Mervyn Peake

Mervyn Laurence Peake ( born July 9, 1911 in Kuling, Imperial China, † November 17, 1968 in Burford in Oxford, England ) was a British writer and illustrator.

Life

Mervyn Peake worked as an illustrator before he was through his Gormenghast series with a small audience for cult author. The novels are still his most famous works, although, increasingly, his poems are respected.

Gormenghast

The Gormenghast novels were originally designed as a series of ten books, but were never completed due to Mervyn Peake's failing health condition ( Parkinson 's disease). However, the existing first three books provide a testament to the unique talent of the author to design a complete world that is close to us and at the same time away.

The novels tell the story of Titus Groan, heir of Gormenghast castle. In the first book, which begins with the birth of Titus Groans and ends with his first birthday, the reader is introduced to the oppressive, even gloomy atmosphere of the particular ritual of Gormenghast. The ritual dominates the lives of all the inhabitants of the castle, from the lowest servant to Lord Sepulchrave, the lord of the castle. Only the young, ambitious Steerpike disrupts the orderly life. His career is at the beginning of the actual main character, Titus Groan, in the shade. Only in the second book, the growing up Titus can unfold, and then in the third book to leave the castle and see the world.

From the Gormenghast - fabric an opera was composed by Irmin Schmidt (premiere in Wuppertal 1998).

In addition, a film adaptation (GB / CDN / USA) exists as a miniseries in four parts from 2000, directed by Andy Wilson. see here: Gormenghast at the Internet Movie Database (English)

Work

  • The young Titus ( Titus Groan orig. 1946; German translation in 1982 by Annette Charpentier, 2010 edition revised by Alexander Pechmann, ISBN 978-3-608-93921-7. )
  • In the castle (orig. Gormenghast, 1950; German translation in 1982 by Annette Charpentier, 2010 edition revised by Alexander Pechmann, ISBN 978-3-608-93922-4. )
  • The last Lord Groan (orig. Titus Alone, 1959; German translation in 1983 by Annette Charpentier, 2011 edition revised by Alexander Pechmann, ISBN 978-3-608-93923-1. )
  • Titus wakes (orig. Titus Awakes, from the estate completed by Maeve Gilmore, 2011; German translation in 2011 by Alexander Pechmann, ISBN 978-3-608-93924-8. )
  • Mr. Pye (1953 )
  • Boy in Darkness (1956 )
  • Shapes and Sounds ( 1941)
  • Rhymes without Reason (1944 ), illustrations by the author
  • The Glass Blowers (1950 )
  • Rhyme of the Flying Bomb (1962 ), illustrations by the author
  • Poems and Drawings (1965 )
  • A Reverie of Bone: And Other Poems (1967 )
  • A Book of Nonsense (1972 )
  • The Craft of the Lead Pencil (1946 )
  • Abschlachter captain drops anchor (orig. Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor, 1939), illustrations by the author
  • The Wit To Woo (premiered 1957)
  • Ride a Cock Horse (1940 )
  • Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits ( 1941)
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1943 )
  • Lewis Carroll, Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland ( 1946)
  • Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass ( 1946)
  • Brothers Grimm, Household Tales ( 1946)
  • Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Iceland (1949 )
  • Johann R. Wyss, Swiss Family Robinson ( 1949)
  • Paul Britten Austin, Tom Thumb (1954 and 1955)
  • Aaron Judah, The Pot of Gold ( 1959)
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