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Post by wireman on Nov 11, 2020 14:01:02 GMT
Today we will discuss Medusa's Coil by HP Lovecraft
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Post by wireman on Nov 11, 2020 15:52:00 GMT
This is a tough one because it is very good. On one hand, it is a great telling of a story. The descriptions, imagery and flow of the story are intense and it's a page turner. But, on the other hand, even for the early 1900s standards, it's quite racist. You get a taste of it early as the old man is reminiscing about the good old days of slavery and the last line diminishes an otherwise good, intense horror story.
So, I liked it, but...
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Post by edwardjohn on Nov 11, 2020 16:49:04 GMT
This is a tough one because it is very good. On one hand, it is a great telling of a story. The descriptions, imagery and flow of the story are intense and it's a page turner. But, on the other hand, even for the early 1900s standards, it's quite racist. You get a taste of it early as the old man is reminiscing about the good old days of slavery and the last line diminishes an otherwise good, intense horror story.
So, I liked it, but...
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Post by edwardjohn on Nov 11, 2020 16:52:54 GMT
I love this story. The interplay with the three main characters, as well as the Dad was excellent. The final reveal of the painting reminded me a lot of Dorian Gray. The references to the Cthulu mythos were really cool as well. The twist at the end when the narrator talks to the old man is really cool, when he reveals what had happened to the house years earlier. I also liked the fact that when the Dad shot the picture, that ended up releasing a spirit, that was pretty cool. The prose of this story is excellent as well, I don't know of many better prose writers than Lovecraft, the way he weaves imagery, simile and all that great stuff is excellent.
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Post by wireman on Nov 11, 2020 17:02:28 GMT
I love this story. The interplay with the three main characters, as well as the Dad was excellent. The final reveal of the painting reminded me a lot of Dorian Gray. The references to the Cthulu mythos were really cool as well. The twist at the end when the narrator talks to the old man is really cool, when he reveals what had happened to the house years earlier. I also liked the fact that when the Dad shot the picture, that ended up releasing a spirit, that was pretty cool. The prose of this story is excellent as well, I don't know of many better prose writers than Lovecraft, the way he weaves imagery, simile and all that great stuff is excellent.  ) |
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Post by edwardjohn on Nov 11, 2020 17:04:24 GMT
I love this story. The interplay with the three main characters, as well as the Dad was excellent. The final reveal of the painting reminded me a lot of Dorian Gray. The references to the Cthulu mythos were really cool as well. The twist at the end when the narrator talks to the old man is really cool, when he reveals what had happened to the house years earlier. I also liked the fact that when the Dad shot the picture, that ended up releasing a spirit, that was pretty cool. The prose of this story is excellent as well, I don't know of many better prose writers than Lovecraft, the way he weaves imagery, simile and all that great stuff is excellent.
Random Fact for you: HP Lovecraft was a bit of a "literary troll", he'd take the piss out of authors he didn't like, and one such author was TS Eliot. |
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Post by spideyman on Nov 11, 2020 19:04:22 GMT
Agree with your remarks, wireman. The racism was a sore point.
When August Derleth published the story in an anthology in 1944, he changed the final line to: "though in deceitfully slight proportion, Marceline was a loathsome, bestial thing, and her forebears had come from Africa.
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Post by edwardjohn on Nov 11, 2020 19:42:46 GMT
Here is the original magazine it came from.
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Post by wireman on Nov 11, 2020 21:47:56 GMT
Here is the original magazine it came from.
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Post by edwardjohn on Nov 11, 2020 22:24:57 GMT
Here is the original magazine it came from.
Maybe Lovecraft never thought it was good enough, he was a very harsh critic of himself. A lot of his notable stories were published after his lifetime. His longest work, his sole novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, was written, but never typed. Lovecraft was sent letters from publishers asking him about a novel, he didn't respond to any of them, even though he had a novel. Probably has something to do with how critical of himself he was. |
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Post by darkharbinger on Nov 12, 2020 2:15:49 GMT
This is a good one, but I always liked the other Lovecraft/Zealia Bishop "The Mound". I like weird westerns. Lovecraft has always been a fave of mine and I found out through the magic of Ancestry.com that he and I share a common ancestor.
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Post by spideyman on Nov 13, 2020 12:43:35 GMT
Suggestions for the next reading group story ??
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Post by wireman on Nov 13, 2020 14:04:59 GMT
Suggestions for the next reading group story ?? |
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Post by spideyman on Nov 13, 2020 14:25:17 GMT
Suggestions for the next reading group story ??
Gotham Cafe sound like a good choice. Count me in. |
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Post by wireman on Nov 13, 2020 18:37:35 GMT
Next week we are having tacos and Samuel Adams at the Gotham Cafe and while we are there we will be discussing Lunch at the Gotham Cafe by Stephen King from Everything's Eventual.
Be there, Aloha.
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Post by darkharbinger on Nov 14, 2020 3:56:26 GMT
Lunch at the Gotham Cafe is a good one
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Post by cat on Nov 24, 2020 18:21:16 GMT
I'm not 100% sure, but I think this may have been my first Lovecraft story.
It was a good story. As mentioned, the racism was jolting but I am 100% against changing the wording or language used. If it is something an author does himself, ok but NOT because of outside pressure. And I do not think anyone but the author should change anything. It is not someone else's property to change and I find THAT practice offensive. I think it is better to leave alone and to learn from things like that. It is a dangerous trend, all this cancel culture crap. If we do not learn from things, we cannot be better. Erasing things are not going to make us better. Just my opinion.
I got a chuckle at the very beginning...
"As I plugged onward, cockleburrs and stickers clung to my clothes,..."
Stickers is what we always called sandburs growing up. If I say that now, usually no one knows what I am talking about and I don't think I have ever run across the term in a book or story before.
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