November 2009 Guest Editor Geraldine McCaughrean on Mr Pye by MERVYN PEAKE
Gormenghast towered over my teenage years: that dusty, crenellated castle-world built from the rubble of the author’s crumbling intellect. But the Peake book that stays with me is much tinier – no bigger than one brick in the curtainwall of Gormenghast. A deliciously simple notion, Mr Pye tells the see-saw life story of a man too good to endure. Blighted with angel wings after a surfeit of good deeds, he attempts to backpedal, with disastrous results.
Equipped with love, Mr Pye lands on the island of Sark; his mission is to convert the inhabitants into a crusading force for the undiluted goodness that he feels within. Mr Pye is, however, prone to excess and this is very nearly his downfall.
Mervyn Peake was born in 1911. He is perhaps most famous for the ‘Gormenghast’ trilogy which were published between 1946 and 1959 - Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone. He has also written a book for children, Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor and several volumes of poetry. He was also a gifted book illustrator. He died in 1968.
