Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan

G. Peter Winnington (Université de Lausanne)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1946

Places

China (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Written during the Second World War when Peake was in the Army (but given little to do), Titus Groan is the first of three books about the life of the eponymous hero, the following volumes being Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959). An out-of-sequence novella, “Boy in Darkness”, was published in Sometime, Never (1953) alongside stories by John Wyndham and William Golding.

Although clearly set on Earth the sequence is situated in no identifiable time or place. Titus is the 77th Earl of Gormenghast, a castle community that ignores the existence of anything beyond its confines. The reader just has to take on faith the presence of fine wines and exotic food without agriculture or commerce, a…

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760 words

Citation: Winnington, G. Peter. "Titus Groan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8371, accessed 27 November 2024.]

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