Sunday, February 26, 2006
"Gormenghast" And "Lady Chatterley's Lover"
What do these books have to do with each other? Well, it's not the sexal content, I can tell you that, as there IS no sexual content, other than the birth of Titus Groan in the first book and we are spared the "gruesome" details. Trust me- with the characters involved, the details would be MIGHTY gruesome.
It's the writing. I'll explain : )
Disclaimer: I have only read the first two books of the Gormenghast Trilogy (which was actually going to be an actual series of books but the author, Mervyn Peake, perished before he could do more than the three books and a short story). I started the third book, but I liked the Castle Gormenghast more than I liked Titus, so the adventures of Titus outside the castle didn't interest me at all.
The Castle Gormenghast was at LEAST 1,500 years old (Titus was the 77th Earl of Groan, and from the example of his father (before he went mad and caused himself to be eaten by death owls) the Groan line is a long-lived one) and huge. Huger than you think- miles wide, miles long, with great towers and unused halls and huge edifices that hadn't been used by anything but animals for centuries.
When Mervyn Peake wrote of the castle, you could tell that every chapter, every patagraph, every single bloody damn SENTENCE was designed to fill you with the back breaking weight of the castle; to fill you with the slogging weight of the centuries of stultifying ritual, rite, and blind repetition of things done because "they had always been done that way and tradition is everything". The weather outside the castle is dreary and heavy; the surrounding landscape is depressing.
The first two books (well, the first book and 90% of the second book) RULE; you want to stop reading and go site in a dark corner and never move again but you HAVE to keep reading. I loved them. I own them somewhere back in the house where I used to live before I moved in with Rudy at the assisted living center (leaving my 3 kids to be raised by my in-laws- oh, my aching back!).
What does this have to do with Lady Chatterley's Lover? Well, put that way, nothing. This book was written back in the 1920's and was banned in many countries because the author, D.H. Lawrence, DARED to write about sex in a frank, honest and open way, to make YOU think openly and honestly about sex. And while I have not read very far into the book yet (only on page 10 so far) I am still reminded so STRONGLY of Mervyn Peake.
Why? Because when Connie and Clifford Chatterly move into the Wragley estate that Cliff is in charge of, the landscape around them is dreary and depressing; the estate is dreary and depressing. You can TASTE how drear and dull the landscape and people are around them. But it's written so well, you HAVE to keep reading and find out what this place is going to do to poor Connie.
Sigh. So many good books that have to be read, possibly reread, and only so many years to live before inevitable death and decay of mind and body.
Anne
Anne2Snakie's Snake Swallowings Site
The Girl Flesh Forum
My Hopefully Spam Proof Email Address:
anne2snakie AT yahoo DOT com
I think you can figure out how to type that into the TO: line : )
RSS feed: http://anne2snakie.blogspot.com/atom.xml
It's the writing. I'll explain : )
Disclaimer: I have only read the first two books of the Gormenghast Trilogy (which was actually going to be an actual series of books but the author, Mervyn Peake, perished before he could do more than the three books and a short story). I started the third book, but I liked the Castle Gormenghast more than I liked Titus, so the adventures of Titus outside the castle didn't interest me at all.
The Castle Gormenghast was at LEAST 1,500 years old (Titus was the 77th Earl of Groan, and from the example of his father (before he went mad and caused himself to be eaten by death owls) the Groan line is a long-lived one) and huge. Huger than you think- miles wide, miles long, with great towers and unused halls and huge edifices that hadn't been used by anything but animals for centuries.
When Mervyn Peake wrote of the castle, you could tell that every chapter, every patagraph, every single bloody damn SENTENCE was designed to fill you with the back breaking weight of the castle; to fill you with the slogging weight of the centuries of stultifying ritual, rite, and blind repetition of things done because "they had always been done that way and tradition is everything". The weather outside the castle is dreary and heavy; the surrounding landscape is depressing.
The first two books (well, the first book and 90% of the second book) RULE; you want to stop reading and go site in a dark corner and never move again but you HAVE to keep reading. I loved them. I own them somewhere back in the house where I used to live before I moved in with Rudy at the assisted living center (leaving my 3 kids to be raised by my in-laws- oh, my aching back!).
What does this have to do with Lady Chatterley's Lover? Well, put that way, nothing. This book was written back in the 1920's and was banned in many countries because the author, D.H. Lawrence, DARED to write about sex in a frank, honest and open way, to make YOU think openly and honestly about sex. And while I have not read very far into the book yet (only on page 10 so far) I am still reminded so STRONGLY of Mervyn Peake.
Why? Because when Connie and Clifford Chatterly move into the Wragley estate that Cliff is in charge of, the landscape around them is dreary and depressing; the estate is dreary and depressing. You can TASTE how drear and dull the landscape and people are around them. But it's written so well, you HAVE to keep reading and find out what this place is going to do to poor Connie.
Sigh. So many good books that have to be read, possibly reread, and only so many years to live before inevitable death and decay of mind and body.
Anne
Anne2Snakie's Snake Swallowings Site
The Girl Flesh Forum
My Hopefully Spam Proof Email Address:
anne2snakie AT yahoo DOT com
I think you can figure out how to type that into the TO: line : )
RSS feed: http://anne2snakie.blogspot.com/atom.xml
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