A review by rosekk
H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction by S.T. Joshi, H.P. Lovecraft
3.0
I don't think I've ever been so determined to finish a book - nor has finishing a book required so much determination. I appreciate what Lovecraft brought to literature - and the horror/fantasy genres in particular. I know I've read a lot which was clearly inspired by Lovecraft's work (and plenty that is just wholesale ripped of from it), so I know I owe plenty of my favourite books (and games... and music...) to him and his work. I also understand why people have been so taken with his work; he offers some unique takes on terror and what inspires it.
I just didn't love any of the stories that much. Part of the problem might be that I'm coming to the party too late - I've read (and watched, and played) some really great things that draw on Lovecraft, but that means I've met a lot of his ideas before, with all of the benefits that come from decades of intervening work. As such I can appreciate Lovecraft's stories for what they are, but they don't hold the same allure for me.
I couldn't get on with his writing style. It didn't help that this collection is arranged chronologically, so my first experiences were with his most amateur work, but even his most famous takes have a wordy way with them that just doesn't hold my attention well.
Reading so much of his work in one go probably also didn't help - a lot of motifs get repeated, and it gets boring when it starts to feel like you're reading the same story in different guises. It was recommended to me to dip in and out of the book and not read it all at once, but I was worried that if I didn't stick with it I'd end up leaving it and not finishing it for ages.
Perhaps the most obvious problems with the stories are the extreme racism. I know you can't expect authors living in different eras and places to adhere to the same worldview as myself, but his xenophobia is so gratuitous in invades many of his stories. It's not just a matter of a few off-hand questionable phrases that indicate some unpleasant prejudices, whole stories are brought down by what amounts to propaganda against certain races. The story that struck me the worst for this was The Street - I loved the idea of a whole area like a street that had a degree of sentience and judged its inhabitants, and the changes occurring on it; but the bulk of the story is about complaining about how Armenians and Syrians have destroyed the feel of the otherwise happy all-American road... And of course there are plenty of other races that are clearly judged wanting by Lovecraft.
Over all, I'm glad I read the collection because there are some interesting things in the stories, and they've been so influential. I'm also really relieved to have finished them.
I just didn't love any of the stories that much. Part of the problem might be that I'm coming to the party too late - I've read (and watched, and played) some really great things that draw on Lovecraft, but that means I've met a lot of his ideas before, with all of the benefits that come from decades of intervening work. As such I can appreciate Lovecraft's stories for what they are, but they don't hold the same allure for me.
I couldn't get on with his writing style. It didn't help that this collection is arranged chronologically, so my first experiences were with his most amateur work, but even his most famous takes have a wordy way with them that just doesn't hold my attention well.
Reading so much of his work in one go probably also didn't help - a lot of motifs get repeated, and it gets boring when it starts to feel like you're reading the same story in different guises. It was recommended to me to dip in and out of the book and not read it all at once, but I was worried that if I didn't stick with it I'd end up leaving it and not finishing it for ages.
Perhaps the most obvious problems with the stories are the extreme racism. I know you can't expect authors living in different eras and places to adhere to the same worldview as myself, but his xenophobia is so gratuitous in invades many of his stories. It's not just a matter of a few off-hand questionable phrases that indicate some unpleasant prejudices, whole stories are brought down by what amounts to propaganda against certain races. The story that struck me the worst for this was The Street - I loved the idea of a whole area like a street that had a degree of sentience and judged its inhabitants, and the changes occurring on it; but the bulk of the story is about complaining about how Armenians and Syrians have destroyed the feel of the otherwise happy all-American road... And of course there are plenty of other races that are clearly judged wanting by Lovecraft.
Over all, I'm glad I read the collection because there are some interesting things in the stories, and they've been so influential. I'm also really relieved to have finished them.