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Selected Letters of H.P. Lovecraft #2
Selected Letters II: 1925-1929
359 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
4,622 books19.3k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
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December 13, 2022
If, like me, you are interested in the man, more than his work, then his letters really are the place to look…and if you want to really get a grasp of his reality, then this volume, Selected Letters II is where it all comes together. I have now read 5 volumes of HPL’s letters, with over a dozen more on my shelf alone to enjoy (and more I have yet to buy – the old gent did love to correspond) and it is here that all the myths and disparities of such a complex man are laid out.
This collection starts in New York; he’s unhappy, unfulfilled and recently burgled of what meagre possessions he owned. His marriage is already a confusion to him (although I have no doubt of his sincerity towards Sonia and ultimately would have wanted to make it work) and he longs for the safety of his home – Providence. At such a low ebb, is it any wonder that he would lash out at any target he could? I do not condone his racist declarations, but I understand how they manifested. HPL was not a cruel man, but he said cruel things.
However, this episode does not, and should, not define him – any more than the fantasy of him being a mad writer surrounded by monsters and darkness. HPL loved to travel, possessed extraordinary knowledge and passion for New England and was always keen to share. His letter writing bursts with life and, dare I say, fun!
What I really like is how his tone changes depending on who he is writing to; the respectful conversations with Zealia Bishop, the ‘banter’ with Frank Belknap Long and the open conversations with James Morton, who he clearly respects. The two most fascinating, I feel, are with two names most connected with him – August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith. When presented in such a manner, his tone with Derleth is really quite unengaged – he answers his questions and offers opinion, but he never opens up in the way he does with Smith. Clearly he was a fan of CAS’s work, it is like seeing two ends of a cultural spectrum – Lovecraft hanging on to his traditions and past, whilst CAS represents what is to come and the possibilities of youth. Quite fascinating.
This collection also contains the extraordinary letters discussing the rise of automation and the technological age, and the impact it will have on art and artistry – the anticipated (and realised) loss of beauty in design and the more widespread impact on society as a whole as ‘progress’ becomes fast and cheap by virtue of the production line.
It finishes perfectly, with a short letter, endorsing the joy of condensed milk, a longer letter about genealogy in New England, which demonstrates about as much excitement as anyone could for the subject, and a short note to Derleth about the joys of working outdoors in the sunshine and nature…again a far cry from the ‘mad lonely writer’.
If you only read one book ‘about’ Lovecraft, then you could do much worse…although, as I’ve said so many time before – make these letters and volumes available again! Bring HPL out of the shadows of myth and confront his viewpoints by balance of circumstance, by understanding and debate, and recognise this man for being so much more than the writer of tentacled monsters.
This collection starts in New York; he’s unhappy, unfulfilled and recently burgled of what meagre possessions he owned. His marriage is already a confusion to him (although I have no doubt of his sincerity towards Sonia and ultimately would have wanted to make it work) and he longs for the safety of his home – Providence. At such a low ebb, is it any wonder that he would lash out at any target he could? I do not condone his racist declarations, but I understand how they manifested. HPL was not a cruel man, but he said cruel things.
However, this episode does not, and should, not define him – any more than the fantasy of him being a mad writer surrounded by monsters and darkness. HPL loved to travel, possessed extraordinary knowledge and passion for New England and was always keen to share. His letter writing bursts with life and, dare I say, fun!
What I really like is how his tone changes depending on who he is writing to; the respectful conversations with Zealia Bishop, the ‘banter’ with Frank Belknap Long and the open conversations with James Morton, who he clearly respects. The two most fascinating, I feel, are with two names most connected with him – August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith. When presented in such a manner, his tone with Derleth is really quite unengaged – he answers his questions and offers opinion, but he never opens up in the way he does with Smith. Clearly he was a fan of CAS’s work, it is like seeing two ends of a cultural spectrum – Lovecraft hanging on to his traditions and past, whilst CAS represents what is to come and the possibilities of youth. Quite fascinating.
This collection also contains the extraordinary letters discussing the rise of automation and the technological age, and the impact it will have on art and artistry – the anticipated (and realised) loss of beauty in design and the more widespread impact on society as a whole as ‘progress’ becomes fast and cheap by virtue of the production line.
It finishes perfectly, with a short letter, endorsing the joy of condensed milk, a longer letter about genealogy in New England, which demonstrates about as much excitement as anyone could for the subject, and a short note to Derleth about the joys of working outdoors in the sunshine and nature…again a far cry from the ‘mad lonely writer’.
If you only read one book ‘about’ Lovecraft, then you could do much worse…although, as I’ve said so many time before – make these letters and volumes available again! Bring HPL out of the shadows of myth and confront his viewpoints by balance of circumstance, by understanding and debate, and recognise this man for being so much more than the writer of tentacled monsters.
Displaying 1 of 1 review