Titus Groan and Gormenghast

Review by Eve Nicol

Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake are the first two books in the Gormenghast Trilogy. The books have no definite genre although many people describe them as classics or fantasies . The genre of a book can only decided by the reader and how they view the book. Some people might automatically take more interest on the comic side of the books and therefore see them as humorous stories. Others may prefer the slight romantic theme that runs through the books and see it as a romance. I personally see the books as a struggle of caste and loyalty.

The books follow the story of Gormenghast castle from the birth of the male heir, Titus to the death of the Castle's most sinister, yet alluring, enemy. The day Titus is born in his mother's room full of birds and white cats, a kitchen apprentice called Steerpike escapes from the ruthless domain of Swelter's kitchen and begins his rise up the social ladder of the Castle. Steerpike befriends the daughter of the Groan house, Fuchsia, which leads to a job in the household of the Castle's physician, Doctor Prunesquallor. From there, Steerpike sets his target on the aristocracy of the castle, taking many innocent lives in his wake. Only when Steerpike reaches the zenith of his career as the Castle's Secretary and Master of Ritual that people suspect that it was he who was behind the cruel murders over the past seventeen years. It is then that the Castle is submerged deep in rain water and the search for Steerpike has to be conducted on the towering turrets and roofs of Gormenghast.

My favourite character in the book has to be Steerpike. I admire his wit and sharp thinking throughout the book even though he is truly evil. Steerpike shows no compassion for anybody or anything but takes great pride in his appearance and work. I feel that he has the strongest storyline in the book and I often found myself skipping the descriptions of the surroundings each time I reread the book, just to find his scenes. The reader is put in the awful position of his accomplice, as you are present as he acts out the many murders and there is now way in which you can tell the other characters in the book and even if there was a way, you would keep the shocking truth a secret. In most books, there is the classic "he slowly drew the knife from it's sheath and crept up silently on his victim. Then the light went out and nobody was around to hear the terrible scream that melted into the night", but in the Gormenghast books, Steerpike's murders are well formed plans which you witness to the end. Steerpike always had an evil in him that no one could ever tame but when the killing of Barquentine goes seriously wrong, Steerpike is left disfigured by burns and as he lies in his sick bed in the one of the castle's towers watched over by Prunesquallor, Steerpike turns truly malicious.

"But there was a difference. His mind was acute as ever, it is true, but, unknown to himself, there was something that had been added to his temperament, or perhaps it was something that had left him."

(Gormenghast, chapter Forty-two).

Steerpike has the gift of understanding an object without appreciating it, which helps him out in many tricky situations, especially with Lady Fuchsia. Peake was able to control Steerpike very well and never let himself get carried away with him for Steerpike was a very extreme character.

There were two characters in the book who bored me easily and they were Keda, Titus' wet nurse and Titus himself. Peake devoted a considerable amount of time on Keda's storyline, writing her history and feelings with expert detail. The only reason I don't like her story was that it seems to have no relevance to the complete story. Peake had excellent ideas with Keda, in which he dwelled during "Titus Groan" but I feel as if this would be more appreciated as a separate short story like he did with Titus in "Boy In Darkness". To me, Titus was an extremely wimpish and wet character who wouldn't take what was given him. As Steerpike said during his final act of seduction towards Lady Fuchsia, "Call that a brother? He's so wrapped up in himself, he doesn't notice you." Even though I didn't like Titus, he was invaluable to the story.

"Steerpike opened his eyes and on seeing the Doctor, closed them again. In a moment or two he had decided what do do and turning his head to and fro slowly on the pillow, as though in restless sleep - 'I tried to save you,' he whispered, 'O Master, I tried to save you,' and then he moaned."

(Gormenghast ,Chapter Forty-two)

During this part of the story, Steerpike is recovering from his injuries and burns that he received from killing the Castle's Secretary, Barquentine. Steerpike had been unconscious for three days and upon wakening, he finds Doctor Prunesquallor standing near his bed. Nobody in the Castle knows where Barquentine is or why Steerpike has such severe burns and so, as if to secure is innocence, Steerpike pretends that he is talking in his sleep, proclaiming that he tried to save Barquentine before he died. Prunesquallor "wakes" him and Steerpike tells the Doctor a different version of the truth. In the middle of his story, Steerpike recounts the moment when he began to burn and is genuinely distressed about this.

"The pupils of the young man's dark eyes dilated as he recounted the partial fabrication, for Barquentine's grip upon him had been no dream, and his brow began to sweat again, and a terrible authenticity appeared to give weight to his words."

I liked this part of the story because you can see the trust Prunesquallor has in Steerpike. The Doctor doesn't question anything that Steerpike says and it is the he who suggests Steerpike for the Secretarial post. Steerpike's quick mind is obvious here for the text states that "In a moment or two he had decided what to do".

Mervyn Peake wrote Gormenghast in 1940, just before he was forced to leave his home to join the Army. You can see lots of war related issues being brought up in "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast". Many people see parallels in the rise of Steerpike and many of the dictators, and the way the strict way the Castle is run is similar to the ways of the British Armed Forces. Peake also manages to work in his Army identification number, Gunner Peake 5917577, into "Gormenghast" as an edict number. Peake was dismissed from the army 1943 because he was seen as "not contributing to the war effort", but Peake contributed a whole lot more to the world in drawings, poems, sculptures and story writing.

Everyone has their own Gormenghast Castle. Nobody's ideas are ever the same. Mine will always have the influence of the BBC television series. Gormenghast Castle has no set time or place in history, but you know that Gormenghast has always been there and will continue to be. You can place the castle anywhere you want. Some decide it's more suited to Middle Age England, when others opt for Ancient China. I can definitely see a Chinese influence to the descriptions of the Castle, not surprising as Peake was born and grew up in a tiny mountain village in China called Kuling, where is father worked as a missionary. Peake spent a considerable amount of time on the island of Sark. This experience must have meant a lot to him because in Gormenghast he writes, " You have been in the North Headstones beyond Gory and the Silver Mines. I know where you've been. You have been to the Twin Fingers where Little Sark begins and the Bluff narrows. Between the Twins would be water now" . All these name are places on Sark.

The "Gormenghast Trilogy" means a lot to me. It opened up new challenges and goals in reading that I found were easily accomplished when I concentrated on the text. The Castle and it's inhabitants inspired many of my drawings and poems and the text itself persuaded me to write my own stories about anything, which I thoroughly enjoy now. The television adaptation only made my obsession grow. So as I sit at my computer writing this, listening to the soundtrack of the TV series, wondering if I can fit in time to watch another hour of the video, waiting for a reply to the e-mail I sent to a fellow enthusiast and wandering from the chair to flick through my 1970 Penguin edition of "Gormenghast", I realise that Gormenghast might out grow me. I can grow with Gormenghast and get more and more out of the text, but there is one thing I could never do, I could never outgrow Gormenghast.