August Derleth

[Addy]

I just saw an August Derleth book on the Cthulhu mythology in a street market (of all places in Brazil, and in English), so it piqued my interest. I was in too much of a hurry to wait for the shop keeper to come from wherever he'd gone, and I didn't have my wallet with me, so I had to pass on the opportunity, but I thought I'd ask around first before I make it a point to go back there for the book. Now I don't quite remember the title. It was probably The Trail of Cthulhu, but I might be wrong.

 

[Addy]

Anyway, I forgot to actually ASK the question: should I buy it?

 

[j d worthington]

Quite likely. The ones most often available by Derleth are:

The Mask of Cthulhu
The Trail of Cthulhu
The Shuttered Room (labeled as H. P. Lovecraft & August Derleth)
The Lurker at the Threshold (ditto)

Unfortunately, those labeled as by HPL & AD are (with one exception) almost entirely AD... that exception being The Lurker at the Threshold, which still only incorporates about three pages or so of Lovecraft material (somewhat altered from its original).

As for whether you should buy any of these or not... well, I'm torn when it comes to the Derleth Mythos stories. On the one hand, I encountered them at the same time I came across HPL's own work, and enjoyed quite a few of them -- still do have a fondness for several, and even in those I don't, I find some fascinating concepts. But, to be honest, they are seldom good stories, being full of contradictions, often slipshod writing, and also being repetitive and/or overly derivative.

That being said, you might want to check out some of this through a library, if possible, before investing in it, and see. If you like what you read, then buy the book; but get a taste for what Derleth's take on the Mythos is like first; as Robert Bloch said (this is a paraphrase): "he [often] hit the notes but missed the music".

 

[Addy]

Thanks, j.d. I was hoping you'd chime in.
I figured I might as well plunk a few cents for it, since the guy had a big sign saying 'books starting at $.50', so I suppose he won't ask for much to part with it. I feel bad about leaving it there to collect dust. I like books to have a good home.

 

[j d worthington]

At that sort of price, I'd say go for it... if you like it, you've had a bargain; if not, you've lost a very little....

A word of caution: if it is The Trail of Cthulhu, don't tackle it all at once. "Repetition" being the problem here... but there are some nice things in these "five stories that make an episodic novel"....

 

[Addy]

Noted.
I'll see if I can come around there sometime later this week. I'll go ahead, and buy the William Rotsler too. I promise to write a review later.

 

[j d worthington]

Will be very interested in what you have to say about Rotsler's novel... and I hope you enjoy the Derleth....

 

[Lobolover]

Well,you SHOULD buy "The Lurker at the Threshold".Except for some rather meh coments on how "the elder gods" were the "good guys",its quite good.