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Deep in the labyrinthine corridors of Gormenghast Castle, a child is born. Titus, 77th Earl of Groan, is heir to arcane and all-embracing rituals that determine the activities of everyone from Lord Sepulchrave, his father, to the vast cook, Swelter, and the irrepressible Dr Prunesquallor. But not the steely and devious Steerpike, who will lie, cheat and even murder to get on.
One of the greatest feats of sustained imaginative writing, the world of Gormenghast Castle is brilliantly realised in this darkly fantastic novel. Its rich description and vivid characters make it one of the most enduringly popular works of the 20th century.
Mervyn Peake: Titus Groan (Abridged)
Gormenghast taken by itself would have displayed…
As Flay passed the curator on his way to the door…
It was impossible for the apprentices to force themselves…
He peered at the immobile huddle of limbs.
From his vantage point he was able to get a clear view…
Her Ladyship, the seventy-sixth Countess of Groan…
Every morning of the year…
Mrs. Slagg entered.
Leaving the tray on the mat outside…
Mrs. Slagg made her way along the narrow stone path…
Titus, under the care of Nannie Slagg and Keda…
Tradition playing its remorseless part…
Meanwhile, hiding behind a turn in the passage…
Mr. Flay was possessed by two major vexations.
Yesterday had exhausted him…
On the afternoon following her brother's birth…
As she stood breathless beside the table…
Mrs. Slagg was so agitated at the sight…
The Doctor all this while had had his glass of cognac…
As he returned through the hall his mind was so engrossed…
Autumn returned to Gormenghast like a dark spirit…
The library of Gormenghast was situated…
At the same moment that Flay was leaving Fuchsia's bedroom…
Instead of crossing over to the Doctor's house…
When Keda came back to her people…
There was a discreet tapping at the twins' door.
'And now you must tell me, dear ladies…'
On one excuse or another…
It happened on the day of Steerpike's second daylight visit…
The crags of the mountain were ruthless…
There had been a slight but perceptible lifting…
Suddenly not only was Irma seized…
Prunesquallor did what he could to help Mrs. Slagg…
The Doctor and Flay, leaping forward, half caught her.
One evening, several weeks after the burning…
Unable to reconcile the heroism of Steerpike's rescue…
It was only when the coffin stood near the graveside…
About a week after Sourdust's burial…
Spring has come and gone…
Suddenly a voice comes from the mouth.
The morning light is strengthening…
Steerpike has some difficulty in finding Flay…
Barquentine is unaware…
It was four days since the Dark Breakfast…
Wiping the sweat from his brow as he rose to his feet…
They were about halfway to the Hall of Spiders…
Swelter was running the flat of his hand along the steel…
Swelter, once his sense of balance was restored…
Of the nightmare that followed it is needful to say…
The inexplicable disappearance of both Lord Sepulchrave…
Something in a white shroud was moving towards the door…
Gormenghast taken by itself would have displayed…