Some years ago when I was touring with a
show to Melbourne, my friend Eugene Gilfedder and I were browsing in a
second-hand-bookstore when he pointed out a book Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake and asked if I had ever read it. I said I hadn’t and he
urged me to. The first book of the series was not there though so I didn’t buy
it that day. When later I moved to Melbourne to live, I went to the same
bookstore and bought the trilogy. And I’m glad I did. Thanks Eugene!
The current big buzz in fantasy is ‘Game of
Thrones’ which also tells the story of old families. But whereas the Seven
Kingdoms is a country in flux, to say the least, Gormenghast is a massive
castle where the Groans and the people that serve them have lived in a manner
unchanged for countless centuries. The protagonist, Titus Groan, is born to be
the 77th Earl of Groan, and live his life exactly as his ancestors
did, dictated by rituals and tradition, the purpose of which have been lost in
time. Outside the castle, a small
town surrounds the walls and beyond that, is forest. The world Peake
creates is astonishing – gothic, baroque, fantastic without magic or dragons,
and the characters are as vivid and memorable as any Dickens came up with. The
language is rich and dense, like a thick woolen tapestry of exquisite design.
In the first book, Titus Groan, we follow the inhabitants of Gormenghast from the
moment of Titus’ birth through to his ceremonial naming as heir seven months
later. The creepy spine though this story is Steerpike, a young man working in
the kitchen who connives and murders his way towards power and freedom.
The second book Gormenghast follows Titus from age seven to seventeen, and
culminates in confrontation with Steerpike. Both are young men suffering under
and fighting the weight of meaningless tradition. But Steerpike’s methods are
underhand and violent, whereas Titus simply, at the end, walks out.
Which takes us into the third novel, Titus alone. This is often considered
the least of the trilogy and I have to agree. Where we might have thought we
were in a medieval castle somewhere, it turns out the world is much more
modern. Outside Gormenghast is a steampunk world of cities and cars. Titus’
adventures here are episodic, and while the characters he meets are still
memorable, the book never achieves the solid world of its predecessors. Peake
himself was already suffering from the neurological diseases that would kill
him in his fifties, so perhaps that affected his writing, or perhaps he was
striking out in a new direction. The book it seems was never quite finished by
Peake though, and that’s how it feels. Indeed, when the BBC made the television series in 2000, they only used the first two books.
Part of the problem is Titus himself. In
Gormenghast he is surrounded by richly eccentric characters. Just their names
gives you something of their flavour; his father Sepulchrave, his sister Fuchsia,
the minister Flay, the cook Swelter, Dr Prunesquallor, Nanny Slag and Sourdust,
the Master of Ritual, and on and on. Titus himself is something of a cypher,
which works in the first two books but leaves him exposed in the third. Peake had intended two more novels in the
sequence, Titus Awakes and Gormenghast revisited as their working
titles. But early death, as I say, prevented that. So we are left with two excellent
novels and third which though flawed is certainly worth your time in reading.
His widow, Maeve Gilmour, an artist in her
own right, found some of Peake’s notes for his fourth planned novel, along with
a few fragments of the opening chapter. From this, she wrote fourth Gormenghast
novel, which continued Titus’ adventures in the outside world. Whether she ever
intended this to be published, or whether she did it as a means of keeping a
connection with her dead husband, we don’t know. But her granddaughter found
the manuscript in the proverbial attic, and it was published in 2011 under Peake’s
original title, Titus Awakes.
Sadly it’s not very good. Titus moves
through this story without purpose, consciously letting himself drift where the
tides of life take him. He doesn’t ever seem to be in that much danger, and
never really in a situation where he cannot extricate himself without too much
trouble. You can’t feel too much for this character or what happens to him.
The ending however is quite moving. Titus meets
a man three times, in a hospice, in a monastery and finally on an island with
his family. The man is clearly an artist and each time Titus meets him, he
feels a deep connection with him. And each time, the man is healthier and
happier than before. Clearly, even without knowing too much about him, this is
Gilmour’s portrayal of her husband, his journey in reverse order to the one
that led from Peake’s house on the island of Sark to the hospital where he
died. In the end, Titus stays with the artist and his family on their island
home. Whether Peake ever would have had Titus come home to Gormenghast, Gilmour
did bring him home to his creator.
As a novel, it’s negligible. As an act of
catharsis or connection for a grieving widow, it acquires an odd power. I’m
glad I read it.
