Titus Groan Audiobook By Mervyn Peake cover art

Titus Groan

The Gormenghast Trilogy, Book 1

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Titus Groan

By: Mervyn Peake
Narrated by: Rupert Degas
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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. It's rich description and vivid characters make it one of the most enduringly popular works of the 20th century.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©1973 Mervyn Peake (P)2011 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Epic Fantasy Gothic Horror

Editorial reviews

Enter the world of Gormenghast - a vast, meandering city reminiscent of London or Byzantium. New to U.S. audiences, Peake's trilogy, aired on BBC Television in 2000, created a cult following in the UK. Rupert Degas acts out all the parts of this gothic novel with extreme characterizations, based on the BBC show, contrasted with lengthy spates of narrative. On the day Titus, 77th Earl of Gormenghast, is born, a young upstart named Steerpike escapes his hereditary kitchen job to change his life and fortunes. Steerpike encounters many characters, who get bold treatment from narrator Degas. The thick accents and dialogue take some getting used to, especially in the early scenes. Nonetheless, Gormenghast fans will love Degas's performance.
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One of my favorite novels rendered occasionally unintelligible by the over-the-top characterizations of the reader. Disappointing.

Unfortunate performance.

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A lovely, weird story. I loved the reader’s performance. Very visceral. It delivers a lot if impact and conveys the oddity of the book and its characters well.

Excellent story, engaging reader

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impossible to understand what was being said most of the time, could not tell you the name of any characters

terrible voice acting

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I had always heard that if you loved classic fantasy then you must at some point read Mervyn Peake so this has been on my radar for years. First I attempted to read the book, but couldn't get into it, then I got the unabridged version read by Simon Vance and couldn't get into it. Finally, I had just listened to Rupert Degas superb readings of the Kingkiller chronicles and decided to burn yet another credit on the abridged version read by him, and still failed for me though I did finally make it through the 5 hour abridgement. I'm surprised this is viewed as such a classic as it's just all over the place, somber, and weird. Though I returned this book, I unfortunately bought an unreturnable version of the sequel beforehand that I'll never listen to. I'm not sure who the audience is who may love this story, but beware if you're considering trying them out.

Disappointment

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I literally can't understand this guy. The voices are bizarrely strong and very unpleasant to listen to. Big shame because the story is one of my favorites.

BAD CHARACTER VOICES

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