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claireskies's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-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
3.0
I feel bad for giving such a famous and influential author such an average rating, but i must say I was disappointed.
Firstly to address the elephant in the room: it is hard to read Lovecraft and avoid his racist ideologies. While we can all sit and say "oh it was a different time then," it doesn't erase how harmful and influential his words are. In describing the whiteness of Herbet West, I believe, he describes him as of a superior race; caucasian, blue eyes, blonde hair. Frankly, many of Lovecraft's stories are ruined by his unecessary insertion of racist comments. For example, in the Rats in the Walls, it adds nothing for the narrator's favourite cat to be named a slur. One can easily discuss the folklore of native americans without calling them savages. Lovecraft also has a strange obsession with Congo and "white apes" which I believe are a reference to black people with albinism.
However in this anthology, S. T. Joshi is not hesitant to point out Lovecraft's flaws, and my dislike of Lovecraft is in no way tied to the work of Joshi. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his explanatory notes at rhe end of the collection. I don't enjoy nonfiction, so I don't always read these notes, but I was very impressed and enraptured by the editor's.
In some praise of Lovecraft, he really is an amazing writer. Bad person, but a good writer. His ability to string together a beautiful array of words to evoke somewhat abstract yet atmospheric, concrete settings is outstanding. His descriptions are unsettling and eerie, but magical.
And back to crticism... now I do enjoy reading older works, and this is something I find in perhaps all of them. They are anticlimatic. Which sounds wrong to say considering that we experience the rise and fall of Cthulu in this collection. (Though that story did have one of the stronger climaxes). Authors of this period focus too much on exposition, and it feels as though the ending is rushed. In a longer story, the narrator flees right as things get really interesting. It feels as though we are touring through a beautiful mansion only to be rushed out without ever being shown upstairs.
While I appreciate each story being linked, I wish Lovecraft made the connections stronger. It almost feels like a cop out when Lovecraft has invented this new, cosmic being only to turn around and say "oh yeah blah blah this guy is in Necromoniom lol." As someone who also likes to do this, it just wasn't as effective enough. Perhaps it was because the only thing linking these stories is one book. It would have been far more powerful if perhaps instead of the author seeing that book on someone's shelf, they spotted a bizarre metal cylindar.
"Shadow over Innsmouth" evades these downfalls and is by far my favourite story in this collection.It starts off a little slow, but by the end I was flipping through the pages frantically: both in trying to see where the story gets next, and also to escape the fantastic horros of Innsmouth. Cosmic and eldritch horror don't tend to scare me, but as the narrator attemps his escape from the town, my heart was in my mouth. I felt this story had the most action in it compared to the rest, and that scene where the narrator attempts to flee the hotel by breaking through room after room was frightening.
Overall, I say Lovecraft, and this collection of stories, is worth a read. It's average rating is a result of racist and xenophobic ideals that made some stories difficult to read, as well as the lacking climaxes of certain stories.
Firstly to address the elephant in the room: it is hard to read Lovecraft and avoid his racist ideologies. While we can all sit and say "oh it was a different time then," it doesn't erase how harmful and influential his words are. In describing the whiteness of Herbet West, I believe, he describes him as of a superior race; caucasian, blue eyes, blonde hair. Frankly, many of Lovecraft's stories are ruined by his unecessary insertion of racist comments. For example, in the Rats in the Walls, it adds nothing for the narrator's favourite cat to be named a slur. One can easily discuss the folklore of native americans without calling them savages. Lovecraft also has a strange obsession with Congo and "white apes" which I believe are a reference to black people with albinism.
However in this anthology, S. T. Joshi is not hesitant to point out Lovecraft's flaws, and my dislike of Lovecraft is in no way tied to the work of Joshi. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his explanatory notes at rhe end of the collection. I don't enjoy nonfiction, so I don't always read these notes, but I was very impressed and enraptured by the editor's.
In some praise of Lovecraft, he really is an amazing writer. Bad person, but a good writer. His ability to string together a beautiful array of words to evoke somewhat abstract yet atmospheric, concrete settings is outstanding. His descriptions are unsettling and eerie, but magical.
And back to crticism... now I do enjoy reading older works, and this is something I find in perhaps all of them. They are anticlimatic. Which sounds wrong to say considering that we experience the rise and fall of Cthulu in this collection. (Though that story did have one of the stronger climaxes). Authors of this period focus too much on exposition, and it feels as though the ending is rushed. In a longer story, the narrator flees right as things get really interesting. It feels as though we are touring through a beautiful mansion only to be rushed out without ever being shown upstairs.
"Shadow over Innsmouth" evades these downfalls and is by far my favourite story in this collection.
Overall, I say Lovecraft, and this collection of stories, is worth a read. It's average rating is a result of racist and xenophobic ideals that made some stories difficult to read, as well as the lacking climaxes of certain stories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism