OK,
I picked up the Kindle anthology of HP Lovecraft.
I'm slogging through the first story about some guy in the Antarctic (At the Mountains of Madness).
While I can appreciate the setting, the prose is awful. It's like Lovecraft took a sophomore level thesaurus and stuck it in a blender. He uses lots of big words but all they do is get in the way of what might be an otherwise good story.
As an editor I'm pulling out my hair trying to force myself to enjoy a story that is not well told.
Why is this guy being hailed as anything other than a really poor writer? Does it get better? Are any of the stories worth reading?
Two things:
1. His stories vary wildly regarding their quality. Some of the stories in your anthology he probably wrote when he was like 14 or something.
2. They're cult popular. Not everyone gets it. I didn't really care for the Lovecraft stories I read either.
Thanks.
This first one is painful.
I finally gave up. Looked at the first short story. Not great either, though it was written in 1916 IIRC and may have been when he was young. Even then it was far too wordy to be useful.
Hopefully someone can recommend something decent worth reading.
Quote from: LongBlade on July 02, 2013, 11:37:56 PM
Thanks.
This first one is painful.
I finally gave up. Looked at the first short story. Not great either, though it was written in 1916 IIRC and may have been when he was young. Even then it was far too wordy to be useful.
Hopefully someone can recommend something decent worth reading.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstat.homeshop18.com%2Fhomeshop18%2Fimages%2Fcoinjoos%2F311%2F300x300_46bfface67bae37fd3a896a2271188cc.jpg&hash=c07eea4a2153acd5ec73f5e8261fb759b987a8c0)
Try Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Quote from: Gusington on July 03, 2013, 12:32:37 AM
Try Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Some friend.... a little self discovery that doesn't involve his hands would be good for LB ;)
Thanks for the imagery.
Quote from: Gusington on July 03, 2013, 08:30:55 AM
Thanks for the imagery.
You have to admit, it was very Lovecraftian.
I'd say go for something popular like Call of Cthulu or something like that. If that doesn't satisfy you, likely it's time to move on. I'm assuming you're looking for a Lovecraft recommendation.
hes a Som'bitch favorite. what else need be said.
I like Lovecraft too!
Quote from: Gusington on July 03, 2013, 12:32:37 AM
Try Shadow Over Innsmouth.
+1
I also enjoyed
The Rats in the Walls and
The Thing On The Doorstep.
Try one of the HP Lovecraft movies instead?
http://www.hplovecraft.com/popcult/moviestv/based.aspx
Dagon, From Beyond, and Reanimator are three worth watching.
Reanimator was a hoot!
Quote from: mirth on July 04, 2013, 01:09:54 PM
Reanimator was a hoot!
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv673%2Fstar_stencils%2FMovies%2Freanimator.gif&hash=79b7e6595c2f30b1c019b62e068579592a92a090)
Out of Mind, while low budget, is a well worth watching take on the Lovecraft mythos.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213968/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213968/)
His two best short stories were:
Shadow over Innsmouth
Call of Cthulhu
He is famous for two reasons. First, he started a new sub-genre of literature. The literature has lasted almost 100 years now.
Second, his work inspired an awesome RPG - Call of Cthulhu!!!
I agree that At the Mountains of Madness really, really needed an editor.
Roger Zelazny wrote a Cthulhu-type book that was just outstanding:
A Night in Lonesome October. It is simply amazing.
Lovecraft was also most likely clinically depressed and a drug-addicted alcoholic. His life story is quite depressing. It seems like maladies like those are somehow linked to creative thinking.
An insider's tip to capture the true Lovecraftian atmosphere: I highly recommend the movie "The Call of Cthulhu", a silent movie from 2005, filmed with original silent movie techniques from 1920. VERY cool and very Cthulhu!
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/ (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/)
^Whoa. Ok you win.
Quote from: Hiimori on July 07, 2013, 05:09:34 PM
An insider's tip to capture the true Lovecraftian atmosphere: I highly recommend the movie "The Call of Cthulhu", a silent movie from 2005, filmed with original silent movie techniques from 1920. VERY cool and very Cthulhu!
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/ (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/)
Trailer looks very cool!
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Quote from: Hiimori on July 07, 2013, 05:09:34 PM
An insider's tip to capture the true Lovecraftian atmosphere: I highly recommend the movie "The Call of Cthulhu", a silent movie from 2005, filmed with original silent movie techniques from 1920. VERY cool and very Cthulhu!
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/ (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/)
This is on netflix
Awesome!
Quote from: Hiimori on July 07, 2013, 05:09:34 PM
An insider's tip to capture the true Lovecraftian atmosphere: I highly recommend the movie "The Call of Cthulhu", a silent movie from 2005, filmed with original silent movie techniques from 1920. VERY cool and very Cthulhu!
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/ (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/)
My wife and I watched it on Netflix tonight. We gave it 4 stars out of 5. Well worth watching if you like the genre.
Also just watched it...I really liked that it was "silent." Well done.
http://www.lurkerfilms.com/cat/ (http://www.lurkerfilms.com/cat/)
I've been reading "Strange Case of somebody Ward." It's actually pretty good.
Great? Meh. But I'm getting where he's coming from now and I see the inspiration behind the games. It's not a bad time killer on my Kindle.
A couple things to keep in mind about Lovecraft:
1) He was writing before practically anybody else besides Jules Verne had done science fiction. Put aside all the hackneyed themes of alien invaders that have been hashed and rehashed to the consistency of tapioca in the last 50 years. Put yourself in the mindset of somebody in the 1920s, where science is making huge advances and much of the world is unknown but the world is untamed and a lot of mystery still remains.
2) Imagine the literary forebears he had to draw on for that genre. Let's see, there was Edgar Allan Poe... and there was Edgar Allan Poe...
3) He bent and blended genres in ways that nobody's been able to since. Stephen King tries (and King himself admits that Lovecraft was his primary inspiration among 20th century authors), but his novels have to be set in the modern world where so much more is known. Lovecraft was writing at a time when much less was known, but the rate of change in life hinted at huge potentialities. He just explored those potentialities in less... pleasant directions than some authors.
He's not everybody's cup of tea, and I'll admit that I read him sparingly. But I think he's a real pioneer and his stories really freak me out. The Rats in the Walls still makes me shudder.
Don't forget his drug use, alcoholism and mental illness! What more do you need for a great writer?
or a great artist. ::)
Add in parents who died after becoming mad from syphilis and some creepy controlling aunts who hated his wife.
He was either going to be the father of modern scifi-horror or a serial killer. Sometimes things just work out for the better.
^Recipe for greatness!
I read Call of Cthulhu and liked it. He clearly got better.
As an aside, I actually had a dream a month or so back about being sucked into the call of Cthulhu. Pretty freaky, I've not read any since. Not that I believe I actually heard such a call. More like I'd rather not have any more bad dreams if I can find the source and eliminate it.
It's kind of surprising that Lovecroft and Howard (Conan) were basically writing at the same time.
Don't know if it was something of the time, or just the demand of the pulp magazines, that let them write their different bodies of work.
New collection of Cthulu mythos stories now available.
http://www.amazon.com/Acolytes-Cthulhu-Neil-Gaiman/dp/1781165262/
This must be better than average. One of the reviewers slammed it as being unchristian and blasphemous.
Really...I have to look into that. Wonder where they dug these up from..
Quote from: Gusington on October 14, 2013, 08:09:51 AM
Really...I have to look into that. Wonder where they dug these up from..
Places from beyond time and space. Horrible locales whose words will no doubt torment your dreams until some unspeakable evil visits and gifts you the sweet embrace of a peaceful death.
^Looking forward to it.