While in the army in 1940, bored by petty discipline and frustrated by the monotony of daily life, Mervyn Peake started writing Titus Groan, the first of the three novels which would come to be known as the Gormenghast Trilogy. Peake often wrote in blank books called "publisher's dummies," and he filled the pages of his manuscripts with sketches and drawings of the characters and scenes of his story. Each chapter was sent home to his wife, artist Maeve Gilmore, to read and safeguard.
Titus Groan
Is the first book of the trilogy. Titus himself is the son and heir of Lord Sepulchrave and, in principle, the trilogy is his story. It is significant that the trilogy takes its name from the castle, rather than from the boy, and that the book that is named for him ends when he is two years old. Gormenghast overshadows Titus. The castle is by far the most important 'character'. It's impossibly large, and impossibly old, a self-contained universe. (We learn at the start of this book that outside of the castle grounds are a cluster of primitive dwellings. It isn't until book three that we find out that there's a larger outside world.)
Gormenghast
The second book of the trilogy, begins five years later, and covers the period of Titus's youth. Steerpike rises in position and power, continuing to leave a trail of death and destruction behind him, coming nearer to taking control of the Gormenghast juggernaut. In one respect, he fails. His personal ambition is not realized. His destructive impulse, however, succeeds in an unanticipated way: By the end of the second book, his actions have left Titus with the awareness that there is a world beyond Gormenghast, and with the desire to see it: Titus leaves.
Titus Alone
Which follows Titus into the outside world, is disappointing. Different people will give you different explanations, the most commonly heard being that Peake was dying when he wrote it, and left it unpolished. (For what it's worth, Peake died in 1968. The 1970 edition of "Titus Alone" contains extensive posthumous corrections to the 1959 edition). "Titus Alone", as the title implies, is just about Titus. The book lacks Gormenghast by far the most interesting 'character' in the trilogy, and it lacks all the other characters who inhabited it. Except insofar as Gormenghast has shaped Titus, this book is almost unconnected to the other two.
GORMENGHAST
A BBC miniseries version of the first two books:
Directed by Andy Wilson
Produced by Estelle Daniel
Written by Malcolm McKay
Music by Richard R. Bennett and John Tavener
Screenplay by Malcolm MacKay.
Number of episodes: 4 - Length: 60 mins
April-2000 / May 2000
01.Episode 1
02.Episode 2
03.Episode 3
04.Episode 4 |
A BBC miniseries , based on the Gormenghast novels by Mervyn Peake. Mervyn Peake's output was varied; he was a poet, a novelist, a playwright, and an illustrator. All of these skills come into play in his fantasy trilogy "Gormenghast", published in 1946 ("Titus Groan"), 1950 ("Gormenghast") and 1959 ("Titus Alone"). The producers of the BBC series wisely decided to omit the third book from the film, so the series ends with Titus literally riding off into the sunset on his voyage of discovery.
Number of episodes in regular seasons: 4
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