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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A wonderful collection of all the stories written by Lovecraft alone. I look forward to reading more of his collaborations.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I found Lovecraft's style much easier to digest this time as an audiobook than when I had picked up a collection of his works a few years back, some might enjoy his use of archaic language but I couldn't, the stories are still excellent and carry the strangeness and dread that H.P. is famous for, my favourite is The Mountains of Madness, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Dunwich Horror and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the only issues I had was the Audiobook was that its alphabetic order rather than by publishment.
dark
mysterious
What i enjoyed most about this book were the stories in which Lovecraft directly touches upon the disenchantment of the world. It is indeed sublime to see how Lovecraft handles the death of passion and metaphysichs, which obviously sets his writings to be a founding text of horror, fantasy, and the supernatural.
I think most people will easily note the impact Lovecraft has on mostly all thing related to cosmic and alien terror. I even noticed the effect his writings have on games like Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft, and movies like the thing. The effect these tales have on modern horror literary fiction is impossible to overestimate.
Also, i think most of Lovecraft's writings show a very good use of mystery, this guy knows what to show to the readers and what to hide from them.
My main problem with the books was the tiring repetition i found in some of the tales, and the fact that most of the novellas, and longer stories felt too long, the tales are really rich in ideas, but the execution wasn't always as good as the ambition. Still, the tales are mostly worth it, and i also had an easier time going through the book because i already read some of the longer novellas, it is also worth noting that i listened to some stories via YouTube which was really fun!
For the record, these are the stories I liked:
The beast in the cave, the alchemist, beyond the wall of sleep, the statement of Randolph Carter, the tree, the picture in the house, the temple, facts concerning the late arthur jermyn and his family, the outsider, the moon bog, Azathoth, the rats in the walls, imprisoned with the pharaohs, cool air, the call of Cthulhu, the sliver key, the case of charles dexter ward, the Dunwich horror, the whisperer in darkness, at the mountains of madness, the shadow over innsmouth, the thing on the doorstep, the evil clergyman, the shadow out of time.
I think most people will easily note the impact Lovecraft has on mostly all thing related to cosmic and alien terror. I even noticed the effect his writings have on games like Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft, and movies like the thing. The effect these tales have on modern horror literary fiction is impossible to overestimate.
Also, i think most of Lovecraft's writings show a very good use of mystery, this guy knows what to show to the readers and what to hide from them.
My main problem with the books was the tiring repetition i found in some of the tales, and the fact that most of the novellas, and longer stories felt too long, the tales are really rich in ideas, but the execution wasn't always as good as the ambition. Still, the tales are mostly worth it, and i also had an easier time going through the book because i already read some of the longer novellas, it is also worth noting that i listened to some stories via YouTube which was really fun!
For the record, these are the stories I liked:
The beast in the cave, the alchemist, beyond the wall of sleep, the statement of Randolph Carter, the tree, the picture in the house, the temple, facts concerning the late arthur jermyn and his family, the outsider, the moon bog, Azathoth, the rats in the walls, imprisoned with the pharaohs, cool air, the call of Cthulhu, the sliver key, the case of charles dexter ward, the Dunwich horror, the whisperer in darkness, at the mountains of madness, the shadow over innsmouth, the thing on the doorstep, the evil clergyman, the shadow out of time.
I was prepared for the creepiness of his stories, but not the unexpectedly gorgeous prose. That said, you've got to knock AT LEAST one star off for unbridled racism.
Some favorites:
The Quest of Iranon
The Music of Erich Zann
The Silver Key
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Some favorites:
The Quest of Iranon
The Music of Erich Zann
The Silver Key
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
As far as I can tell, this is everything but the letters (there are some essays pulled from a letter or two at the end). That means it includes some drafts with no punctuation and typos. And juvenalia. This is *not* the best-of collection. I have The Annotated Lovecraft and am working through that. Lovecraft is one of those authors that, unless you have a special interest in, you really want a curated selection of rather than the whole fire hose.
When looking at his work as a whole, some things popped out at me:
--"Once upon a time there was a setting. AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" seems to be the entirety of his plot a great deal of the time. Often it's, "Once upon a time a found a journal that said that once upon a time there was setting, and the author was like, 'AIEEEEEEE!' and I was like that was creepy, but then I realized, 'AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!'"
--The Old Ones are really big germs. Like, look up images of microorganisms.
--Dude hated that which he fears, and dude was afraid of everything.
--"It wasn't my fault; it never would have happened if them damn [insert racial/gender/class epithet here] hadn't made me do it."
It's not just that he was racist. It's that racism is the plot of his stories. One of his plots was, "BECAUSE SHE HAD ONE DROP OF BLACK BLOOD SHE WAS A MONSTER."
Double yay?
He was a master of setting. Unfortunately, when you take look at the whole of his work, it becomes clear that setting was about the sum of his genius. Herbert West is about the only memorable character. I didn't see any plot twists that wouldn't have been around in the pulp era (and that he didn't himself use multiple times). He couldn't write dialog to save his life (or rather he might have been able to write dialog--if he chose to do so--and if he had more than "the main character who is relatively sane and stands in for Lovecraft" and "the character who's kind of nuts" and "look, just don't write in accent anymore" as characters. His research is laughable (ah, yes, a story set in Australia, referring to native magic, and not a word of songlines). His style is hypnotizing (I skimmed a lot and often just fell asleep).
But oh, that setting. When it works, it works.
When looking at his work as a whole, some things popped out at me:
--"Once upon a time there was a setting. AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" seems to be the entirety of his plot a great deal of the time. Often it's, "Once upon a time a found a journal that said that once upon a time there was setting, and the author was like, 'AIEEEEEEE!' and I was like that was creepy, but then I realized, 'AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!'"
--The Old Ones are really big germs. Like, look up images of microorganisms.
--Dude hated that which he fears, and dude was afraid of everything.
--"It wasn't my fault; it never would have happened if them damn [insert racial/gender/class epithet here] hadn't made me do it."
It's not just that he was racist. It's that racism is the plot of his stories. One of his plots was, "BECAUSE SHE HAD ONE DROP OF BLACK BLOOD SHE WAS A MONSTER."
Double yay?
He was a master of setting. Unfortunately, when you take look at the whole of his work, it becomes clear that setting was about the sum of his genius. Herbert West is about the only memorable character. I didn't see any plot twists that wouldn't have been around in the pulp era (and that he didn't himself use multiple times). He couldn't write dialog to save his life (or rather he might have been able to write dialog--if he chose to do so--and if he had more than "the main character who is relatively sane and stands in for Lovecraft" and "the character who's kind of nuts" and "look, just don't write in accent anymore" as characters. His research is laughable (ah, yes, a story set in Australia, referring to native magic, and not a word of songlines). His style is hypnotizing (I skimmed a lot and often just fell asleep).
But oh, that setting. When it works, it works.