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Gormenghast Read-along Schedule

The Gormenghast Trilogy

Wednesday is Gormenghast Day!

For the next few months this blog will celebrate Gormenghast every Wednesday. The schedule for the read-along is detailed below. It would be great if different people could lead the discussion each week so that you don’t just get my opinion (and I don’t get Gormenghast post burnout!). If you’d like to volunteer to write a Gormenghast post at some point during the read-along then please leave a comment below. You don’t have to have a blog – I’d love non-bloggers to take part too. 🙂

Titus Groan – June 2011

The Hall of the Bright Carvings – Near and Far (p1 – p100) 8th June

Dust and Ivy – Preparations for Arson (p101 – p194) 15th June

The Grotto – The Bloody Cheekbone (p194 – p277) 22nd June

The Twins Again – Mr Rottcodd Again (p277 -p361) 29th June

Gormenghast – July 2011

One – Eighteen  (p373 – p467) 6th July

Nineteen – Thirty-Seven (p467 – p565) 13th July

Thirty-Eight – Fitft-Eight (p565 – p659) 20th July

Fifty-Nine – Eighty  (p659 – p752) 27th July

Titus Alone – August 2011

One – Fifty-Eight (p759 -p854) 10th August

Fifty-Nine – One Hundred and Twenty-Two (p855 – p953) 17th August

Titus Awakes – September 2011

This book is 288 pages long – Ill update this post with the exact page numbers for this read-along once I have a copy and can check for appropriate chapter breaks.

Note: All page numbers for the Gormenghast Trilogy come from my Vintage Classics copy (ISBN: 0099288893), but if you have a different edition the page numbers may vary slightly.

I look forward to reading Gormenghast with you!

30 replies on “Gormenghast Read-along Schedule”

Ellie, I only picked up a copy of Gormenghast a few months ago, so I’m feeling very organised. I just know that if I don’t read it now, while I’m still excited about it, I never will. I look forward to reading along with you.

Ooh! I have this, it’s a DNF for me, but I might give it another try! I won’t have it back in my hands until July but no reason I can’t try to read the first two fast and join in for the third.

Meghan, Or you could pick up a copy of the first book from the library? I’m a bit sad to hear that you didn’t finish it first time round (I’m really hoping that I love it since I’ve organised this read-along!) but I hope that you are able to join in with us, even if you aren’t able to keep up with the schedule above.

You know what I love about this schedule most? You’ve allowed for a break during Edinburgh Book Festival fortnight! So definitely doable! all I need now if for the library to turn up trumps for the beginning of June …..

Lizzy, Yes – I did think about running the books in a row, but then I remembered the school holidays and decided it was probably best to give myself a bit of a rest during August. I’m glad that plan works for you too. 🙂

Read this a few years ago & although I enjoyed it, have to many other books on my TBR (3 new today) but think It’s a great idea. Have you seen the Mervyn Peake illustrated Michael Moorcock Book “The Sunday Books”

parrish, No, I haven’t seen “The Sunday Books” – I’ll try to find a copy in the library as that would make an interesting addition to the Gormenghast reading. Thanks for pointing it out!

If you’ve read the book before then you should be able to join in the discussions at some point and have the benefit of being able to tell us which parts leave a lasting impression.. 🙂

I slightly regret that I didn’t pick up the Gormenghast copy we saw today, since all the talks about the book intrigue me now. I’ll check out the library and try a few pages to see if I want to join (if I can find it). Hope your read-along going well, and it’s really nice to finally meet you today! 🙂

mee, Great to meet you too 🙂

I’m sure you’ll be able to find a copy of this in the library. I really hope that you enjoy the first few pages enough to join in 🙂

Good luck with the read-along! I tried to read Gormenghast while at uni but didn’t fare very well (some of the prescribed texts for my Master’s were a struggle; I didn’t enjoy Le Guin either). I’d like to give it a try in the future as think I’ll enjoy it under different circumstances but a read-along just now isn’t for me.

Claire, I hope that I’ll enjoy Gormenghast more than you did. I haven’t tried Le Guin yet either, but I have The Left Hand of Darkness in my pile somewhere. Perhaps that can be next year’s read-along 🙂

Nancy, Yay! Sometimes books sit on shelves for far too long – I love encouraging people to get them down to read 🙂 Let’s hope we enjoy it!

Hi, Jackie. I’m a librarian with Surrey library service and I’ll happily write a post, if needed. I first read the trilogy at university, forced into it by academic friends who spoke about Peake like some kind of god, and it made a big impression on me. It obviously made a big impression on a lot of other people too- you can see Gormenghast in all kinds of modern fiction, like Hogwarts and the Unseen University, and I’m willing to bet that Tim Burton has a copy by his bedside.

I’d like to take a chunk of Gormenghast, since that’s the volume I’ve got in my hand.

Hi! Ooooh, I’ve been meaning to read the trilogy for AGES! I’m very excited to join you. I’ll also be happy to host a session of the posting. I teach daily until 16 June, so I could do some time after that.
Thanks so much for organizing and hosting this read-along

Jackie, my edition came in (actually, a triology with three books in one volume) from amazon.com and I’m going to do my best to read along with you. This captured my interest from the first day you posted about it, hence the button on my sidebar and the ordering of the book, and I think it’s something that should be part of my ‘cultural literacy’. The reviews on the back cover alone are so exciting! So, here’s to time for us to indulge!

Bellezza, It is great to hear that you are joining in! I hadn’t heard much about this book before, but agree with you in that the more I look into it, the more excited I get.

After finishing Titus Groan I realise I’m going to need all the encouragement I can get to see the series out! The read along sounds fantastic, and if you’d like me to write a post at any time do let me know!

I’m loving all the discussions you’ve started here – I hope my blog will have a similar effect one day! 🙂

Matthew, It is great to know you’ll be joining us! I look forward to discussing the rest of the book with you and wish you lots of luck with your new blog 🙂

[…] Titus leaves the wonderfully atmospheric surroundings of Gormenghast castle and arrives in a modern city. Both the city and the people that he meets there lack the vivid descriptions of the previous books. I struggled to connect with the characters and was bored by plot. Reaching the end was a real chore and I only finished the book because I was hosting the read-along. […]

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