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Cecily's Reviews > Sketches from Bleak House
Sketches from Bleak House
by
Mr Skimpole
Peake wasn’t much of a reader � except for a few well-loved favourites, which he knew so well, he could recite long passages from memory.
Mr Grindley
Treasure Island was one favourite, and he illustrated that. Bleak House was another, and although he was commissioned to illustrate it, the project was never finished.
This book brings together all the drawings and sketches he did for it, along with sections of the book relating to each one. Some major characters are absent, or only fleetingly sketched, though presumably the intention was to do them eventually.
Miss Smallweed
All the illustrations are black and white (charcoal, soft pencil, pen and ink, I think). Some are a few fleeting lines, whereas others are extraordinarily detailed and atmospheric. Some make you laugh (Mr Turveydrop, Harold Skimpole), some are sinister (Lady Dedlock - of course), and others make you weep.
Jo, a crossing sweeper
This was used on the cover of Mervyn Peake: Writings and Drawings, which I reviewed HERE.
Beautiful. And funny, sad, and sinister.
Lady Dedlock
All My Peake Reviews
All my Peake/Gormenghast reviews (including biographies/memoirs and books about his art) are on a shelf,
HERE.
by
Mr Skimpole
Peake wasn’t much of a reader � except for a few well-loved favourites, which he knew so well, he could recite long passages from memory.
Mr Grindley
Treasure Island was one favourite, and he illustrated that. Bleak House was another, and although he was commissioned to illustrate it, the project was never finished.
This book brings together all the drawings and sketches he did for it, along with sections of the book relating to each one. Some major characters are absent, or only fleetingly sketched, though presumably the intention was to do them eventually.
Miss Smallweed
All the illustrations are black and white (charcoal, soft pencil, pen and ink, I think). Some are a few fleeting lines, whereas others are extraordinarily detailed and atmospheric. Some make you laugh (Mr Turveydrop, Harold Skimpole), some are sinister (Lady Dedlock - of course), and others make you weep.
Jo, a crossing sweeper
This was used on the cover of Mervyn Peake: Writings and Drawings, which I reviewed HERE.
Beautiful. And funny, sad, and sinister.
Lady Dedlock
All My Peake Reviews
All my Peake/Gormenghast reviews (including biographies/memoirs and books about his art) are on a shelf,
HERE.
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Sketches from Bleak House.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
September 23, 2013
– Shelved as:
to-read
September 23, 2013
– Shelved
September 23, 2013
– Shelved as:
gormenghast-peake
March 9, 2016
– Shelved as:
art-inc-photography
Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)
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by
Teresa
(last edited Jan 18, 2015 03:00PM)
(new)
Jan 18, 2015 02:49PM
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Cecily, via your 2014 year-in-review review. I'd like to find a copy for myself, though that's unlikely as the available copies are quite expensive.
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Hi, Annalise. Those comments must've been from a different Teresa. I haven't commented on "The Horse and His Boy" or said anything about Star Wars.
Teresa wrote: "Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Cecily, via your 2014 year-in-review review. I'd like to find a copy for myself, though that's unlikely as the available copies are quite expensive."If you want it, it's worth searching for it every few months. You may get lucky (I did).
These sketches are beautiful... Now I want to put my lucky hat on and go searching for these books too.
Alfred wrote: "These sketches are beautiful... Now I want to put my lucky hat on and go searching for these books too."I'll keep my fingers crossed that your lucky hat does the trick.
I'm not familiar with Mervyn Peake but I love these sketches. They are expressive in a haunting sort of way.
Laysee wrote: "I'm not familiar with Mervyn Peake but I love these sketches. They are expressive in a haunting sort of way."He's best known for the Titus/Gormenghast books (see my overview review here), but his main ambition and self-image was as a painter. His style was quite varied, but almost all have the expressive haunting aspect you mention, even the "fun" ones, such as in his children's book, Captain Slaughterboard (see examples in my review here) .
