tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post1912269048245299822..comments2024-03-28T07:08:58.221-04:00Comments on Todd Seavey: Book Selection of the Month: "The Best of H.P. Lovecraft"Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-39797005108729150522008-02-12T12:49:00.000-05:002008-02-12T12:49:00.000-05:00Although Lovecraft wrote about the paranormal and ...Although Lovecraft wrote about the paranormal and even did some limited reading about it, I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was fascinated with it. Instead, he simply considered it useful fodder for his stories. Reading through his letters, one gets the impression that Lovecraft had more respect for mainstream religion than for things like spiritualism, but only because of the long-standing traditions of accepted religion. He didn’t believe in the supernatural at all, and considered himself a thoroughly “mechanistic materialist”.Donovan K. Louckshttp://www.hplovecraft.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-49628241539655200612008-02-11T14:22:00.000-05:002008-02-11T14:22:00.000-05:00Yeah, one gets the impression that Lovecraft was a...Yeah, one gets the impression that Lovecraft was a scientific materialist at heart but — like a lot of people circa the 1920s — probably didn’t think being fascinated by psychic claims and the like was as blatantly at odds with that foundation as sentimental mainstream religions were. <br><br>And there’s no question his stories are uneven in quality — I’m not even sure I’d recommend reading more than a few, since you quickly get the idea — but “The Call of Cthulhu” sums him (and the Mythos) up pretty well, with enough references to things unseen to leave you feeling almost like you’ve read a primer to the rest of his universe.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-46931875215660090732008-02-11T13:10:00.000-05:002008-02-11T13:10:00.000-05:00Thanks for the review- I read some Lovecraft antho...Thanks for the review- I read some Lovecraft anthologies last year after finishing the Illuminatus! Trilogy (you know, because I had learned that HP Lovecraft’s books held the secrets of the universe;) and found them to be very uneven – as though the person putting them together just picked up stories at random, with no regards to quality. I thought the Shadow Out of Time was phenomonal, as were the few about the ‘other gods’. But others were quite difficult and unrewarding. I will certianly check out Chutulhu. (Do I risk offending the punk fan in you by pointing out that it’s a kick ass Metalica song?)<br><br>BTW, keeping with the theme of the month, I thought his depiction of a much older history of life on earth and the darwinian struggle including with half humans and extinct beings who were much stronger and smarter than humans was written partially to play on fears of Christians. Kind of like “God is not real, but you are correct in believing that he is the source of goodness and order. Unfortunately, he’s not real, so you’re fucked.”<br><br>Not that he mentioned christianity expilcitly, but I think that his was a godless world (in the judeochristian sense) was part of the backdrop.davenoreply@blogger.com