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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
I have been aware of H. P. Lovecraft for nearly 40 years having been interested in role-playing games during my childhood; I was aware of the 'Call of Cthulu' role-playing game (and was intrigued by it), however being of limited means I plumped for the Dungeons & Dragons (Basic Set) instead. Around the same time Metallica released their 'Ride The Lightning' album upon which was the intstrumental track 'Call of Ktulu', and the following year saw the release of the very gory horror film 'Re-Animator' which I also knew to be based upon Lovecraft's writing. Yet it has taken me till 2020 (arguably the most horrific year I've known!) when I have found myself with additional time to fill, and finding these new and cheap Arcturus Publishing editions, that I have finally got around to reading him.
So what do I think? Well the various claims of Lovecraft's enduring influence upon the more fantastical genres of horror and science fiction are valid and well founded. It is clear from this collection of 10 stories (the last entry, 'The History of The Necronomicon', is just a brief presentation of background information and cannot be considered as a story) that Lovecraft was, in his turn, influenced by other writers, most notably Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen, and Mary Shelley. In terms of his technique it is clear that Lovecraft liked to take time to build an atmosphere of foreboding, and there is a tendency for the stories to be centred around a 'modern' (for the time of writing) rational/cynical individual to find themselves gradually drawn into confrontation with the occult and arcane; confronations that are usually 'too horrific to describe' thereby allowing the reader's own imagination to do its worst, and usually resulting in the ruination of mental health/reputation of the unfortunate victim.
Of this collection of stories I felt the highlights are 'Herbert West - Reanimator' and the eponymous tale that the collection takes its name from (as an aside I think a film version of Reanimator which retained the First World War setting would be an exciting prospect!). The rest were entertaining enough but didn't engage me as much as the afore named.
Which brings me to the more negative aspects of these stories. My academic background is in History and so I expect all writers to be 'witnesses in spite of themselves' and I approach the writing of a century ago with an understanding that the assumptions and attitudes it will contain is very likely to be at odds with contemporary views and sensibilities. Even so, I was quite astonished at the extent of the racism inherent in these stories: all heroes (male, of course) are white Anglo-Saxons; any character of any other extraction is, whether intentional or not, untrustworthy or even outright evil, and Lovecraft appeared to have a particular mistrust of anyone of mixed heritage (on the strength of these stories he also appeared to have something of grudge against the Dutch, for some reason). The most shocking examples of Lovecraft's outright racism are in the narrative concerning an African American boxer who is described in bestial terms in 'Herbert West - Reanimator', and the name of a cat in 'The Rats In The Walls' story; the name of the cat has been censored in this edition and this has the effect of illustrating just how unacceptable the name is (I have since read that Lovecraft himself had a cat of the same name as a boy). Even allowing for the social mores of the 1920s I found I could not easily dismiss such instances, and the prospective reader is so forewarned.
So what do I think? Well the various claims of Lovecraft's enduring influence upon the more fantastical genres of horror and science fiction are valid and well founded. It is clear from this collection of 10 stories (the last entry, 'The History of The Necronomicon', is just a brief presentation of background information and cannot be considered as a story) that Lovecraft was, in his turn, influenced by other writers, most notably Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen, and Mary Shelley. In terms of his technique it is clear that Lovecraft liked to take time to build an atmosphere of foreboding, and there is a tendency for the stories to be centred around a 'modern' (for the time of writing) rational/cynical individual to find themselves gradually drawn into confrontation with the occult and arcane; confronations that are usually 'too horrific to describe' thereby allowing the reader's own imagination to do its worst, and usually resulting in the ruination of mental health/reputation of the unfortunate victim.
Of this collection of stories I felt the highlights are 'Herbert West - Reanimator' and the eponymous tale that the collection takes its name from (as an aside I think a film version of Reanimator which retained the First World War setting would be an exciting prospect!). The rest were entertaining enough but didn't engage me as much as the afore named.
Which brings me to the more negative aspects of these stories. My academic background is in History and so I expect all writers to be 'witnesses in spite of themselves' and I approach the writing of a century ago with an understanding that the assumptions and attitudes it will contain is very likely to be at odds with contemporary views and sensibilities. Even so, I was quite astonished at the extent of the racism inherent in these stories: all heroes (male, of course) are white Anglo-Saxons; any character of any other extraction is, whether intentional or not, untrustworthy or even outright evil, and Lovecraft appeared to have a particular mistrust of anyone of mixed heritage (on the strength of these stories he also appeared to have something of grudge against the Dutch, for some reason). The most shocking examples of Lovecraft's outright racism are in the narrative concerning an African American boxer who is described in bestial terms in 'Herbert West - Reanimator', and the name of a cat in 'The Rats In The Walls' story; the name of the cat has been censored in this edition and this has the effect of illustrating just how unacceptable the name is (I have since read that Lovecraft himself had a cat of the same name as a boy). Even allowing for the social mores of the 1920s I found I could not easily dismiss such instances, and the prospective reader is so forewarned.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Racist, and the stories aren’t even scary or good.
I racconti e i romanzi principali del Ciclo di Chtulhu non potevano essere presentati in una veste migliore.Copertina nera raffigurante il volto di Cthulhu con due occhi fiammeggianti che ti trafiggono,pagine bordate di nero e magnifiche illustrazioni.
Che dire di Lovecraft e del Ciclo nel suo insieme? Il senso di disagio e insignificanza che riesce a trasmettere non ha eguali, l'idea di fondo è quella che la paura sia il sentimento primigenio, quello più profondo e la paura più primordiale sia quella dell'ignoto. C'è tanto, troppo di imperscrutabile nell'universo, un posto spaventoso, dove l'uomo non conta nulla, quello che è, quello che fa, tutto verrà cancellato da ciò che non può conoscere.
"Impazzire, a volte è una reazione appropriata alla realtà": la citazione è di Philip K. Dick ma calza a pennello per descrivere l'opera di Lovecraft
Che dire di Lovecraft e del Ciclo nel suo insieme? Il senso di disagio e insignificanza che riesce a trasmettere non ha eguali, l'idea di fondo è quella che la paura sia il sentimento primigenio, quello più profondo e la paura più primordiale sia quella dell'ignoto. C'è tanto, troppo di imperscrutabile nell'universo, un posto spaventoso, dove l'uomo non conta nulla, quello che è, quello che fa, tutto verrà cancellato da ciò che non può conoscere.
"Impazzire, a volte è una reazione appropriata alla realtà": la citazione è di Philip K. Dick ma calza a pennello per descrivere l'opera di Lovecraft
I enjoyed this collection of Lovecraft's stories. Cosmic horror remains one of my favorite genres. However, there are some elements of the books I really did not enjoy. While some of Lovecraft's virulent racism is intrinsic to his stories to some degree, choosing to continue printing the n-word simply because its the name of a character's cat seems deeply unnecessary. It's not important to the plot, setting, character, whatever -- you could easily get rid of it and have it not matter. I guess its a nice reminder what a total bastard Lovecraft was, but it made me uncomfortable.
On a more literary note: I really enjoyed The Whisperer in Darkness, the point at which the protagonist ignores a million blatantly obvious signs of danger and proceeds to put himself in a precarious situation really pulled me out of the story. It was so patently obviously that something bad was going to happen and this allegedly very educated and intelligent person seemed almost entirely oblivious to the real possibility of the danger it posed it just killed the character for me.
On a more literary note: I really enjoyed The Whisperer in Darkness, the point at which the protagonist ignores a million blatantly obvious signs of danger and proceeds to put himself in a precarious situation really pulled me out of the story. It was so patently obviously that something bad was going to happen and this allegedly very educated and intelligent person seemed almost entirely oblivious to the real possibility of the danger it posed it just killed the character for me.
I lost interest in the book. The stories are pervaded with racism, and that’s a big reason why I didn’t like it, but a more technical reason is the writing style. If I had perhaps read ONE short story in this style, I would better appreciate it, but stories go on and on and one, and Lovecraft repeatedly uses the same themes, the same descriptions, the same words….
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Só comecei a ler esse conto pq a rainha NK fez muitas referências e queria saber mais sobre. Não gostei da escrita, lenta e n fala nada, a única coisa um pouco interessante é a descrição da cidade. Sem contar que é extremamente racista. Resumo: odiei, podre. Nunca mais lerei esse autor.