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mormengil's review against another edition
HP Lovecraft is one of my favourite authors, but this editions has a horrible, horrible translation, and I would not recommend it to any of my fellow Greeks. Not gonna rate it for this very reason.
NOTE: The exact version I own is an older one by the same publisher, maybe this newer one has a better translation, but I sincerely doubt it. This series of 3 books is single-handedly responsible for not wanting to read translations ever again.
NOTE: The exact version I own is an older one by the same publisher, maybe this newer one has a better translation, but I sincerely doubt it. This series of 3 books is single-handedly responsible for not wanting to read translations ever again.
vilvery's review against another edition
2.0
Parallellt med att jag läste den här boken lyssnade jag på en talbok där Ernst-Hugo Järegård läste Lovecraft-noveller på svenska, däribland flera ur den här samlingen. Så somliga av bokens noveller har jag läst, somliga har jag bara lyssnat på och somliga har jag... varken läst eller lyssnat på.
Jag hade nämligen rätt svårt att ta mig igenom de här berättelserna. Temat (som jag uppfattar det) är detsamma och går igen i varje novell: Det övernaturliga finns mitt ibland oss och trots att vi tror oss vara så moderna har vi inte en chans mot de mörka krafterna i världen. Det är ett intressant tema och det är verkligen inte konstigt att Lovecraft blivit så hyllad. Språket är dock bara bitvis stämningsfullt, däremellan är det så otroligt torrt och tråkigt att det helt enkelt är väldigt svårt, åtminstone för mig, att upprätthålla koncentrationen och orka engagera sig i berättelserna. Många noveller har mer karaktären av vetenskapliga (eller åtminstone "korrekt återgivna" på samma sätt som man strävar efter att göra inom vetenskapen") rapporter än skönlitteratur. Detta är säkerligen till stor del medvetet, vilket är häftigt. Lovecraft hånar ju gärna det "moderna" och "civiliserade" och då är det ju typiskt att novellens huvudperson återger vad som skett med hjälp av moderna och vetenskapliga grepp (många berättelser utspelar sig nämligen i första person där en civiliserad och beläst man redogör för sitt möte med det okända).
Jag hade rätt stora förväntningar på den här boken. Jag hade precis avslutat [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266450134s/10210.jpg|2977639] och såg fram emot lite hederlig sekelskiftsskräck. Det här är intressant och snyggt gjort och absolut stämningsfullt på sina ställen (Pickman's Model och The Rats in the Walls var absolut läsvärda, till exempel) men tyvärr helt enkelt för torrt för att jag ska orka ta mig igenom en hel bok. Det grämer mig alltid att lägga en bok åt sidan. Kanske läser jag de resterande novellerna en annan gång. Men nu gick det som det gick. Och då är jag verkligen inte den som ger upp en bok lättvindigt. Synd.
Jag hade nämligen rätt svårt att ta mig igenom de här berättelserna. Temat (som jag uppfattar det) är detsamma och går igen i varje novell: Det övernaturliga finns mitt ibland oss och trots att vi tror oss vara så moderna har vi inte en chans mot de mörka krafterna i världen. Det är ett intressant tema och det är verkligen inte konstigt att Lovecraft blivit så hyllad. Språket är dock bara bitvis stämningsfullt, däremellan är det så otroligt torrt och tråkigt att det helt enkelt är väldigt svårt, åtminstone för mig, att upprätthålla koncentrationen och orka engagera sig i berättelserna. Många noveller har mer karaktären av vetenskapliga (eller åtminstone "korrekt återgivna" på samma sätt som man strävar efter att göra inom vetenskapen") rapporter än skönlitteratur. Detta är säkerligen till stor del medvetet, vilket är häftigt. Lovecraft hånar ju gärna det "moderna" och "civiliserade" och då är det ju typiskt att novellens huvudperson återger vad som skett med hjälp av moderna och vetenskapliga grepp (många berättelser utspelar sig nämligen i första person där en civiliserad och beläst man redogör för sitt möte med det okända).
Jag hade rätt stora förväntningar på den här boken. Jag hade precis avslutat [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266450134s/10210.jpg|2977639] och såg fram emot lite hederlig sekelskiftsskräck. Det här är intressant och snyggt gjort och absolut stämningsfullt på sina ställen (Pickman's Model och The Rats in the Walls var absolut läsvärda, till exempel) men tyvärr helt enkelt för torrt för att jag ska orka ta mig igenom en hel bok. Det grämer mig alltid att lägga en bok åt sidan. Kanske läser jag de resterande novellerna en annan gång. Men nu gick det som det gick. Och då är jag verkligen inte den som ger upp en bok lättvindigt. Synd.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
2.0
I turned to Lovecraft because I read some where that Stephen King (an author I enjoy) liked them/used them as inspiration. I can certainly see why King was drawn to them (or more accurately, elements here had echoes/ripples in King's work), it's just they sometimes felt... underdeveloped. I'd have liked to see these short stories turned into longer works that had a more developed stories (and characters), and were fully developed novels in their own right.
The stories reminded me of the warning English teachers gave my class in school. They would tell us to plan, because if you sometimes run out of time, and end up saying the main character woke up and found it had all been a dream, he'd give us detentions for a week (or something). Well in some of these stories, it felt like Lovecraft ran out of steam, and ended up writing "Well we bricked up the holes, and went on with our lives, but some of us had nightmares.", and you have no idea how much that profoundly irritated me after a while.
The stories reminded me of the warning English teachers gave my class in school. They would tell us to plan, because if you sometimes run out of time, and end up saying the main character woke up and found it had all been a dream, he'd give us detentions for a week (or something). Well in some of these stories, it felt like Lovecraft ran out of steam, and ended up writing "Well we bricked up the holes, and went on with our lives, but some of us had nightmares.", and you have no idea how much that profoundly irritated me after a while.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
2.0
I turned to Lovecraft because I read some where that Stephen King (an author I enjoy) liked them/used them as inspiration. I can certainly see why King was drawn to them (or more accurately, elements here had echoes/ripples in King's work), it's just they sometimes felt... underdeveloped. I'd have liked to see these novellas turned into longer works that had a more developed stores, and were fully developed novels in their own right.
You know when you had to write an essay under exam conditions at school, you sometimes run out of time, and end up saying the main character woke up and found it had all been a dream? Well in some of these stories, it felt like Lovecraft ran out of steam, and ended up writing "Well we bricked up the holes, and went on with our lives, but some of us had nightmares." For much the same reason. This problem was less acute here, but in his shorter stories, it was a pretty common occurrence, so if you were to read any Lovecraft collection, this might be as good as any.
You know when you had to write an essay under exam conditions at school, you sometimes run out of time, and end up saying the main character woke up and found it had all been a dream? Well in some of these stories, it felt like Lovecraft ran out of steam, and ended up writing "Well we bricked up the holes, and went on with our lives, but some of us had nightmares." For much the same reason. This problem was less acute here, but in his shorter stories, it was a pretty common occurrence, so if you were to read any Lovecraft collection, this might be as good as any.
cafeaulivre's review against another edition
4.0
Ik registreerde een boek op BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13243661
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13243661
julicke95's review against another edition
5.0
Epitome of weird horror. Not all the short stories were equally memorable ('The Shadow over Innsmouth' and 'The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath' were some of my favourites) and some of the horror is somewhat downplayed by Lovecraft's refusal to describe what it looks like (lot's of "unspeakable horrors" and such), but nevertheless a superb collection of short weird horror stories. Lovecraft's monsters are not your run-of-the-mill scary creatures with fangs, claws and blood-red eyes. Just like some of the environments his protagonists are thrusts into (notably the dreamscapes of Kadath), his monsters can only accurately be described as weird, almost unimaginably so (and yet at times eerily familiar). In this way, Lovecraft exploits both the human fascination and fear of the unknown, of both his protagonists (who pay for it dearly) and readers.
montescrito's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
beautiful, gorgeous, admirable writing. the rest wasn't for me.
beautiful, gorgeous, admirable writing. the rest wasn't for me.
oppilif's review against another edition
3.0
(and you could probably tell this about Lovecraft himself)
Each chapter of this collection is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Lovecraft is an imaginative genius. He manages to build a fantastic anti-world, containing unconceivable, titanic horrors, which is capable to intrigue and disturb even 21st century readers.
On the other hand, almost all the stories have the same narrative structure. And it is difficult to keep feeling entertained when you can guess the ending of each story.
My involvement in the book kept fading, story after story, because of this fact, so that I - paradoxically - preferred those stories which departed from Lovecraft main topics (my favourite probably was The Music of Erich Zann).
Each chapter of this collection is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Lovecraft is an imaginative genius. He manages to build a fantastic anti-world, containing unconceivable, titanic horrors, which is capable to intrigue and disturb even 21st century readers.
On the other hand, almost all the stories have the same narrative structure. And it is difficult to keep feeling entertained when you can guess the ending of each story.
My involvement in the book kept fading, story after story, because of this fact, so that I - paradoxically - preferred those stories which departed from Lovecraft main topics (my favourite probably was The Music of Erich Zann).
givethatbooknerd's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the idea of reading Lovecraft as a Halloween read, so I began reading it halfway through October. It's now April and I've decided to pull the plug. I did not finish quite some of the stories, and I struggled to make my way through the last one so much that I just gave up on it.
That doesn't mean all stories were rubbish: some were quite enjoyable. There's a lot of attention to detail, and the stories are quite slow and reflective, which is nice if you're into that sort of thing. None of the stories really resonated with me, though.
That doesn't mean all stories were rubbish: some were quite enjoyable. There's a lot of attention to detail, and the stories are quite slow and reflective, which is nice if you're into that sort of thing. None of the stories really resonated with me, though.