Recently Reading Lovecraft

In the first few months after I graduated from university I began reading more literature, and in particular the works of HP Lovecraft. I had never previously read his works and yet after a recommendation I thought I would give some of his works a read. As a writer he was a renowned author of the macabre however during his lifetime his work was mostly unrecognized for its true literary prowess, instead going relatively unknown as his works were printed in pulp magazines. His reputation grew much after his death, as he has become much more of a mainstream and more importantly, more easily accessible with the likes of Penguin Modern Classics making print collections of his work.

So what of his works? Well where to begin? I guess the start would be a good place, with the first story I read being The Beast In The Cave. With this being the first of his short stories I was a little apprehensive, especially as the introduction in my edition revealed that the story was written whilst Lovecraft was only fifteen years old, but as I began to progress through the story I was pleasantly surprised. The story follows an unnamed protagonist reciting his memories of getting lost in a large cave whilst walking through with a party of tourists. When his flashlight runs out he begins to hear the sound of an unknown creature making its way towards him. He cannot make out what creature the sound maybe coming from but he does recognise the trajectory of the steps approaching him. Out of fear he launches a rock towards it, and in a short amount of time his guide finds him. Before leaving though he wishes to see the creature that he had struck and so him and the guide press on. When they finally reach the creature it is breathing its last breath and upon their further observations conclude that this thing before them must be some kind of humanoid, and may have even at one point in time have been a human being.

Overall the story is well written, the pacing is good throughout excusing only the end which seemed to me at least to come out of nowhere; quickly as to wrap up all the lose ties for the ending. It is well written in its sense of atmosphere, in this work alone you can understand that the author has a great sense of setting and developing emotional responses in his reader’s minds. The only other small problem I had, which I must admit has faded in time and upon further reading of Lovecraft’s work, is the ability to it. You see Lovecraft has a very unique style of writing, which is very descriptive and heavy in adjective language that could come across as slightly tedious to some and can take some getting use to. However I have found that it is this style that in other stories helps to draw you in as a reader, as we are not only aware of the characters surroundings but the sights and smells of a particular place and the feelings such sights bring about in men; in turn allowing us as an audience a full emotional spectral of which we can independently reflect upon from our own stand point. In a way the protagonist acts as a substitute for ourselves in the story and as the character is unnamed we in avertedly place ourselves into the characters position.

Following this I began to read The Alchemist that tells the story of a count whose family have been cursed for centuries to where all of his family die mysteriously age 32. The plot develops as a mystery as the narrator reveals to us the history of the curse and his family up to the days when he is approaching that very age. I wont spoil the ending but overall it is again well written. Not in order to sound repetitive, yet nevertheless I must say that the story does seem to rap up very quickly in a slightly discordant manner. Maybe to others the ending may not be so rough but to myself with a story so precisely crafted, it seems strange to then have such a harsh rashness in its ending.

That isn’t to say that all of Lovecraft’s works follow the previous ridged model. Old Bugs for example is a story told in the 3^rd person about a small bar in Chicago and in particular, their relation to the title character. At the beginning of the story we know nothing of these characters or where they come from. The way that information is gradually given and unfolds to us brings to mind the setting and staging of a play. The people we follow are small people, with varying levels of significance to society. But as the plot unfolds our opinions change as our prejudices are tested to where perceptions completely switch of the title character Old Bugs and a young well educated man who enters the tavern for his first drink. The story here doesn’t come across in anyway contrived and the story feels genuine in the way it comes to what I found to be a touching conclusion.

After reading this it took to reading Beyond The Walls Of Sleep to gain anywhere near the emotional impact of which Old Bugs had on me. This story questions the intellectual unknown of the subconscious. Or specifically the immeasurable vast knowledge which we in are everyday lives are very much limited to the amount upon which we can express it. With this premise the story could be seen as very philosophical in its aims yet Lovecraft instead uses this as a stepping-stone to analyse his own ideas of the mystical unknown and man’s insignificance, or at least to the most point, lack of understanding of the universe and the cosmos as a whole. Although in the hands of a bad author this could have come off as blunt or off hand, Lovecraft is able to keep things very subtle here allowing these ideas to slowly develop over time through the gradual progression of the plot.

A strong design that recurs in Lovecraft’s works is the introduction of a situation, which seems casual at first but in time develops further along a transcendental path. The Temple is one of these stories. Based during the First World War, it follows a German Lieutenant Commander of a damaged submarine recalling the events of his fallen crew. It goes onto explain within the story the deterioration of the men as fatigue and paranoia of the crewmembers sets in. We told of the hierarchy and how the system is incorporated during the events of the story. But ultimately the story is built up to its gracious all encompassing climax of the Lieutenant finding an ocean submerged city, lost under the waves of time. Its beautiful majestic nature is described in detail and examined as a rare beauty that will now never be seen again by the human race that had created such grandeurs architecture. In a way the city itself could be easily seen as a metaphor for the dead soldiers of World War 1 itself, the lost men who perished under circumstances not of there own making. Cursed in a way that strips the rest of the world of the poetics and ingenuity of which they may have brought to it.

Yet I don’t believe this was Lovecraft’s true intention whilst writing the piece. I think more logically that Lovecraft used the story as a chasm of which he could explore his own feelings on the war and its effects throughout the world. The idea of the Evil outside driving soldiers mad is very reminiscent of the stories from the time of soldiers experiencing shell shock. Other subjects shown in the story include officers executing subordinates for inappropriate behaviour for enlisted men, and most important of all the darkly morbid emptiness of the submerged city. The result of which must have caused large-scale death similar to that known on the battlefields of the war itself. This here stands as an exploration of empty death, death without meaning for the sake of nothingness. Everything is now gone and all that lingers on is one mans thoughts or to phrase it another way, one mans voice.

However even following The Temple, The Quest Of Iranon is something altogether special in a way that is all of its own. Like Old Bugs Lovecraft again takes here the third person perspective to narrate the story. In the story itself, we are told the story of Iranon, a musician who has set about himself a quest to find his home city of Aira. Throughout the narrative we follow Iranon on his quest for home across many cities. Time seems to span decades through out the narrative as he takes stead in many places and comes into contact with many companions. One of these acquaintances, a young boy Romnod, ages to adulthood and even further on into death. Iranon however seems in all this time to remain the same, never aging or appearing to ever really change. However as yet more time passes he comes into contact with an old farmer tending to his land. Iranon introduces himself and engages the man in an attempt to find the city of Aira. The man replies bemused, speaking of a young beggars son who he had once played with as a boy. The child had often made up stories and himself claimed to be from the city of Aira, where as he said his father was once King and sire. Upon this revelation the sun hits Iranon, which appears to rapidly age the man once full of eternal youth.

 

The Outsider after this though unfortunately sees a drop in the previous high quality that began to transcend in the latter Lovecraft stories. It is in some ways an antithesis of what can be clichéd in his writing. This story begins by introducing us to an unusually lonely character. He is a man who claims to never have come into contact with another human being. Separated from the outside world he yearns for contact, or at the least to see another human being. He escapes his current confines making his way towards a near by castle. Once he arrives he makes his way into a room where something strange seems to be happening. People run in terror and the protagonist too panics. He runs attempting to make his escape but during his panic he sees his reflection in the mirror. What looks back at him is an abomination beyond all comprehension; it seems the monster that all of those people before were fleeing from was in fact himself. There was something very unoriginal about this story. It really lacked imagination and the twist ending was predictable almost from the very start. In comparison to Lovecraft’s other work there is nothing that really makes this one stand out.

Luckily the next of Lovecraft’s story I read worked instantly with an engaging plot. Herbert West – Reanimator is a series of short stories chronicling Herbert West’s attempts to perfect a means of reanimating corpses, and in doing so bringing the dead back to life. It starts as an intriguing character study of a genius scientists attempts to bring back the dead, however gradually his sanity slowly begins to slip and his actions become less serious and more farcical. Tonally the latter instalments take a much different approach, as the story begins to become a parody of its self. It’s a shame really as from the early parts it seems to be building towards something really interesting. Yet its not as though Lovecraft wouldn’t have had some kind of serious conclusion prepared. Its as though at some point during the writing process he got bored or annoyed with what he had previously done and decided as a result to go into a completely new direction.

To conclude out of these few short stories I have selected to discuss, I think that his style can be truthfully defined. Lovecraft was someone who recognised the power of fear. He understood that its main causes were a lack of knowledge, breeding from what is intangible he would relate and reflect these ideas back on the audience. As a writer you feel his works slowly drawing you in from the style he incorporates his multi faceted ideas to the reader. These ideas transcend the mind and grow larger more substantial than they ever seemed to be from your first reading off the page. What I believe I am trying to say is that Lovecraft from the beginning has a large clearly idea in mind for each of his stories. Like a master sculpture he is able to seemingly chip away at the subconscious of his readers until in its place, he has it realised, his masterful narrative.The fact that so few people have read and experienced his works (even with them so widely available) is a shame. Also his works I believe are often unfairly labelled as horror fiction, as though they all would or could only appeal to people interested in this area of fiction. This is a grave error as works I have discussed here such as Old Bugs and The Quest Of Iranon both break out of this stereotypical view of Lovecraft’s work. Primarily these stories are about people’s experiences, not horror or mysticism but instead the decisions these characters have made in lives and how it has affected them.

Primarily his works stand as an attempt to explain and emote. They ask questions, they look and feel. Endeavouring to make sense of the things around them, even if it means on occasions overreaching or facing an indescribable uncertainty. As humans we wish to look into the unknown, and I think most essentially, Lovecraft’s characters were concerned with seeing what was on the other side. No matter the essential consequences that may follow.