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Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
19 reviews
wikibam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Death, Cannibalism, Racism, Classism, Xenophobia, and Gore
mahitdzmare's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Death
erikwmj's review
Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Ableism, Death, Xenophobia, and Racism
jemappellecat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Gore
Moderate: Xenophobia
commander_zander's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Antisemitism
A primary theme is unavoidable planetary disaster.contre_qui's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Racial slurs
leherb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Racial slurs
claireskies's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Firstly to address the elephant in the room: it is hard to read Lovecraft and avoid his racist ideologies. While we can all sit and say "oh it was a different time then," it doesn't erase how harmful and influential his words are. In describing the whiteness of Herbet West, I believe, he describes him as of a superior race; caucasian, blue eyes, blonde hair. Frankly, many of Lovecraft's stories are ruined by his unecessary insertion of racist comments. For example, in the Rats in the Walls, it adds nothing for the narrator's favourite cat to be named a slur. One can easily discuss the folklore of native americans without calling them savages. Lovecraft also has a strange obsession with Congo and "white apes" which I believe are a reference to black people with albinism.
However in this anthology, S. T. Joshi is not hesitant to point out Lovecraft's flaws, and my dislike of Lovecraft is in no way tied to the work of Joshi. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his explanatory notes at rhe end of the collection. I don't enjoy nonfiction, so I don't always read these notes, but I was very impressed and enraptured by the editor's.
In some praise of Lovecraft, he really is an amazing writer. Bad person, but a good writer. His ability to string together a beautiful array of words to evoke somewhat abstract yet atmospheric, concrete settings is outstanding. His descriptions are unsettling and eerie, but magical.
And back to crticism... now I do enjoy reading older works, and this is something I find in perhaps all of them. They are anticlimatic. Which sounds wrong to say considering that we experience the rise and fall of Cthulu in this collection. (Though that story did have one of the stronger climaxes). Authors of this period focus too much on exposition, and it feels as though the ending is rushed. In a longer story, the narrator flees right as things get really interesting. It feels as though we are touring through a beautiful mansion only to be rushed out without ever being shown upstairs.
"Shadow over Innsmouth" evades these downfalls and is by far my favourite story in this collection.
Overall, I say Lovecraft, and this collection of stories, is worth a read. It's average rating is a result of racist and xenophobic ideals that made some stories difficult to read, as well as the lacking climaxes of certain stories.
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism
erraticeldandil's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
So I have really mixed feelings on this book.
On the one hand (+), Lovecraft is very evocative in his landscapes and scenes. They were by far my favorite part as a lover of world building.
Also, from what I've heard, Lovecraft was a major foundation for the modern horror genre so credit where credit is arguably due.
On the other hand (-), is everything else.
First, god was there a lot of racism, orientalism, and xenophobia. It's been said before but it really didn't need to be there. Other contemporaneous books were fine without this volume of it. What especially miffed me is that the editor put a grand total of one line on this introduction briefly mentioning it in a neutral light whereas it should have really warranted a more critical analysis.
Next, it was incredibly formulaic. The little summary I wrote above describes 90% of the stories in this book. After a while it got tiring to read characters who thought very similarly when presented with basically the same situation over and over.
Finally, I am not sure if it's because I am too familiar with common literary tropes compared to the average reader at the beginning of the 20th century but it was painfully obvious what the "twists" for certain stories would be. There wouldn't even be that much information given but the way it was presented would immediately trigger a realization and the later reveal would be dulled.
Favorite stories: Celephaïs, Picture in the House, He, Color in Space.
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs