I read "Titus Groan" back in November 2003, and although it is a good story, I found it hard-going. Every time I have planned to read the second book of the trilogy, I have found an excuse to put it off, so I think it's time to pass this book onto someone else.

This is what I thought of Titus Groan at the time:
The birth of a son to the house of Groan is a momentous event for Gormenghast, but from that day on things start to go badly wrong. Apparently Mervyn Peake based Gormenghast on the palaces of Chinese nobles, and I can see similarities (with "The Story of the Stone" for example). Gormenghast is an enclosed world, ruled by tradition and ritual but it is strangely isolated; there are no visitors and no castle guard is ever mentioned so presumably it has no enemies. The writing is very descriptive; you can see in your mind's eye exactly what everything looks like, but it does slow your reading down.

To be passed on to Droogie.

A lovely surprise at the meetup (due to my really bad memory) - not sure how I am going to carry it to and from work to read in lunch but I look forward to reading it.

Thanks kittwake

I loved this. I read it in two bursts with about a year in between because I felt that it needed to be savoured. The descriptions of the characters and places are so rich.

The third book was a little unexpected and strange and I''m not sure what to make of it but I still enjoyed it.

I left the book in the holiday cottage we were staying in when I finished it, in Chadlington in Oxfordshire. Hopefully somebody will feel like a good read on their holiday.