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Post by wireman on Jun 22, 2022 12:41:58 GMT
Today, we will discuss The Terrible Old Man by HP Lovecraft
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Post by edwardjohn on Jun 22, 2022 14:43:47 GMT
It was great to re-read this. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this story over Lovecraft's using the robbers as an allegory for his anti-immigration stance with the robbers being non-New Englanders, but I never really interpreted it that way and didn't really have any sympathy for the robbers as they were pestering/robbing the old man despite his keeping to himself. Much like the Stoker story, this once again demonstrates that you should heed what the locals tell you! No doubt these robbers had staked out, asked about Kingsport about the old man, and were knowledgeable about the rumours surrounding them, and thus should have known to stay away from them but alas. Had they heeded what the settlers had told them, then they'd have been fine. This is another case of the modern coming up against the folklore.
I really like the way that Lovecraft dispatches with the robbers. He says that it seemed like cutlasses (plural) were used to dispatch with the robbers, so I wonder if the old man possibly had help from his old sailor buddies that are some way trapped in the bottles that he has for them. Or it was solely the old man, who has been infected by the Eldritch Gods! 
Overall, this is classic Lovecraft brilliance.
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Post by wireman on Jun 22, 2022 16:24:42 GMT
It was great to re-read this. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this story over Lovecraft's using the robbers as an allegory for his anti-immigration stance with the robbers being non-New Englanders, but I never really interpreted it that way and didn't really have any sympathy for the robbers as they were pestering/robbing the old man despite his keeping to himself. Much like the Stoker story, this once again demonstrates that you should heed what the locals tell you! No doubt these robbers had staked out, asked about Kingsport about the old man, and were knowledgeable about the rumours surrounding them, and thus should have known to stay away from them but alas. Had they heeded what the settlers had told them, then they'd have been fine. This is another case of the modern coming up against the folklore.
I really like the way that Lovecraft dispatches with the robbers. He says that it seemed like cutlasses (plural) were used to dispatch with the robbers, so I wonder if the old man possibly had help from his old sailor buddies that are some way trapped in the bottles that he has for them. Or it was solely the old man, who has been infected by the Eldritch Gods! 
Overall, this is classic Lovecraft brilliance. I have a hunch his buddies in the bottles helped him.
I didn't get any anti foreigner vibe in this at all.
For only being a couple pages long, the story packs a punch.
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Post by edwardjohn on Jun 22, 2022 16:39:26 GMT
It was great to re-read this. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this story over Lovecraft's using the robbers as an allegory for his anti-immigration stance with the robbers being non-New Englanders, but I never really interpreted it that way and didn't really have any sympathy for the robbers as they were pestering/robbing the old man despite his keeping to himself. Much like the Stoker story, this once again demonstrates that you should heed what the locals tell you! No doubt these robbers had staked out, asked about Kingsport about the old man, and were knowledgeable about the rumours surrounding them, and thus should have known to stay away from them but alas. Had they heeded what the settlers had told them, then they'd have been fine. This is another case of the modern coming up against the folklore.
I really like the way that Lovecraft dispatches with the robbers. He says that it seemed like cutlasses (plural) were used to dispatch with the robbers, so I wonder if the old man possibly had help from his old sailor buddies that are some way trapped in the bottles that he has for them. Or it was solely the old man, who has been infected by the Eldritch Gods!
Overall, this is classic Lovecraft brilliance. I have a hunch his buddies in the bottles helped him.
I didn't get any anti foreigner vibe in this at all.
For only being a couple pages long, the story packs a punch.
I found the prose to be much simpler in this work than in his other tales. It was a pretty reputable publication that published this tale, so perhaps HP knew he should probably keep it a bit more simpler, so that it will be more palatable to editors, which is a shame because his prose is so, so good.
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Post by spideyman on Jun 22, 2022 17:22:29 GMT
Enjoyable read. Interesting bit of info from wiki:
"The Terrible Old Man" is a short story of fewer than 1200 words by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on January 28, 1920, and first published in the Tryout, an amateur press publication, in July 1921. It is notable as the first story to make use of Lovecraft's imaginary New England setting, introducing the fictional town of Kingsport. The story, about the fate of three would-be robbers of the titular old man's house, has been criticized by Peter Cannon for being an openly xenophobic polemic against immigration.
Did not really notice the anti- immigration issue until I read the wiki article. LOvecraft does repeat the robbers names often- and one can see they were immigrants.
Also agree that Old Man had help from his "buddies". A lot was packed into the short story.
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Post by wolf on Jun 23, 2022 0:18:43 GMT
I really like the way that Lovecraft dispatches with the robbers. He says that it seemed like cutlasses (plural) were used to dispatch with the robbers, so I wonder if the old man possibly had help from his old sailor buddies that are some way trapped in the bottles that he has for them. Or it was solely the old man, who has been infected by the Eldritch Gods!
Overall, this is classic Lovecraft brilliance. I have a hunch his buddies in the bottles helped him.
I didn't get any anti foreigner vibe in this at all.
For only being a couple pages long, the story packs a punch.
is much like visual art...it inspires.
And you can interpret it the way YOU see it. Or how you want it to be.🙂 Maybe some authors like to be ambiguous and challenging deliberately, either to make you think or possibly just to gift you with letting you make of it what you will, and what you want to make of it. (sk's ending to 'Christine', comes to mind right now...as far as challenging ambiguity goes 😊😉)
Maybe it's a subconscious thing for some authors and they just put the story out for others to read the best ways they can express themselves, and they have a fixed decisive scheme and purpose in mind.
I can imagine an author getting frustrated and irate and saying something like, "Isn't it obvious!? Did you not READ what I wrote!?" smilie_wut_086 a0808
Lol .....and maybe some other authors would smile gently,
and be more like, "Well... what do YOU think?"🙂
Now granted,
I know that not all authors and their works, great and small, are open to this kind of thinking/interpretation...but I think many are. 😊😉
Sorry guys, apologies for my strange imagination and my wild racing thoughts and notions I get at times, and for interrupting.😊 I'm catching up here. I have missed reading and enjoying all of y'alls posts/thoughts on everything.  
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Post by wireman on Jun 24, 2022 14:14:11 GMT
The Discussion for next Wednesday will be The Death Of Halpin Frayser by Ambrose Bierce
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