno, I was leering at the pages in anticipation as though I were the one upon she had turned her charms.
I wish I could write with even a fraction of the descriptive wealth Peake had, but it would be impossible for me to turn so neat phrase or invent so telling a description as I was met, page after page in the dark corridors of Gormenghast.
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Book One: Titus Groan.
5/5

Book Two: Gormenghast.
5/5

Book Three: Titus Alone.
4/5


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Of course the Brits have attempted to bring this treasure of their language to life. Who else makes such good TV as the British do? No one as far as I am aware. They may not have the resources to reign on the big screen, but they are unsurpassed on the smaller screen. Naturally, Gormenghast has been adapted and made into a series of four short TV films spanning as far as I can make out the first two books. So far I've only watched the first two of these, but I can see already that these works are but a pale reflection of the books, bravely disguised with garish colours and some excellent acting, but lacking nonetheless.
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The BBC adaptation:
5/5