I still remember when I got the Little Brown HP Lovecraft Omnibuses for Christmas, and the pleasure I had reading through them after. Mind, the story quality was variable across each volume, but when the stories were good they were brilliant.
The Color out of Space was a clear favorite for its unresolved ending and seeming prescience about nuclear radiation.
A couple time when I had a few people round for drinks I even read out The Outsider. Luckily they seemed too drunk to care.
So a couple of weeks back I saw the third omnibus with the best stories on offer as an ebook on Amazon. So I bought it, and decided to revisit the joys of HP Lovecraft.
Oh, dear. I managed to finish The Outsider, but ended up stopping partway through The Rats in the Walls.
The writing was just so... terrible! Every sentence contained unnecessary words that basically told the reader to feel foreboding, instead of just letting the events stand by themselves. Even what should have been the most prosaic sentences were dripping with unnecessary adverbs and adjectives to, you know, remind us we're reading horror.
Simply put, he lays it on far, far too thick.
But, I will still treasure those memories of enjoying reading his works and even trying to imitate his style. I'll even probably try re-reading The Color out of Space again.
However, sometimes books with good memories are perhaps left to themselves as you move onto new stories.
The Color out of Space was a clear favorite for its unresolved ending and seeming prescience about nuclear radiation.
A couple time when I had a few people round for drinks I even read out The Outsider. Luckily they seemed too drunk to care.
So a couple of weeks back I saw the third omnibus with the best stories on offer as an ebook on Amazon. So I bought it, and decided to revisit the joys of HP Lovecraft.
Oh, dear. I managed to finish The Outsider, but ended up stopping partway through The Rats in the Walls.
The writing was just so... terrible! Every sentence contained unnecessary words that basically told the reader to feel foreboding, instead of just letting the events stand by themselves. Even what should have been the most prosaic sentences were dripping with unnecessary adverbs and adjectives to, you know, remind us we're reading horror.
Simply put, he lays it on far, far too thick.
But, I will still treasure those memories of enjoying reading his works and even trying to imitate his style. I'll even probably try re-reading The Color out of Space again.
However, sometimes books with good memories are perhaps left to themselves as you move onto new stories.