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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
The Call of Cthulhu is one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most iconic novellas, and now having read it, I can definitely see why.
In only the short space of novella, Lovecraft manages to create a convincing and tangible mythology of the great Cthulhu, and I was nothing short of impressed.
It is also so atmospheric - you can feel the macabre seeping off of the page. I would love to read this in English, as I’ve read many reviews saying that the language Lovecraft uses really enhances this terrifying atmosphere.
I would highly recommend if you’re looking for something spooky this Halloween season !
In only the short space of novella, Lovecraft manages to create a convincing and tangible mythology of the great Cthulhu, and I was nothing short of impressed.
It is also so atmospheric - you can feel the macabre seeping off of the page. I would love to read this in English, as I’ve read many reviews saying that the language Lovecraft uses really enhances this terrifying atmosphere.
I would highly recommend if you’re looking for something spooky this Halloween season !
I really wanted to read this because the entire idea of Cthulhu was intriguing, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. But I was very disappointed.
I hate infodumps and long-winded paragraphs and unfortunately that's what this entire thing was. There was practically no dialogue, which is one of the things that I absolutely hate... if there's no dialogue, I can't accurately picture the story as being "real" or "believable" no matter how far-flung it may be. Again, like other authors, Lovecraft seemed to try to imitate Poe's style, where every detail was relevant to the senses and the story and couldn't be skimmed over. This, however, seemed to be the sort of thing that I could read every word literally, or skim heavily and still come away with a similar image and message.
There was also no characterization of anyone, making the whole thing extremely unpersonable and dull. The last part of the story did have a bit of personality, but not really that much that I felt sorry for the survivors.
Frankly, the imagery didn't disturb me at all, either. I was thinking that Lovecraft's style would invoke mental images of Lewis Carroll's or Hieronymus Bosch's grotesque, phantasmagoric, macabre creatures and images--images that I find spine-tingling and haunting, but at the same time intriguing and enjoyable to explore. If it hadn't been for the abundance of Cthulhu art that there is out there, I don't think that I would have had any visual image at all of the creature. Not that I base my imagination of these sorts of things only on artwork and such, but the descriptions just didn't capture me and my mind failed to conjure up any original image of the creature, creepy or not.
In all, the combination of no dialogue, flat characters, and the over-description (and sometimes redundancy) of the story had me very disappointed in the story. I'll probably be giving a few other Lovecraft stories a try (this one is the most popular, and I usually end up not liking popular things), but this, unfortunately, wasn't a good first impression of his works.
I hate infodumps and long-winded paragraphs and unfortunately that's what this entire thing was. There was practically no dialogue, which is one of the things that I absolutely hate... if there's no dialogue, I can't accurately picture the story as being "real" or "believable" no matter how far-flung it may be. Again, like other authors, Lovecraft seemed to try to imitate Poe's style, where every detail was relevant to the senses and the story and couldn't be skimmed over. This, however, seemed to be the sort of thing that I could read every word literally, or skim heavily and still come away with a similar image and message.
There was also no characterization of anyone, making the whole thing extremely unpersonable and dull. The last part of the story did have a bit of personality, but not really that much that I felt sorry for the survivors.
Frankly, the imagery didn't disturb me at all, either. I was thinking that Lovecraft's style would invoke mental images of Lewis Carroll's or Hieronymus Bosch's grotesque, phantasmagoric, macabre creatures and images--images that I find spine-tingling and haunting, but at the same time intriguing and enjoyable to explore. If it hadn't been for the abundance of Cthulhu art that there is out there, I don't think that I would have had any visual image at all of the creature. Not that I base my imagination of these sorts of things only on artwork and such, but the descriptions just didn't capture me and my mind failed to conjure up any original image of the creature, creepy or not.
In all, the combination of no dialogue, flat characters, and the over-description (and sometimes redundancy) of the story had me very disappointed in the story. I'll probably be giving a few other Lovecraft stories a try (this one is the most popular, and I usually end up not liking popular things), but this, unfortunately, wasn't a good first impression of his works.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
medium-paced
don't ask him what his cat was called. yes politics and beliefs do seep into art. try to think for one second about the base form of all of his stories.
Better than I expected. Lovecraft seems to have an extremely vivid, powerful imagination
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
La manera en la que escribe el autor me fascina, esa forma de hacer de la historia un hecho real, como si fuera un misterio a resolver. Pero no me dio nada de miedo, lo que hizo que me decepcionara un poco. Sin embargo estas criaturas son interesantes y quiero leer más sobre ellas.