Long term thinking
A family gathering for the christening of the heir to the Gormenghast title, Titus, appears to be the first time...
From happiness to revolt
An intriguing view of happiness which would surely resonate with totalitarian regimes and dictatorial mindsets.
In this case and on...
Blank as a wall, wall as a blank
The identical twins Ladies Cora and Clarice aren't just lookalikes, but also one another's echo chambers. They live in their...
Call him Titus
Baby Titus, born into a crumbling, rambling pile of stone, with parents of a warmth and tenderness approximately equivalent to...
Rain like remorse
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast has a lot of weather, giving an overwhelming impression of dismal, dank, damp, darkness of cloud, storm...
As though unweaned
The birth of the 77th Earl of Gormenghast, innocent Titus Groan, gives celebratory license to the scullions and other assorted...
A milliner’s invention
Again, the charming Swelter, whose every move is offensive to one sense or another. See, for example, the sound of...
Sucking at stones
Swelter is one of the less attractive characters in Mervyn Peake's sprawling, crawling, mossy pile of forgotten granite, Gormenghast. He...
Ever-narrowing gyres
Swelter, the button-popping portly chef and Flay, the all purpose butler, valet and loyal servant of the Earl of Gormenghast,...
Reasoning in vain
A convincing form of fruitlessness, as it's hard to imagine a pious vulture. The sister in question is an awkward...
Like a wound…
A stunningly original depiction of the pink streaks of dawn resembling a sky-wound.
'... as the dawn...
Collective contentment
Among the most cherished beings in Mervyn Peake's sprawling, imaginative Gormenghast, are the teeming masses of white cats belonging to...
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