What if...

[KoichCPA]

What if this thread was remotely good?

 

[Goreripper]

Or was that one of those "you had to have read the books" things?

spawn, add these three books to your Amazon list immediately:

Titus Groan
Gormenghast
Titus Alone

 

[spawn]

What are they about? Fantasy stuff im assuming? Gormenghast sounds like a black metal band

Koichi: Sprucey is right, you are a cockhead.

 

[Goreripper]

It's an epic fantasy set in a massive castle called Gormenghast. Virtually the whole of the first two books take place complete within the walls of the castle. There's no epic battles, wizards or dragons though, but it doesn't need them. The third book is bizarre in the extreme as the author died before he could finish it properly. Genius though. Did I say genius? Yes. Good.

 

[Goreripper]

BTW spawn. Have you read The Book of the New Sun?

 

[phlogiston]

I'm in the middle of rereading Gormenghast right now! I'm not going to read Titus Alone again though. I think it ruins the other two books. Not that it's bad, mind you. It's just not as good. Which is fair enough.

 

[Goreripper]

As I said, Titus Alone would have been as good as the others, but Peake died before he could rewrite it. The version that was published was pretty much the draft. There is some really sinister stuff in that book though, especially the part with the factory and the two robot things.

 

[Goreripper]

That said also, there's some very poignant elements in Titus Alone, especially when he realises that, no matter where he goes in the world beyond Gormenghast, no one's ever heard of the place.

 

[phlogiston]

I know that. That's why I said "Which is fair enough".

The thing I like best about the first two books though is that they're gripping, even though pretty much nothing interesting happens most of the time. They bring out the plodding, timeless nature that he describes perfectly and when things start happening towards the end shows the confusion that's going on because no-one's used to it.

That is how books should be written.

 

[spawn]

That sounds pretty good actually, I may just get them...

 

[Goreripper]

I know that. That's why I said "Which is fair enough".

The thing I like best about the first two books though is that they're gripping, even though pretty much nothing interesting happens most of the time. They bring out the plodding, timeless nature that he describes perfectly and when things start happening towards the end shows the confusion that's going on because no-one's used to it.

That is how books should be written.

Yes. Utterly agree. Those two books are two of the best books written in the 20th century. Mind you, some of the occasional inconsistencies in the storyline let it down a little.

 

[KoichCPA]

The best book of the 20th century is American Psycho you fools.

 

[phlogiston]

That's not too bad either. I'll reread that one next, methinks.