Yeah, I know. Lovecraft’s birthday (August 20) was yesterday. For reasons that are not entirely clear, I missed it.
I’ve not read much Lovecraft in recent years. I’m not sure I’ll be able to work any in this evening, but I’ll give it a try. I’m not sure if I want to reread something or try a story I haven’t read yet.
Regardless of what you think about him as a person, there’s no getting around Lovecraft’s influence on the genre. He’ll always have a spot on my reading list.
Lovecraft was the successor to Poe and redefined the horror story for the twentieth century. However, when it comes down to it, I don’t agree with a lot of what he believed. This I first really noticed when I had read his letters. The thing that everybody brings up was his racism and he certainly was racist, but everybody knows that. I also found I disagreed on his atheism and socialism. I tended to side with Howard in the debate on civilization vs. barbarism. I am not going to put on a loincloth and wield a sword anytime soon, but I think Howard made stronger arguments. Yet, I think he remains an important writer.
I with you on the atheism and socialism. I don’t agree with a lot of my favorite writers when it comes to their beliefs. *Looks at Asimov and Heinlein, Ellison and Wagner.* I tend to side with Howard as well, although I don’t agree with everything he believed, either. You and I can acknowledge that certain writers were important and we can enjoy their work without agreeing with all their views. Sadly, too many people today can’t seem to be able to do that.
Yeah, there’s too much of that. It’s on both sides of the political spectrum. The only time it bothers me is when it gets in the way of the story. I think it is a sign of weakness if you can not be exposed to different ideas without being offended.
It is occasionally nice to find out an author has the same views, but that’s all.
Gandhi was a racist. Marx was a racist.Stalin was a racist. …somehow, that doesn’t seem to matter NEAR as much as what HPL thought.