Weird Fiction discussion

This topic is created for people who want to discuss the story with other readers who have also already read the entire story.

I read it. As usual, Lovecraft was long on words, but short on story, IMO. The rest were practically seamless.

Jim wrote: "I read it. As usual, Lovecraft was long on words, but short on story, IMO. The rest were practically seamless."

Agree. Lovecraft's section draws attention to itself and away from the others. And he does what seems to be a typical thing for him (i can't really say as I don't read him much) where he has some explorer who found a few fragments of alien artifacts and completely deciphers their language and millions of years of their history from those few fragments.

If I'd read this back when it was written, I probably would have enjoyed it more, since there wasn't as much strange fiction around.

I'm a little behind my reading schedule. Still in recovery from my bout with Influenza (A strain).

However, it would surprise me if Lovecraft's section DIDN'T stand out from the others. I don't think the man could have blended if he had tried. And he wouldn't want to try. He had such a refined sense of aesthetics, it would have to seem like writing down to him. I really admire Lovecraft's use of language and must therefore agree, stylistically he would have had to write down to be undetectable. I can't wait until I can resume my own read of this story to see where Lovecraft took it.

I have previously read some criticism of this story. Most of it goes along the lines of saying, first two writers' efforts, meh. Lovecraft: interesting, but boy did he take the story off on a Lovecraftian tangent. Howard: his genius and sense of humor reels it back in and saves the day. Underappreciated Long brings it all home with a yeoman, workmanlike conclusion that satisfies.

Do you who have read the entire story agree with this assessment?

Dan wrote: "Do you who have read the entire story agree with this assessment?"

Yes. Perfect summary.

I'd give the first 2 sections slightly higher marks, but definitely agree on REH's effort. I'm a sucker for anything he's written, though. I thought it ended fine, too. Actually, I liked everything except Lovecraft's contribution & disagree that he would have to write 'down'. He didn't attempt to stay in the same tone nor did he advance the story.

I do and don't agree with what's already been said about Lovecraft's contribution. It's narratively dull because, as usual, he "tells" rather than "shows" (I also dislike his use of language, but that's a personal foible of mine). But it's conceptually exciting.

The contradiction between exciting ideas and a boring story is definitely my experience of Lovecraft in general. But in this case I do think it added something valuable, and the last two contributions are as great as they are partly because of the set-up Lovecraft gave them to work with.

I also liked Long's final segment a bit more than some others here seem to have done. I especially enjoyed the intercutting scenes from the two planets. Unexpectedly cinematic for a story written in 1935.

I'm glad you liked the Frank Belknap Long section so much. Of the five authors who collaborated here, he is the one I am least familiar with, which I think may be to my misfortune. His Woman from Another Planet has been all but forgotten now, but looks interesting to me. Even his best known work, The Hounds of Tindalos, I've never heard of.

Dan wrote: "Even his best known work, The Hounds of Tindalos, I've never heard of."

Oh yeah, that one looks fun. "A pack of foul, incomprehensibly alien beasts emerging from strange angles in dim recesses of non-Euclidean space before the dawn of time" – what's not to enjoy?

Wow! C.L. Moore is first! I would have read this sooner if I had known that!

I agree with the summary in message 2 as well, Dan.
I think that the story flowed well and I am glad that it ended the way it did.

I finally finished the story and I'm giving it four stars. The first two parts get four stars for getting the ball rolling in satisfying fashion. The writing is solid if not that remarkable. I like the premise of cube as gateway to another world, though it's not particularly amazing or original.

Lovecraft's part, the longest, I have to give a generous two stars, three for the utilitarian writing craft, which I do think he toned down for this story to fit in with the other authors, one star for essentially the content in terms of plot of what he actually wrote. Lovecraft's section is comprised of three parts: part one, the descent into blackness and incorporeality, which was well enough done. However, the longest, the second (middle) part is what I really object to. It was a huge, completely unmotivated info dump by author to reader to explain in detail the origin, properties, and powers of the cube. Remove the entire, ill-conceived section from the story and not only do we not lose anything valuable, but mystery is added and pacing maintained. I can't believe a writer of Lovecraft's ability would fail to see how not only unnecessary but actually harmful his explanation of the cube was! The third part of Lovecraft's section at least advanced the plot after the info dump so that Howard would have something to work with.

Howard's section was fine, four stars. (view spoiler)[I like the undramatic, matter-of-fact manner in which Howard explained the switch of bodies with the alien. (hide spoiler)] This was the first point at which the alien was introduced, but the plot development made perfect sense given what had transpired before.

If I had been Long given these four previous sections of story I would have had real trouble figuring out how to bring everything to a close. (view spoiler)[What do you do with two switched bodies from radically different worlds? I mean, where does one go in terms of plot from there? (hide spoiler)] Long came up with an ingenious solution that not only brought the story to a satisfying conclusion, he established the theme of the story elegantly, drawing a contrast between human nature and any other natural alien beings' presumed natures. Humans don't fare well in the comparison, needless to say. The amazing thing was that Long wrote this on the verge of World War II, just before humanity plunged into its darkest abyss in history (so far). Long's section thus becomes really prescient. Five stars.

Bringing the story to an overall average of four stars for me.

I really liked the Challenge. I particularly liked the idea of the cube transporting the conciousness, and how there was actually a happy ending.

I have never read Lovecraft before, and I noticed how his part was, like, 3x as long as everyone else's.

To me, it didn't seem that "weird," it just seemed like SF. I guess weirdness is in the eye of the beholdre