Gormenghast

I was determined to like Titus Awakes when I bought it but, and it’s painful to say this, I was disappointed. The background to this novel is that Mervyn Peake is descriptive literature’s version of God, the best gothic writer of all time. He doesn’t get compared to other authors…

Peake’s inspiration is there, but not where everyone’s been looking. English-speaking novelists brought up in the Far East have often made the Orient a central theme of their output, while even those making only brief visits can rarely avoid producing at least one book with an Eastern setting. …