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Post by pulphack on Oct 27, 2010 8:30:53 GMT
just to backtrack a little... the first time i read HP was directly after reading an Edgar Wallace (probably Dark Eyes Of London or Terror Keep) and it struck me as static, dull and lifeless. i didn't go near him for a couple of years until the then-mrs - a fan of the man - persuaded me to have another crack. this time, after not reading something pacy beforehand, i got it...
you're right, andy - his action is awful and his heroes do some inexplicable things as they becomes pawns to his plotting, BUT... it's his flaws that make him, as he avoids this kind of thing most of the time in favour thick, rich layers of atmosphere and internal monlogues/descriptions of dread and foreboding. his evocation of a growing sense of terror is - for me - unrivalled. i agree with you, des, you have to accept the flaws as they inform the bits that are great. he can only write the one way, almost as though compelled to, and that's what gives him the intensity.
can we lay one thing to rest that's always bugged me: years ago i read a piece by mike moorcock where he complains that lovecraft is a lazy writer because everything is 'unnameable' and 'indescribable' and so he 'makes the reader do all the work'. well, in the first place you could argue that why shouldn't the reader do some of the work and don't they anyway? but aside from that, surely Lovecraft is trying to tap into the intimate fears of each individual to shape the horror and actually does all the work in the lead up to these moments by other passages that are anything BUT lazy?
meanwhile, back in the bookshop, HPL has got to be one of the worst served writers in terms of his work being chopped up into different collections that mix and match periods and repeat work over and over - the ex-mrs had several paperbacks from different eras, many of which overlapped material in a way i can't recall seeing from other writers of shorter fiction. at a couple of points there have been publishers attempting to publish in order and in a coherent programme, but it does make picking him up a bit of a hazard.
thoug having said that, he's has some cracking covers - my favourite was an eyeball poking out of a skull - a photograph - for a panther volume that cleared up uncollected stuff from their series (including his ghostwrite for Houdini, which i adored out of all proportion to its actual merit). i think it was called The Tomb, but it's over a decade since i last saw a copy.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Oct 27, 2010 9:04:43 GMT
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Post by weirdmonger on Oct 27, 2010 9:33:52 GMT
Hey, Craig. That's the one. I'm very grateful. Over the moon, in fact. But how did you find it? I searched the internet! des
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Oct 27, 2010 9:52:13 GMT
I had it many years ago. If I told you how I did it it would reveal that I am not working as hard on the new CD as I should be. searched abebooks under the title and publisher Found it was published in panther in 1963. pumped title and other publishing details into images under google. How sad is that
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Post by weirdmonger on Oct 27, 2010 10:10:18 GMT
How sad is that Well, thanks. It's a remarkably effective cover, more effective than I recall it.
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Post by doug on Oct 27, 2010 11:04:45 GMT
Here are the 2 HPL Rowena covers that sold me on his "vision". These were middle 1970s HBJ editions of "The Dunwich Horror" and "The Colour out of space" [ This was my first HPL exposure through the old Scholastic Book club but as a 5th grader i just didn't "get" it. It's just my opinion but i think you need to be exposed to HPL at a fairly young age to truly get into the whole thing. But then agian I feel that way about most genre writing. imagine giving a 40 year old who never read this kind of stuff a copy of Lovecraft and see how they react. take care. Doug
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Post by doug on Oct 27, 2010 11:06:09 GMT
Here's the colour out of space cover.. [
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 27, 2010 11:24:06 GMT
It's just my opinion but i think you need to be exposed to HPL at a fairly young age to truly get into the whole thing. When I sampled him as a youngster, I did not get the point at all---in particular, the humor went right over my head. It was only at age 34 that I suddenly found I enjoyed Lovecraft very much. (I had a similar experience with Conan Doyle and the Sherlock Holmes stories, which I found boring as a child.)
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Post by andydecker on Oct 27, 2010 12:09:14 GMT
BUT... it's his flaws that make him, as he avoids this kind of thing most of the time in favour thick, rich layers of atmosphere and internal monlogues/descriptions of dread and foreboding. his evocation of a growing sense of terror is - for me - unrivalled. Yes, absolutly. Again in Whisperer, his long descriptions of the country and the woods are marvelous and haunting. Often copied, seldom achieved. The often featured alienation of his characters with an as "safe" perceived world is what works so well with him. It is not the BEMs that are scary, it is the realization that the civilisation of the narrator doesn´t matter a bit. I have similar experiences with HPL then some of the vaulters. I first read him with 17, and while some stories did leave an imprint, I didn´t really understood him. (or what was supposed to be so great about him). But over the course of the years I often revisited him, not the least because of the movies or the growing scholary treaties on him. And today I have more editions of him than is necessary.
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Post by doug on Oct 27, 2010 19:34:13 GMT
I guess that you all've proved me wrong. I loved HPL in high scholl and still love him today, warts and all. Who I hated as a kid, but can't get enough of now is Jack Vance. I also went through 3 stages of Harlan Ellison.....
I don't get it. (12 years old)
He's god (late teen/early 20s)
What a pretentious self rightous jerk. (40s+)
I have tried so often to get someone to read HPL (these are usualy folks who never read genre literature) and they can't stand him. But to be realistic they wouldn't probably like any fantastic literature be it SF, Horror or Fantasy. As a kid I wasn't very critical towards any of Lovecraft's writing and today I catch myself self at times asking (about the protagonist) has this guy completely turned off his brain? don't go down there!! Leave that book alone. duuuh, can't you see that those are monsters??? LOL take care. Doug
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Oct 27, 2010 22:18:15 GMT
I guess that you all've proved me wrong. I loved HPL in high scholl and still love him today, warts and all. Who I hated as a kid, but can't get enough of now is Jack Vance. I also went through 3 stages of Harlan Ellison..... I don't get it. (12 years old) He's god (late teen/early 20s) What a pretentious self rightous jerk. (40s+) I have tried so often to get someone to read HPL (these are usualy folks who never read genre literature) and they can't stand him. But to be realistic they wouldn't probably like any fantastic literature be it SF, Horror or Fantasy. As a kid I wasn't very critical towards any of Lovecraft's writing and today I catch myself self at times asking (about the protagonist) has this guy completely turned off his brain? don't go down there!! Leave that book alone. duuuh, can't you see that those are monsters??? LOL take care. Doug Everything you said is true and you might as well be me
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Oct 28, 2010 7:08:39 GMT
Except that bit about Ellison being God. In my teens I still didn't get what he was on about but thought he must be really cool because everyone else thought so.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 28, 2010 7:46:25 GMT
In the Vault - Where we all love to be, of course. But not George Birch, local undertaker, trapped in the receiving tomb of Peck Valley Cemetary. He's a bit of a resourceful one is George, who never likes a coffin to go to waste, even if it is a bit too small for the recently dead evil old bugger who never forgets a grudge. Watch out for your ankles, George... It's an odd choice to start the book with, but at the same time is loaded with atmosphere and has a pretty neat and witty ending. Pickman's Model - Not sure how many times I've read this now but like a lot of the stories in here it rewards repeat readings. I love stories about horror in art anyway, and the disappearance of Richard Upton Pickman after painting a number of pieces depicting horrible things beginning to encroach on our world stlll packs a few chills. The Rats in the Walls - Exham Priory has a deep dark secret. Very deep and very dark. What's that noise in the walls? Is it rats? Well no...not exactly. The sense of cosmic horror here is led into wonderfully, and when HPL lets himself go this really kicks into high gear and you feel swept up in the horrors that are barely imaginable as they go on and on from chamber to chamber leading to the inevitable madness. Full marks for this one. The Outsider - One of the first of his I read and still a neat little vignette with all the subtext any 'Outsider' could want The Colour Out of Space - Reading this one again I was struck by how HPL had invented the big Hollywood special effects extravaganza way before his time. Weird space stuff, people crumbling to bits while still alive, all those weird and lurid colours, and a finale where the entire countryside goes crazy in a blaze of lights. Splendid The Music of Erich Zann - Tortured musicians are another favourite of mine and this brief tale of a violinist living in the topmost crooked building of a decidedly unnerving area of town, playing like crazy to prevent something from coming to get him (and perhaps the rest of the world) is a little gem. That's where I am so far and I have to say that even though HPL has his detractors I'm finding these stories even better than I did when I last read them around 12 years ago. All writers produce some rubbish but it's been a relief to find that these old favourites still stand up very well indeed.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Oct 28, 2010 8:06:29 GMT
The Music of Erich Zann - Tortured musicians are another favourite of mine and this brief tale of a violinist living in the topmost crooked building of a decidedly unnerving area of town, playing like crazy to prevent something from coming to get him (and perhaps the rest of the world) is a little gem. That's where I am so far and I have to say that even though HPL has his detractors I'm finding these stories even better than I did when I last read them around 12 years ago. All writers produce some rubbish but it's been a relief to find that these old favourites still stand up very well indeed. Sometimes perhaps its your own mood that determines the enjoyment but a test is when a story's title sends a faint chill across the body. Remembering the tale is a sure sign it had an effect. I now remember that I thought the The Music of Erich Zann a particularly good story. Must dig it out
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Post by doug on Oct 28, 2010 9:47:50 GMT
Hi, I didn't realy think he was "God" (I guess I exaggerated a wee bit)! But a around 30 years ago I though he was one of the worlds coolest people! LOL That opinion has since changed. He's good writer though.
take care. Doug
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