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A review by redsg
The Silver Key by H.P. Lovecraft
3.0
I may have jumped the gun by reading “The Silver Key” out of place. See, doing a bit of research, I discovered that it’s not only a part of a larger, interconnected fantasy series called the Dreamlands, but also a part of its own miniseries starring a character named Randolph Carter. In fact “The Silver Key” is the fourth book starring Carter. What this means is I might have to re-review it later as his other tales could theoretically add some background context to the story.
On its own, I found this to be a strange edition to this Lovecraftian collection as it is not horror but something more akin to an urban science fantasy story out of an episode of The Twilight Zone. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn if “Kick the Can” was inspired by this.
The first few paragraphs not only introduce us to this world, but also provide something of a personal treatise by Lovecraft on the spiritual and material flaws in both organized religion and scientific/atheistic circles. It’s a powerful, emotional lamentation on what Carter (or maybe even Lovecraft himself- apparently Carter was intended to be based off of the author) perceived as a degradation of human desire and imagination by these two opposing forces.
Now, people will no doubt argue about whether or not Lovecraft is right or creating a false equivalency or making outright incorrect judgments. As a reviewer of a fictional text, I’m not concerned with that- I’m concerned with the actual writing, and can proudly say that Lovecraft has outdone himself here. There are times when the language gets too rosy and poetic for its own good, but I’m inherently a sucker for this kind of romanticism and nostalgia, so I’m admittedly biased in this regard.
As I said, though, the purpose of this intro is two-fold: Lovecraft is fishing out a personal critique on the state of his world, while also giving some backstory to who Carter is and what he’s up to at this point in his life where he is middle-aged. Given my critique of the previous story in this collection, "In the Vault", for not giving the reader enough information about character backstories to make me invested in the present, it was a relief to see Lovecraft not make the same mistake again. I really got a sense as to the personality and personage of Carter, which made his journey more investable to follow along with.
To go into the details about the rest would be too spoilery, but needless to say Lovecraft really goes all in with the whimsical and freespiritedness of his language. There are times where he definitely could've lightened up on the concreteness of hte diction, but overall his flow is well-enough that I didn't have to double-back too many times.
Most importantly of all, "The Silver Key" ends on a satisfying and surprisingly happy note. There is a mythos in place, but Lovecraft actually finds a balance between giving us a part of it without making us desire more and giving us enough of it without overindulging the story in lore galore. Combined with the grammatical and syntax points above, I was overall satisfied with "The Silver Key".
On its own, I found this to be a strange edition to this Lovecraftian collection as it is not horror but something more akin to an urban science fantasy story out of an episode of The Twilight Zone. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn if “Kick the Can” was inspired by this.
The first few paragraphs not only introduce us to this world, but also provide something of a personal treatise by Lovecraft on the spiritual and material flaws in both organized religion and scientific/atheistic circles. It’s a powerful, emotional lamentation on what Carter (or maybe even Lovecraft himself- apparently Carter was intended to be based off of the author) perceived as a degradation of human desire and imagination by these two opposing forces.
Now, people will no doubt argue about whether or not Lovecraft is right or creating a false equivalency or making outright incorrect judgments. As a reviewer of a fictional text, I’m not concerned with that- I’m concerned with the actual writing, and can proudly say that Lovecraft has outdone himself here. There are times when the language gets too rosy and poetic for its own good, but I’m inherently a sucker for this kind of romanticism and nostalgia, so I’m admittedly biased in this regard.
As I said, though, the purpose of this intro is two-fold: Lovecraft is fishing out a personal critique on the state of his world, while also giving some backstory to who Carter is and what he’s up to at this point in his life where he is middle-aged. Given my critique of the previous story in this collection, "In the Vault", for not giving the reader enough information about character backstories to make me invested in the present, it was a relief to see Lovecraft not make the same mistake again. I really got a sense as to the personality and personage of Carter, which made his journey more investable to follow along with.
To go into the details about the rest would be too spoilery, but needless to say Lovecraft really goes all in with the whimsical and freespiritedness of his language. There are times where he definitely could've lightened up on the concreteness of hte diction, but overall his flow is well-enough that I didn't have to double-back too many times.
Most importantly of all, "The Silver Key" ends on a satisfying and surprisingly happy note. There is a mythos in place, but Lovecraft actually finds a balance between giving us a part of it without making us desire more and giving us enough of it without overindulging the story in lore galore. Combined with the grammatical and syntax points above, I was overall satisfied with "The Silver Key".