h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Courtesty of our local library booksale last week, I picked up a copy of The Gormenghast Trilogy (for 50 Cents).
I vaguely recall a miniseries of this name.

Can anyone tell me a bit about what I might expect from this book, is it good, bad, ugly, or otherwise not noteable?, is the miniseries available on dvd?, is it like the book?


hel2

It depends. If you like long, slow-burning, and very beautiful books, with an emphasis on desscription, and also like the fantastic and surreal, this will be the BEST book you have read in years.

If you like fast-paced exciting stuff or have no patience with whimsy you will chuck it after chapter one.

I ADORED it. And the miniseries was pretty darn fine and very close to the book in spirit, and the characters were very carefully faithful to the originals.

It's a bit of a cult book, so you will find some people have remarkably strong feelings about it when you try to discuss it.

It is really worth sticking with - Gormenghast the place is an incredible archetype, and some of the characters are priceless creations . . . though it certainly isn't fast moving, fluffy airport reading!

i will maybe like it then, I think it is the very fine print that puttin me off, but i got it cos I did recall it bein on telly, was doin shift work, an our vcr was bung then.....



anything I should especially look out for...........hint hint

I'm with Agapanthus. The third book was the one I enjoyed least. It is slightly separate from the first two.

Just find an uninterrupted hour or so to get stuck into it & revel in the richness. You'll probably pick a character that you want to hear more about, but don't be impatient & skip over parts where they don't appear. All will be revealed eventually!

I've actually owned the book for a few years, but I've never got around to reading it (it isn't unique in that regard). Might give it a go tonight, if I've got the time.


Geggs

I agree about the favourite character thing! there are so many and they all have their own rich stories . . . but they do all have their charms and they are worth spending time with . . .

Read it; loved it. But then fantastical rambling imagination fascinates me, in general, and that's what Gormenghast is all about...

One thing I will say about the TV series, though, is that good as it might be this is *definitely* one of those books that you form your own pictures of when reading - the whole depth is in the descriptions, not the plot. So it's probably best not to watch the dramatisation until after you've finished the books - and possibly until your personal images have started to fade with time. Just my opinion, of course, but dramatised versions do tend to stick in one's head so much more thoroughly than written ones, don't they.

[IMSoP]

Saw most of the mini-series on public television. Very detailed. Colors were rich. Characters were well developed - layers upon layers. *makes note to look for the book*

Wow!
A topic on Gormenghast
I LOVE that trilogy. It was a recomendation from a friend (who has earned so many medals for great recomendations on bookz that if he should ever go swimming he'll go down like a rock). Kisses to him!
Gormenghast somehow reminds me of that awesome fantasy of Lord Dunsany, and of the works of RA Lafferty.
They all share this strange oniric quality, the threads are somehow always unexpected and the characters memorable. Even tho, after I have read them I find myself at a loss trying to explain to someone just what the book is about. There are just so many things going around.

Wow, someone mention Gormenghast!
I love the trilogy and the bbc mini series...fabulous!

Mmm... I had no idea about the series, tho...
Info? Pleeease...

BBC did it as a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig mini-series a couple of years back, nearly everyone who's anyone in the BBC was in it...

Do a search on the Cult section of the BBC website

Wa-a... *snif*
Those things never-ever reach here.
Sucks... Lets see who do I have to bribe to get a hold on those tapes!!

Excellent miniseries (caught on BBCAmerica). Went and got the trilogy. I've read the first book. I really enjoyed it. I decided to wait a bit to continue with II and III since by looking at the publish dates there was a bit of lag between them. I have heard that the first one is the best but I do look forward to the second two. Since I've seen the miniseries I have a general idea of where it all leads so I'll be looking forward to all those wonderfull images Peake creates in my head as I read. I still can't get over the imagery he used as the two men from the village approached each other for their moonlit knife fight, "...in pools of their own midnight."

See if this helps. A741971

...or just type in http://bbc.co.uk/gormenghast (OK, so I looked on Google, but that's where it took me)
[WARNING! Contains images which may conflict with and influence your interpretations of the books (esp. if you haven't read them yet; see above)]


On a different note, what's with calling it a "miniseries"? This is the UK, it's just a "series" - no more "mini" than any other.

As far as I can make out "miniseries" is a purely American term, due to their use of "series" and "season" meaning, respectively: huge long-running shows; and a whole batch of episodes thereof, a dozen or more. Or am I being pedantic here?

Well, here (UK) a series usually a season - about quarter of the year, on TV (6 weeks on the radio ) and I don't remember it being that long, is all


And be pedantic, by all means accuracy seems to have flown out of the window in this land we love of late

Which reminds me, I'm only half way through "Eats(,) Shoots and Leaves"

My Gods!! What a Cast!
I want it!!!
Mm... Hopefully People & Arts will transmit it sometime in the near future. I should start mail-bombing them with requests

Great links, thank you very much folks!
I had no idea of Mr. Peakes life.
I had no idea his work was so famous, either! What about those ilustrations of his?

It would be good to find a copy with Peake's illustrations. Also, if you ever find a copy of Peake's Selected Poems (published by Faber, the last I noticed, stand atop a windy cliff and declaim "A Revery of Bone" to the universe and afterwards you will never feel the same. And, if you want to really mess up a kid, read Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor aloud to her/him and make sure you offer a good view of the pictures.

Titus Groan is one of the most beautifully written pieces of prose in the language.