The Great Gormenghast Read discussion

Chapters 51-60 discussion.

"Titus Groan is wading through his boyhood." That's really a better summation of the previous section than this, but it's a handy example of Peake making the unspoken plain.

In fact, this section is full of opportunities that I feel Peake passed up. While introducing us so fully to Fuchsia in Titus Groan, in this book Peake relegates her to bystander status. Even her daydreaming about Steerpike is perfunctory and shallow, seen mainly through the Doctor's eyes, where I would have expected the dramatic ups and downs of Fuchsia's own emotion and idealism.

Steerpike miscalculates again by going to check on the Twins. It's highly uncharacteristic, especially since he kills time for several hours to do so. I felt Peake could have handled this issue in a different way - perhaps through Flay discovering the bodies, and some indication of Steerpike's involvement. It does set the scene for direct action by Titus, but for me, that's not enough to balance out Steerpike's actions.

While these books are nominally about Titus, I feel strongly that Steerpike is the central character of the first two books, and I'm disappointed to see him getting short shrift (not quite literally) here. It wouldn't have cost much for Peake to have him behave in character throughout, and it would have made this a much stronger book.

B. wrote: "...While these books are nominally about Titus, I feel strongly that Steerpike is the central character of the first two books..."

I agree, and I think that is a strength, because Steerpike engenders stronger, and more muddled feelings in the reader (well, this reader).