I guess I shouldn't post this in the Cure books section, along with L'Etranger and Charlotte Sometimes, since it's just a trilogy Robert has mentioned (and not referred to in lyrics), so I'm posting it here (not in the book thread either, no):
I've just started reading these books, at the neck-breaking speed of about two pages a day, before moving on to more easily digestible literature. Right now, I feel like I'm reading two books at the same time, Titus Groan and the Oxford dictionary...Is this some sort of Gothic bible I'm reading? And how darn old was Robert when he read these books, really? Really!? He has said once that the trilogy makes him think of a certain period of his childhood (link below), so he might have read it as a kid then. Brainiac.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDIZNin9ffU&feature=PlayList&p=31F6DBE63C5AFCB9&index=60
(Interview, Mexico, 2004, part 1)
Anyhow, I'm already very intrigued by the tone and the language in the first book, and since it's taking me such a long time to read it, I figured I could gamble a little and buy the whole trilogy before I've even read 30 pages. So, those of you who have read the books, is it worth it?
(http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/endicott_redux/images/titus_1.jpg)
i've never managed to tackle this trilogy, although i've tried several times over the years
there's no translation available around here so i've the original in english. actually i've always enjoyed reading it (those 10(?) first chapters which i've ever managed) and i've really enjoyed the atmosphere and found it really compelling and interetsing in every way. but there's just something in the language that makes it really slow and hard to read, i think. i usually do read english books all the time and i'm generally rather fast reader (if i may say so myself). but here: uuuummpppggghh....! i always feel like such a snail with this book! :/ seriously, i've read quite a lot but never did i have such massive difficulties to progress without feeling like "aaah this is such a crap book, i can't bother!". i'd certainly would like to bother but it just seems to be beyond me...! :smth017
and at some point i just give up, get something else on my mind and i put the book down and there it goes again... until i try again a few years later, always starting from the beginning because with books (and movies too) i hate starting from the middle, even if i did remember how the beginning was. maybe this summer i'll start again...
ok don't mean to disencourage you in your attempt though - good luck, i'm rooting for you! ;) :smth023
ps. i did not like the tv mini.series they did in 2000: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0197154/
it was way too compressed, being in 4 episodes in all. for me it felt like trying to make a 45-minute version of the complete 'the lord of the rings' or something.
although i only watched the first one and a half episodes but stopped there because i didn't want to ruin the book for myself.
(ah, too much about me and too little about the subject - and too many words again...)
It's a challenge alright. How intricate can you get? Is that what Mr. Peake asked himself when he wrote these books? :lol: Anyhow, thanks for the support, and yet another long, LONG post. :P :D
I had no idea there was a mini series by the way...why do they, whoever they are, always have to milk every good thing to death! :smth091
Quote from: Poe on May 25, 2008, 19:14:41
Anyhow, thanks for the support, and yet another long, LONG post. :P :D
don't worry, this one will be short(er)! :) (does that mean i'm trying to adapt or learn - or even change (god forbid!)? i'm afraid i might be too stubborn... too "me". hmm.
oh well, it's hard to please everybody in this life. :roll: :? ;)
i love peake's eye for intricate details - somehow that's also very "me", something i can relate to... and that's why i can say i do like the books very much, even thought i've never even managed to read them through... yet!
Yeah, intricacy can be great, especially in fantasy/sci-fi novels, but it can get on your nerves as well:
"get on with it already!" :smth026 I will persevere though...
I found this in a review on amazon by the way:
Trivia: The Cure wrote a song based on the novel's character Fuschia called "Drowning Man," on their album "Faith."
Had forgotten about that one...(http://www.cureconnections.com/images/smilies/eusa_doh.gif)
Official website:
http://www.mervynpeake.org/gormenghast/index.html
Thank you for the link, Poe.
I just read a couple of excerpts from the website and I really enjoyed them, like the description of Gormenghast Castle for example. Wow... this guy could write! Talk about painting pictures with words... his writing seems very evocative, it just pulls you right in, but I can see it's not exactly an easy style to read. I certanly couldn't attempt it now that my reading time mostly consists of 10-minute snippets interrupted by someone whining "Are you done yet? I need to use the bathroom too!"
It's intriguing though. Maybe when I go on vacation I could try it.
Oh, and the descriptions of the characters are wonderful.
"So limp of brain that for them to conceive an idea is to risk a haemorrhage. So limp of body that their purple dresses appear no more indicative of housing nerves and sinews than when they hang suspended from their hooks."
Quote from: robiola on May 25, 2008, 22:46:16
"So limp of brain that for them to conceive an idea is to risk a haemorrhage. So limp of body that their purple dresses appear no more indicative of housing nerves and sinews than when they hang suspended from their hooks."
Don't remember reading that one, love it! He certainly commands the English language amazingly well. Kind of reminds me of a book I read a while ago, called A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Same combination of wit and humor expressed through a very ornate and pictorial language. Highly recommended.
Okay, maybe I shouldn't post so much on my own thread...doesn't look too good, does it? (http://www.cureconnections.com/images/smilies/eusa_shifty.gif)