Books: Titus Groan

[tiredstars]

I find it hard to believe that I last read Titus Groan when I was thirteen or fourteen. I always meant to re-read it, but never did. (My parents' copy of Titus Groan went missing, which didn't help.) So while I'd say it's a favourite and important book to me, it was half my life ago that I read it

Comments

[dissident_hope]

SUCH a good book. In my top 5 of all time. Now that you mention Ballard I want to have another go at reading Empire of the Sun (I've loved the film since I was young, but never got far into the book - probably because of the dream-like quality to the prose that you mention). You have a good point about the memorable Gormenghast events, the ones I can think of all seem to come from the 1st book, other than build-up to the showdown against Steerpike, when the entire fortress floods. Titus Alone is the hardest book to remember because it's very wishy-washy & more surreal than the others, filled with bizarre tales of travel (I think Peake's health was declining when he wrote it). I saw in a bookshop recently that his daughter(?) has written a follow up book to the Gormenghast trilogy.

[tiredstars]

I have a copy of Crash (which I read a couple of chapters of) and a collection of Ballard's short stories (which I've read most of).

Hannah mentioned the flood in Gormenghast, but it didn't ring any bells.

I'm a little tempted to go back to the BBC series now and see what I think. First time round I watched a bit and thought "this is probably about as good as they could have made it, without getting in an exceptional director (eg. Gilliam, Del Toro), but it's just not adding anything for me."

I remember someone with a flying machine in Titus Alone. And I remember that at the end he returns to Gormenghast. It's definitely the odd-one-out of the Gormenghast trilogy, which is unsurprising since it leaves Gormenghast. I thought I'd heard that it was not entirely finished.

My dad told me the other week that there was another book out, but I don't know anything about it. I wonder whether the setting is played out or whether there are more interesting things that can be done with it.

[dissident_hope]

I've just bought the BBC series on DVD, so you can borrow it sometime.

It's better than I remember, although I still think the first bit of Episode 1 is maybe a little shaky, like the actors are trying a little too hard to be obtuse/quirky/odd. I think the series gets steadily better as it goes on, though the occassional CGI backdrops of the land outside Gormenghast are a bit lo-fi.

It is more shadowy & dark in places than I remember, close to how the books are, although it mostly looks more pre-Raphaelite than gothic. The Stone Lanes where Flay catches Steerpike after he has just escaped from the kitchens are particularly well-lit, unlike in the book where complete darkness lies between the torches burning at widely space intervals along the Lanes. The acting is very good throughout.

[tiredstars]

I have it on DVD myself, actually. Was given it for christmas or birthday a couple of years ago.