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Tim's Reviews > Titus Alone
Titus Alone (Gormenghast, #3)
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Half way through Book Two of this I was amazed it isn't much more widely appreciated so brilliant was it. Then I read Book Three and found out why. It comes apart at the seams. After creating the fabulously gothic world of Gormenghast and a cast of compellingly oddball characters Peake abandons the brilliant world he created and all but the least interesting character and takes us into a sterile futuristic world which, imaginatively, is nowhere near as convincing as the medieval world of Gormenghast. The new characters merely seem like inferior versions of the old characters as if environment has little or no influence on character and the humour becomes ever more self-indulgent and silly. It felt like he disappeared too far into his imagination and lost touch with some essential objective rigour which is necessary for all novels. I found myself skimming lots of the absurd meandering dialogue and the ending was deeply unsatisfying.
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Reading Progress
July 9, 2019
–
Started Reading
July 9, 2019
– Shelved
July 9, 2019
–
17.61%
"My feeling at the moment is that he should have ended this saga at the end of book two. So far I'm finding this third part both silly and boring."
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50
July 24, 2019
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Finished Reading
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TBV (on hiatus)
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Jul 24, 2019 02:29PM
What a letdown that the series disintegrates. However, due to your previous reviews of books one and two, I would still like to read this trilogy (or part thereof). Thanks, Tim.
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TBV wrote: "What a letdown that the series disintegrates. However, due to your previous reviews of books one and two, I would still like to read this trilogy (or part thereof). Thanks, Tim."Still very worthwhile reading because of the brilliance of the first two parts. For me it's a shame he wrote the third part whose end is more satisfying than the actual end.
It is a terrible shock, isn't it? Nevertheless, like you, I'm glad I read it. And when I reread it, I made my peace with it. Just such a shame health issues meant that Peake couldn't.
Cecily wrote: "It is a terrible shock, isn't it? Nevertheless, like you, I'm glad I read it. And when I reread it, I made my peace with it. Just such a shame health issues meant that Peake couldn't."I've just read that his experience of documenting the liberation of Belsen as war artist might also have contributed to the gulf between this and the earlier books. I can understand how that experience might have made him feel his earlier writing was all a bit whimsical and urged him to deal with the horrors he witnessed. But then I discovered most of the trilogy was written after WW2 so that makes no sense.
Yes, that was absolutely a turning point in his life (I've read a few biographies), and one he never totally recovered from.
What a disappointment after the first two, Tim! I was really hoping that this wouldn't lose any of its luster in this installment, and from the first two being 5 stars, to fall to 2 stars is quite a fall. Still, I so appreciate your review, which was honest and fair.
Cheri wrote: "What a disappointment after the first two, Tim! I was really hoping that this wouldn't lose any of its luster in this installment, and from the first two being 5 stars, to fall to 2 stars is quite ..."I guess that's the problem of a very long term project, Cheri. You can't rely on inspiration sustaining itself over such a long period and then throw into the mix mental deterioration.
