The 85 Weirdest, Day 4: Mervyn Peake
The March/April 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales features our big list of “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” We’re breaking it down online, too: one honoree per day, in no particular order, for 85 days!
A painter turned theatrical designer turned novelist, MERVYN PEAKE’s (1911-1968) early success in the London art world was interrupted by the horrors of World War II. After a nervous breakdown in 1942, he was discharged from the army and began to produce the works for which he’d be remembered: fantastic illustrations for Lewis Carroll, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Brothers Grimm and more; books of strange poetry starting with Rhymes Without Reason; and the weird fantasy cycle of the Gormenghast novels, which have inspired generations of readers and authors. (Not to mention The Cure.)
[...] MERVYN PEAKE [...]
Peake beats Mr. Tolkien & Mr. Lewis hands down in style, character development, sensitivity to people different from himself, locale & sheer imaginative gusto. And all without the creepy misogyny/racism of the other two.
Amen to that Matthew!!! Peake also has so much pure surreal humor in his work. It’s a crime of humanity that he is not as well known and appreciated as Tolkein and Lewis. Amen, Matthew …