Titus Groan

The Gormenghast Trilogy, Book 1

By: Mervyn Peake

Narrated by: Rupert Degas

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

Unfortunate performance.

One of my favorite novels rendered occasionally unintelligible by the over-the-top characterizations of the reader. Disappointing.

disappointing

I love this story and this narrator. but the pairing I hated. I felt like Rupert Degassing just had completely the wrong tone of the book, trivialising the characters. There is a crumbling solemn grace and heft to the characters as well as their very pronounced eccentricities.
Maybe others will like it. but it's just not my Gormenghast.

Disappointment

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.

BAD CHARACTER VOICES

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.

From the Ministry of Silly Voices

I love this novel, and indeed all the trilogy, so I was looking forward to a new reading. I was soon disappointed however. Within minutes, the silly voices and over acting began. Sadly I wasted a credit. The lesson learned? Check out the samples more thoroughly before buying. This reader should stick to his day job.

Very Hard to Listen To

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The story might be okay, many have said it is, but this narrator is dreadful.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I didn't get very far into the book before giving up on it so I can't fairly judge the story itself.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator attempts to whisper when it says the character whispers, groan or screech or cackle when it says the character did so. The result is a wheezing, groaning , inaudible mess which would require sitting with your hand on the replay button to decipher. I got half way through and abandoned the attempt to finish this book, something I've rarely ever done. It's quite simply the worst narration I've ever come across.

Character voices are unintelligible.

This is supposed to be a very good book. And the narrator is great when using his normal speaking voice. But the character voices he does are so incredibly extreme that I've no idea what they're supposed to be saying. He makes them mumble, whisper, speak with a lisp, etc. so very strongly that they are mostly unintelligible. I'm frankly surprised the director of this performance allowed it.