- Joined
- Oct 29, 2002
- Messages
- 36,533
- Location
- East of Suez
Returning to Lovecraft's fiction never makes me like it more; it's overcooked. Yet, as a critic, he was astute: his essay on Gothic Fiction shows a thorough understanding of the genre.
I very much enjoy Lovecraft, but one aspect that brings my willing suspension of disbelief crashing down is a particular strand of his portrayal of time:
The sterile inhumanity of space and dead stars beyond number?
Chilling thought—check.
The appalling otherness of ancient civilisations that rose and fell before the advent of man?
Certainly puts us mere humans in the correct context!
The indescribably stiffing atmosphere of some crumbling Marblehead mansion from colonial days?
Not really.
Off the top of my head, my old school, my local church and my favourite pub are all centuries older than that and I'm sad to say that I never felt that possession by the spirits of my ancestors or a slip into a dream-like vision of history were plausible risks.