I have some response about Lovecraft, and writing in general. However, I have to catch the bus to class in seven minutes, so it will wait. Think of this as a placeholder :P
Lovecraft's genuis was in his weirdness. He was profoundly and prolifically strange, and a kind of madness or mania lingered about his work that did, at times, seem repetitive. I love his work, but as I recall, the dream-cycle, while arguably containing his most beautiful work, is not his most horrific.
Really, at some point I'd love you to look into Clark Ashton Smith. A contemporary of H. P.'s, he was every bit the writer Lovecraft wished he was, and hardly anybody's heard of him even though Smith was actually rather popular in his day. They did more or less the same sort of thing, but Smith did it better. I have never read anything so simultaneously strange and beautiful and terrifying and sheerly fantastical as his work -- "The Garden of Adompha" and "The Isle of the Torturers" spring instantly to mind, but I could list a dozen more.
My favorite Lovecraft is definitely the "Dream Cycle" collection. There's a short story in there about cats that absolutely blows my mind.
That said, I'm a little bit hot and cold about him. I love the creativity with which he approached writing. His premises are brilliant. The execution, though, is spotty at best. He (understandably) can sound really pulpy at times, and that's often hard for me to deal with. But overall, if only because he's very important, I've found him worth the read.
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Really, at some point I'd love you to look into Clark Ashton Smith. A contemporary of H. P.'s, he was every bit the writer Lovecraft wished he was, and hardly anybody's heard of him even though Smith was actually rather popular in his day. They did more or less the same sort of thing, but Smith did it better. I have never read anything so simultaneously strange and beautiful and terrifying and sheerly fantastical as his work -- "The Garden of Adompha" and "The Isle of the Torturers" spring instantly to mind, but I could list a dozen more.
They don't make 'em like that any more.
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That said, I'm a little bit hot and cold about him. I love the creativity with which he approached writing. His premises are brilliant. The execution, though, is spotty at best. He (understandably) can sound really pulpy at times, and that's often hard for me to deal with. But overall, if only because he's very important, I've found him worth the read.
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