Titus Groan
Titus Groan
by Mervyn Peake
Publisher Eyre & Pottiswoode
Genre: General Fiction and Rare & Collectible
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'Gormenghast is, to my mind and to my taste, a perfect creation' Neil Gaiman
Welcome to the world of Gormenghast, the classic fantasy series from the imagination of Mervyn Peake
As the first novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born: he stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that stand for Gormenghast Castle.
Inside, all events are predetermined by a complex ritual, lost in history, understood only by Sourdust, Lord of the Library.
There are tears and strange laughter; fierce births and deaths beneath umbrageous ceilings; dreams and violence and disenchantment contained within a labyrinth of stone.
'A gorgeous volcanic eruption... A work of extraordinary imagination' New Yorker
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About the Author
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English modernist writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books, though the Titus books would be more accurate: the three works that exist were the beginning of what Peake conceived as a lengthy cycle, following his protagonist Titus Groan from cradle to grave, but Peake's untimely death prevented completion of the cycle, which is now commonly but erroneously referred to as a trilogy. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J.R.R. Tolkien, but his surreal fiction was influenced by his early love for Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson rather than Tolkien's studies of mythology and philology.
Peake also wrote poetry and literary nonsense in verse form, short stories for adults and children ("Letters from a Lost Uncle"), stage and radio plays, andMr Pye, a relatively tightly-structured novel in which God implicitly mocks the evangelical pretensions and cosy world-view of the eponymous hero.
Peake first made his reputation as a painter and illustrator during the 1930s and 1940s, when he lived in London, and he was commissioned to produce portraits of well-known people. A collection of these drawings is still in the possession of his family. Although he gained little popular success in his lifetime, his work was highly respected by his peers, and his friends included Dylan Thomas and Graham Greene. His works are now included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and the Imperial War Museum.
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Professionally Packed
All of our books that have a dust wrapper are covered in clear protective, removable film and are packed professionally in bubble wrap and a box for shipping so that they reach you in perfect condition.
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Book Condition & Notes
Very good first edition in a very good unclipped dust-jacket. Foxing and yellowing to the pages and page block, with some discolouration to the dust-jacket. Some wear to the hardcover with small scuffs, and minor dents to the edges. This book is located in our Brighton store, and may take longer for delivery.
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