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Mogu reći da sam veoma zadovoljna većinom priča, te bih volela da ih ocenim posebno sledećim ocenama: J. Chapman Miske. Note: scholar S.T. Joshi considers this a spurious Lovecraft story. It was an account of a dream extracted from one of Lovecraft's letters by editor Miske (cf. " The Evil Clergyman", and " The Very Old Folk"), and published under a title given it by Miske. This is Lovecraft's last major work, and I can see how several of his ideas,
The five star rating for this book is not because I think every story (or even most of them) were 5 stars, or because Lovecraft was a great writer (though I do think he was a better writer than he's often given credit for). It's because these stories are essential reading. Like him or hate him, Lovecraft casts a long, dark shadow over all of American fantasy and horror, and in fact, the stories are mostly pretty good, in a very dated way. Yes, Lovecraft wrote purple. Yes, his characterization is usually pretty thin. And yes, he was a horrible racist and it shows in his writing. But no one who touched this genre after him has been untouched by it, and if you have ever been awed or frightened or scared by a tale of eldritch horrors, unfathomable beings from beyond time and space, bubbling squamous obscenities so horrible that the very sight of them will erode your sanity, or vast, alien, cosmic gods inimical to humans and regarding us the way we regard germs... well, that's all Lovecraftian influence. I stole the following from /r/lovecraft: "One time, this guy went to a place, and it was SO spooky. But, being a man of science, and of an inquisitive mind, he continued going to the spooky place, and damn was it spooky. Que no todo el Lovecraft es malo para nada. El tipo era un excelente escritor. Y punto. Aunque por lo que haya dicho antes no lo parezca. Su grandeza radica más en lo que escribió que en como lo hizo. Impresiona la enorme capacidad y el ingenio de este autor para idear los mundos que creó y conectar cada trama y cada historia de forma coherente, de ahí que se acabe por entender la similitud entre las mismas y los personajes. No daba puntada sin hilo. Me quito el sombrero ante él y ante su inconmensurable talento como hacedor de historias y mundos y narrador. Y ante la capacidad que tuvo de hacer lo que le dió la gana y como le dió la gana, sin ningún tipo de concesión antes de nada y ante ningún estilo. Son obras increíblemente originales incluso hoy en día, sorprende por lo bien que han envejecido y como dentro de ella se aúnan otros géneros literarios como la novela de detectives. Leer las ha tenido algo de cercano para mí por la gran cantidad de obras, cuentos, películas y libros en los que ha influido, y si algo he disfrutado de esta lectura ha sido darme cuenta de que ese o ese otro detalle ya lo había visto en tal o cual obra.
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THE CALL OF CTHULHU. Although not the first Lovecraft story to introduce an element of the Cthulhu mythos (that would be Dagon, also included in this collection), this one is the first to feature the foul-smelling, tentacle-wielding and potbellied deity in all its greasy and nasty glory. Written as an epistolary short story, it gives an account of the discovery of Cthulhu via a series of documents left behind by the great uncle of the narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston. Three words: groundbreaking, masterful, perfect. To Mr. Kleiner, on Receiving from Him the Poetical Works of Addison, Gay, and Somerville [April 10, 1918] The Secret of the Grave" (before 1902; unpublished, nonextant, may simply be "The Mystery of the Grave-Yard") While Lovecraft's stories are typically labeled fantasy (hence his likeness being the trophy for the World Fantasy Award), he was really a science fiction writer, or perhaps science fantasy. His Elder Gods and the inhuman things that served them were not "gods" in the sense of being truly divine, but rather vast cosmic powers who exist on a scale beyond human comprehension. The "magic" sometimes found in his stories, even spells read from books like the Necronomicon, are likewise means of bending reality in ways Man Was Not Meant to Know, but ultimately his creatures are aliens, not demons, and his supernatural horror stems from science perverted beyond recognition, not from arcane witchcraft. Whenever something in the way of a more "traditional" monster appears in a Lovecraft story, like a mere ghost or vampire or werewolf, it's probably something much, much worse. Essential Solitude: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth: 1926–1931 ( ISBN 9780979380648)
To George Willard Kirk, Gent., of Chelsea-Village, in New-York, upon His Birthday, Novr. 25, 1925 [November 24, 1925] To Samuel Loveman, Esquire, on His Poetry and Drama, Written in the Elizabethan Style [December 1915] This complete fiction is chronological, so it's interesting to see Lovecraft progress over the years. Admittedly, it was tough to get through some of the stories at the beginning, but once you get accustomed to the way Lovecraft writes, it becomes a lot easier. Not only that, but Lovecraft himself gets better at writing and the quality of his stories vastly improve. Therefore, quite predictably, my favourite stories are actually towards the end of the collection, when Lovecraft has really mastered his craft. Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe. Dagon: An early hint at the later mythos tales that would capture the public's interest. Obviously the name points to later work. It contains story elements that would later be seen expanded in the iconic The Call of Cthulhu.
days later... I have finished reading this collection of HP Lovecraft's complete fiction. The master of weird fiction and cosmic horror delivers a range of different short stories and novellas, from chilling tales to the downright terrifying. Then he died under mysterious circumstances that everybody knew was because of the spooky thing, but nobody would admit." :'D Dagon was one of his earliest writings, and it's a good introduction to the philosophy behind the Cthulhu mythos. Since I've become so familiar with his work, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of it. Dagon is more important as a supplement than as a stand-alone. I wouldn't have enjoyed the other Cthulhu stories as much without it. It gives you a taste of what's to come, like deep time and space, the dream world, fish gods, and unimaginable horror.
What I really liked about this story were the friendships and relationships in it; two friends growing up together and one going off and getting married. Then there's the confusion of the souls switching bodies. Relationships were not a big part of Lovecraft's writing, probably because he was such a recluse. And this story was one of the few to have a strong female character. I think he rarely talked to women in real life. Now that I think about it, Stephen King may have gotten his idea for Christine from this story. In Christine, the protagonist's body is invaded by the soul of his car's previous owner. La mejor prueba de que el concepto del Necronomicón ha trascendido y constituye junto a los Mitos de Cthulhu, el legado literario de Lovecraft, es que muchas personas a lo largo de los años, de hecho han creído que se trataba de un libro real. A tal punto llegó esa creencia, que el mismo Lovecraft tuvo que salir a desmentirlo. Lovecraft’s stories often remind me of how nudity was depicted in early film. It was never shown directly. The Hays code didn’t allow it. Instead, you might see a silhouette. Or a dress fall to the ground at the woman’s feet. Or there’d be a bannister in the way. Lovecraft likewise has this propensity to avoid actually describing his cosmic horrors. His characters will instead simply say, ‘I cannot describe it, for my very mind rebelled against grasping such a reality! Mouth and teeth and tentacles!’ or ‘I refuse to share this knowledge, for it will inspire madness in all who hear it.’ It is, frankly, annoying.If you love spooky tales and haven’t read Lovecraft I totally recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed! I’ve enjoyed reading these tales this past month and I really looked forward to my lunch hour at work because I could read my next Lovecraft story. I haven’t loved reading this much in a long time. The Colour out of Space - this one blew me away, and possibly might be my favourite tale. Highly recommend.
Don't get me wrong, taking a stand against an obvious racist is much easier when you don't like any of his stories, and I don't like any of these stories. Not one - even though they're all so similar there might as well just be one. If someone could explain to me what literary merit H.P. Lovecraft has - other than merely serving to inspire Stephen King and other genre writers - I would be grateful. I finished reading Jane Austen’s seven large novels not too long ago, and I was astounded by her writing ability. I think I just read someone who can not only rival her but top her. Lovecraft’s writing prose is one of the best of the classic writers I’ve read this year. The way he describes his monsters and establishes a creepy scene is definitely something worth studying if you’re a writer. Y por fin termine de leer las obras completas de H.P.Lovecraft, una de mis grandes asignaturas pendientes desde hace muchos años, desde la adolescencia. Si he tardado tanto ha sido porque estaba obcecada con hacerme con un tomo de sus obras completas, pese a que existen cientos de recopilaciones con solo algunas de las mismas. Pero yo quería tenerlas todas. Me alegro de haberme hecho con la edición de la editorial Plutón, pues no solo está muy bien de precio, también cuenta con una excelente traducción y el tomo esta estupendamente editado. Si tuviera que ponerle algún pero sería que me hubiera gustado que hubiera contado con algún pie de nota más para tratar con mayor profundidad las historias, el contexto histórico, las influencias que más incidieron en estas obras y como se escribieron, y que en el prólogo inicial se hubieran dado más datos sobre la vida y obra de Lovecraft. Pero como he dicho, por ese precio esta edición me parece más que meritoria (ya que otros tomos con las obras completas de este autor tienen un precio casi prohibitivo) y estoy muy satisfecha con ella. Maybe it's the generation gap, but I find it very hard to get accustomed to stories written with little or no dialogue. Wave after wave of endless paragraphs -broken only ever so slightly by the odd letter or telegram -is a tedious way to tell a story. This book contains 34 short stories, and by the end of the 4th one I was begging for some actual character work and dialogue, rather than: "And then I went here, and then this happened, and by the way here are some lovely descriptions of New England architecture for no particular reason". Every one of these stories -ESPECIALLY Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath -is less a work of prose and more of a steady ramble intermittently made all the more jarring when Lovecraft tosses in unwieldy words like "Shub-Niggurath" or "Ia Azathoth Ia Ia Yargoth Leng-Zok", because phrases like that add so much to the story. The Doom That Came to Sarnath: I was reminded of Robert E. Howard in this primordial tale of lost lands. Of course, Howard was influenced by Lovecraft.Olmstead meets an old townie called Zadok Allen, who provides an, er, interesting explanation for the town’s peculiarities: that its human inhabitants have devoted themselves to a brutal race of fish-like humanoids known as the “Deep Ones,” who have forced humans to breed with them. Those walking the streets of Innsmouth are the resulting offspring — as they mature, they will grow to resemble the Deep Ones, eventually joining them in their underwater cities. The Call of Cthulhu - come on! You're gonna read Lovecraft and not read about the Great Old One?! That would be unheard of!! The last element of HPL that should be looked at is his myth. Here is the one place where HPL shines. His creation of an ante-diluvian world of races not human on earth and others that came from off of earth is fascinating and worthy of study. Given the amount of fiction and 'fan-fiction' which his 'Cthulian' mythos has generated HPL remains a significant presence in the world of genre fiction--and, yes, there is a difference between genre and literature. For this reason, and this reason alone, HPL remains a writer worth revisiting.
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