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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
This book deserves a solid 4 stars in my book. I was honestly pleasantly surprised as my previous encounter with Lovecraft's early work was sort of ok.
Admittedly, Lovecraft used this story as practice for his novel writing and as some other folks on here said, it shows.
For me, however is was still a very good read.
Character: 4
In short, I liked Carter as a character despite his deficiencies. (Or really Lovecraft's.) The pure concept of a dreamer who is so engrossed in it that it just might be real is mesmerizing. Carter is a fascinating person and whether his adventures are induced by hashish, over active imagination or are real, the bottom line was that I enjoyed following his footsteps.
Plot: 3
Plot was actually very solid, I thought. Lots of fun adventures and unexpected twists. This is certainly not a standard tale and anything goes. I thought it was fun to not really ever feel the need to guess what will happen next.
Walls and walls of text without sufficient dialogue or some sort of separations for an easier read would have been more immersive.
Setting: 5
Now I really enjoyed the tale's setting and general ambiance. Was it over the top descriptive? Yes, it sure was, but it felt creepy and weird and it made me want to slow down and just spend some in that strange world myself.
Overall, this was much better then the previous book, still rough, but it evoked a good deal of emotion out of me, especially the setting, which makes me think about what some of the later written stories might bring to the table.
Looking forward to it.
Roman "Ragnar"
Admittedly, Lovecraft used this story as practice for his novel writing and as some other folks on here said, it shows.
For me, however is was still a very good read.
Character: 4
In short, I liked Carter as a character despite his deficiencies. (Or really Lovecraft's.) The pure concept of a dreamer who is so engrossed in it that it just might be real is mesmerizing. Carter is a fascinating person and whether his adventures are induced by hashish, over active imagination or are real, the bottom line was that I enjoyed following his footsteps.
Plot: 3
Plot was actually very solid, I thought. Lots of fun adventures and unexpected twists. This is certainly not a standard tale and anything goes. I thought it was fun to not really ever feel the need to guess what will happen next.
Walls and walls of text without sufficient dialogue or some sort of separations for an easier read would have been more immersive.
Setting: 5
Now I really enjoyed the tale's setting and general ambiance. Was it over the top descriptive? Yes, it sure was, but it felt creepy and weird and it made me want to slow down and just spend some in that strange world myself.
Overall, this was much better then the previous book, still rough, but it evoked a good deal of emotion out of me, especially the setting, which makes me think about what some of the later written stories might bring to the table.
Looking forward to it.
Roman "Ragnar"
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
I've been working my way through H.P. Lovercraft for a side project that I work on when I have time. It's the first time I've read any of these stories and I'm digging the chance to see into the dreamlands and analyze, in a literary way, what it all means. I absolutely believe that there are deeper meanings in Lovecraft than most people think. His stories leave so much open for interpretation that there are always differing opinions. This probably would have been a higher rating, but I have come to realize that I'm not a huge fan of Lovecraft's longer fictions. I had a bit of trouble with "At the Mountains of Madness", and equally with "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath". He gets a little too buried in the minutia and it can be difficult to follow the link. Some great characters here though, Randolph Carter is the best of Lovecraft's creations (most of his characters are not very fully developed). This one is pretty much all about the Dreamlands however, so if you're looking for straight horror stories go for "The Doom that Came to Sarnath".
Although this novella was unpublished during Lovecraft's lifetime, it might well be one of his best works.
At first reading, I thought that the writing was over-wrought, with every noun sagging beneath the weight of dozens of adjectives and sentences that were so long as to make Dicken's best efforts thereon appear lame. Some of the characterizations, particularly of the cats, seemed to descend from adult fantasy to almost childish work. But as I examined the work, I realized that this was by design; Lovecraft was trying to relate the limitless nature of dreams in scope, color, and in the nature of the beings peopling them. Too often, we forget that the creatures we meet in dreams can be simple in form, that they do not need to be super-human in nature.
Likewise, his protagonist Carter's escapes from various predicaments seemed to rely too much on Deus Ex Machina; but then, many of the characters in Carter's dream quest actually were gods, so the logic is sound.
Curiously, I found the revelation at the end to be far more advanced than should have been possible, anticipating a scientific discovery about the nature of the cosmos by eighty years. The foundations of modern theory were still unwritten in Lovecraft's era, and his works focused on fantasy rather than science-fiction, so it bespeaks a powerful imagination to have foretold something that we are still coming to terms with nearly a century later.
At first reading, I thought that the writing was over-wrought, with every noun sagging beneath the weight of dozens of adjectives and sentences that were so long as to make Dicken's best efforts thereon appear lame. Some of the characterizations, particularly of the cats, seemed to descend from adult fantasy to almost childish work. But as I examined the work, I realized that this was by design; Lovecraft was trying to relate the limitless nature of dreams in scope, color, and in the nature of the beings peopling them. Too often, we forget that the creatures we meet in dreams can be simple in form, that they do not need to be super-human in nature.
Likewise, his protagonist Carter's escapes from various predicaments seemed to rely too much on Deus Ex Machina; but then, many of the characters in Carter's dream quest actually were gods, so the logic is sound.
Curiously, I found the revelation at the end to be far more advanced than should have been possible, anticipating a scientific discovery about the nature of the cosmos by eighty years. The foundations of modern theory were still unwritten in Lovecraft's era, and his works focused on fantasy rather than science-fiction, so it bespeaks a powerful imagination to have foretold something that we are still coming to terms with nearly a century later.
This review is only for the first story in this collection, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
I read this after reading The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, which was written in homage/response to The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Perhaps I would have liked it more if I had read them in the reverse order - after reading the smart, modern, well-characterized, socially-thoughtful Vellitt Boe, the flatness and monotony and self-centeredness of Unknown Kadath was tough to slog through. It's classic Lovecraftian writing, and a product of its time.
I read this after reading The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, which was written in homage/response to The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Perhaps I would have liked it more if I had read them in the reverse order - after reading the smart, modern, well-characterized, socially-thoughtful Vellitt Boe, the flatness and monotony and self-centeredness of Unknown Kadath was tough to slog through. It's classic Lovecraftian writing, and a product of its time.
It's a bit difficult to accurately describe this book, but I'll try my best.
It's like...it's like if Edgar Allan Poe rewrote The Wizard of Oz after smoking a boat-load of weed. And that's exactly what makes it so awesome!
It's like...it's like if Edgar Allan Poe rewrote The Wizard of Oz after smoking a boat-load of weed. And that's exactly what makes it so awesome!
I'm not sure I actually understand the ending, although I read it twice to be sure. This is a really flawed book about a guy who travels through a lucid dream in search of a beautiful city he has dreamed of a few times. He travels from one dream location to another, meowing and meeping his way out of troubles. He befriends ghouls and cats, which help him escape trouble like being kidnapped into slavery by eyeless toad creatures. Bring a dream, nothing really makes any sense, and in the end, although he meets the Great Old One Nyarlathotep, that guy deceived the protagonist who wakes up in his bed... I think with the realization that his quest city is actually just somewhere in New England where he grew up?
This reminded me of a book I read at the beginning of the year, A Princess of Mars, in that it was a silly romp through a fantasy world. It was kind of pulpy and dumb. Lovecraft constantly throws unpronounceable names of irrelevant dream places at the reader, which makes this very difficult to read and care about what's going on. And once again, there are scenes but almost no dialogue. There is no real definition of character or development going on. I have no idea who this Carter guy is except some dude who can imitate cats and ghouls very well.
Pickman (from Lovecraft's short story Pickman's Model) makes an appearance here, having turned into one of the ghouls he had been painting, so I guess that was kinda cool. Otherwise, despite the short length of this novella, it was a real slog.
This reminded me of a book I read at the beginning of the year, A Princess of Mars, in that it was a silly romp through a fantasy world. It was kind of pulpy and dumb. Lovecraft constantly throws unpronounceable names of irrelevant dream places at the reader, which makes this very difficult to read and care about what's going on. And once again, there are scenes but almost no dialogue. There is no real definition of character or development going on. I have no idea who this Carter guy is except some dude who can imitate cats and ghouls very well.
Pickman (from Lovecraft's short story Pickman's Model) makes an appearance here, having turned into one of the ghouls he had been painting, so I guess that was kinda cool. Otherwise, despite the short length of this novella, it was a real slog.
As shorthand-reviewed on Twitter:
THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE: crones with disgusting familiars, insanity-inducing geometry, a gory ending: this story has all my faves!
Bonus Round: how many times can Lovecraft use the n-word without this short story actually featuring any PoC? Three times. Fucking wanker.
T. STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER: Randy and his buddy Harley dig open a swamp tomb and release a miasma of misery upon themselves in 7 pages.
T. DREAM QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH: Randy's back for an Odyssean traipse through the dreamlands. Pretty, but helter-skelter&easy to put down.
Bonus Round: No n-word sightings here, but enough Asiaphobic loathing toward "slant-eyed", untrustworthy merchants to make up for it!
T. SILVER KEY: Finally another good dream cycle short. Randy loses his ability to dream travel and enters a great, well written time loop.
BEYOND T. GATE OF T. SILVER KEY: oh my goD they've written an actual PoC in this! Amazing! Fantastiiit's an alien body swap with a mask on.
THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE: crones with disgusting familiars, insanity-inducing geometry, a gory ending: this story has all my faves!
Bonus Round: how many times can Lovecraft use the n-word without this short story actually featuring any PoC? Three times. Fucking wanker.
T. STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER: Randy and his buddy Harley dig open a swamp tomb and release a miasma of misery upon themselves in 7 pages.
T. DREAM QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH: Randy's back for an Odyssean traipse through the dreamlands. Pretty, but helter-skelter&easy to put down.
Bonus Round: No n-word sightings here, but enough Asiaphobic loathing toward "slant-eyed", untrustworthy merchants to make up for it!
T. SILVER KEY: Finally another good dream cycle short. Randy loses his ability to dream travel and enters a great, well written time loop.
BEYOND T. GATE OF T. SILVER KEY: oh my goD they've written an actual PoC in this! Amazing! Fantastiiit's an alien body swap with a mask on.
This book has no dialogue, which is very Lovecraftian, there is a monologue by Nyarlathotep, so it's OK for gods to speak.
A series of short stories taking place in the Dreamlands mostly dealing with Randolph Carter. Carter's made of somewhat tougher stuff than most protagonists, he feels horror, but doesn't totally fall to pieces. Also, mostly missing is the racism that fills many of Lovecraft's stories that take place in the real world. An interesting and bizarre read, I've often wondered if Carter is some kind of stand in for what HPL wanted to do with his life, i.e. live in dreams and never really talk to anyone.
These shorts apparently inspired at least one movie and several authors have written stories set in the Dreamlands.
A series of short stories taking place in the Dreamlands mostly dealing with Randolph Carter. Carter's made of somewhat tougher stuff than most protagonists, he feels horror, but doesn't totally fall to pieces. Also, mostly missing is the racism that fills many of Lovecraft's stories that take place in the real world. An interesting and bizarre read, I've often wondered if Carter is some kind of stand in for what HPL wanted to do with his life, i.e. live in dreams and never really talk to anyone.
These shorts apparently inspired at least one movie and several authors have written stories set in the Dreamlands.
Of all his stories, Lovecraft's dream cycle is my favorite.