Peake, Mervyn - Peake, Mervyn 1911–1968
Peake, Mervyn 1911–1968
Peake was a Chinese-born English novelist and poet. He is best known for his Titus Groan trilogy which abounds in weird characters and bizarre events. In addition to his writing, Peake illustrated several books, including some of his own works. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 5-8, rev. ed.; obituary, Vols. 25-28.)
If the pedants who like critical post-mortems want a go at Mervyn Peake, they should be urged to bide their time. The cycle of literary reputations has never been so fickle, and precisely because Peake deserves a place among the eccentrics of the English (yes, English) tradition alongside Sterne, Blake, Lear, Carroll and Belloc, it will be sad if the current cult brings the usual overswing of the fashionable pendulum and he comes to be footnoted—alongside, perhaps, Spike Milligan and John Lennon—for some dexterous wit with his pen. It is, however, impossible not to notice in this charming little...
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