The Call of Cthulhu - H.P. Lovecraft

My friend Terra is a huge Lovecraft enthusiast, and so at her suggestion (her Lovecraftian primer shared below), I have begun my exploration of the genre with The Call of Cthulhu, a very short novel which I greatly enjoyed. The protagonist of the novel is a Man of Science, who is deeply skeptical about his scholarly uncle's mysterious writings on a horrific beast known as Cthulhu. Full of atmosphere and delicious prose - a vivid and enjoyable tale that has definitely sparked my interest in reading more.

A Lovecraftian Primer for the Novice Scholar

Books & Stories

​Works by H.P. Lovecraft

(The following short stories are where I would recommend any budding cultist or bold investigator begin their journey. Many of HPL’s short stories can be found online here: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/)

The Call of Cthulhu (Gives a good sense of the atmosphere and style in many HPL stories. The central source of the famed Cthulhu mythos.)

The Shadow over Innsmouth (A tale of intrigue and dread in a small town. Introduces some of Cthulhu’sfishier relatives.)

The Whisperer in Darkness (Dread terrors from above. While not explicitly about the King in Yellow, this is the only HPL story that contributes to his mythos.)

​Lovecraft’s Inspiratons

Ambrose Bierce (I’ve never read any Bierce, but I hear that HPL was enamoured of his stories.)

Robert Chambers (He wrote a collection of short stories entitled “The King in Yellow” which alternates between stories of the pallid king and tales of daily life in revolutionary Paris, for some reason. I would highly recommend the story “The Repairer of Reputations” from this collection.)

​Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft

(This list could go on forever – so much current fiction makes at least reference to Cthulhu or unspeakable horrors lurking beneath the waves or beyond the stars… here are a few examples I have enjoyed.)

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (Short story in Fragile Things, also available in a beautiful format here http://neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/exclusive/shortstories/emerald.pdf)

Rehearsals for Oblivion (Various short stories which all have something to say about the King in Yellow mythos. Highly recommended if the tattered king strikes your fancy.)

The Hastur Cycle (A more scholarly approach to the King in Yellow mythos. Each story is accompanied byan editor’s note explaining its literary/historical context. This collection includes “The Repairer of Reputations” as well as “The Whisperer in Darkness”.) 

New Cthulhu 2 (This is a short story collection by various authors that I happened across at the library. These stories take HPL themes and legends and address them in a modern setting. I found most of them to be quite enjoyable.)

Locke and Key (Graphic novel which draws from some HPL mythos, also includes a lot of magic that is not from HPL.)

Films, Shorts, & Audio

​Feature Films:

The Whisperer in Darkness (Adaptation by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (2011))

Die Farbe (Adaptation of HPL’s “The Color Out of Space” (2010). Filmed in Austria; subtitled)

Dagon (Inspired by “The Shadow over Innsmouth”(2001). I have not seen this one yet but it is supposed to be quite good)

Re-Animator (Adaptation of HPL’s “Herbert West – Reanimator” (1985). A classic gore-fest.)

The Burrowers (Info here: http://hplfilmfestival.com/films/burrowers)

Short Films:

(While most of these are not strictly Lovecraft, they are definitely Lovecraftian and worth a viewing. If you enjoy any of these, consider coming to the H.P.Lovecraft film festival in Portland in October!)

Fat Rabbit 

(http://www.adampetke.com/#!fat-rabbit/c1qfk)

Frank DanCoolo, Paranormal Drug Dealer

(Full 8 minute film is somewhere on the internet if you look hard enough. Clip can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZmASfMOpxw)

Silas and the Tomb(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlNQecZ6Rj4)

Dirty Silverware (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXkl_j02pNE)

Flesh and Bone (Music video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzJYFGx2pQ4)

The Mill at Calder’s End (I don’t know if you’ll be able to find the full film online, but here is a trailer https://vimeo.com/ondemand/themillatcaldersend)

Thresher (https://youtu.be/SqNdbHHWtBc?list=PLKikQyzc03Rq50vrHUZ5jVeOazbsKq4qf)

Escape from Midwich Valley (http://lovecraftzine.com/2015/12/28/free-to-watch-escape-from-midwich-valley-inspired-by-the-shadow-over-innsmouth/)

The Earth Rejects Him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcDXYYPhdAs)

The Call of Farqunglu (Lego spoof of the genre, very well done. https://youtu.be/n7o6ERhuEN4)

Roe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn5IemrVVbc)

August Heat (https://vimeo.com/151533546)

Autumn Harvest (Very dark. http://zombiehamster.com/reviews/indie/watch-lovecraftian-noir-autumn-harvest/)

Dark Adventure Radio Theater

A product of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, these radio programmes never fail to provide an evening’s entertainment. More info here: http://www.cthulhulives.org/radio/DART/index.html

The Boys in the Boat

This book is terrific!  Well, I often run from "uplifting" books, but this is so well written, with different narrative threads providing resonance with the rags-to-glory story, that it's exceptional - and I was absorbed and stirred by the book.

In brief, it's the story of a collection of young men, most very poor and from logging camps, farms and mill towns, who were members of the 8-oar crew at the University of Washington in Seattle, which ultimately won the gold medal at the infamous 1936 Olympics in Berlin.  The events are set against the backdrop of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Depression and the turmoil wrought by the devastating Dustbowl storms.

The story of Hitler's frustration by the gold medals of Jesse Owens is well-known and this is a parallel story, though along the way, these young men first had to conquer the skills and superior attitudes of crews from elite East Coast schools.  While Owens' story demonstrates the superlative achievements of one man, The Boys in the Boat emphasizes what can be accomplished by a group working in a harmony that is almost spiritual.   The central character is Joe Rantz, whose upbringing provides first a heartbreaking story of abandonment and poverty that is overcome by determination, resourcefulness and strength, which commands admiration and respect.  Joe's early struggles and doubts, eventually followed by triumphs and a fulfilling marriage, mirror and enrich the story of the crew.

The story is extremely well-researched and documented and is driven by it's improbable and ultimately joyful and heroic achievements.  YouTube offers a very nice presentation by the author, who reads from a portion of the book.   Very highly recommended!

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) - Oscar Wilde

The Faustian tale of Dorian Gray is my bookclub's pick for February 2016. In it, young, innocent, Adonis-like Dorian sits for a painting by his friend, the worshipful Basil Hallward. The painting is Basil's masterpiece, but this sitting is the occasion for a fateful encounter - Dorian meets and is corrupted by the glib hedonism of another of Basil's friends, Lord Henry. Utterly taken in by Lord Henry's poetical musings on the supreme value of youth and beauty, Dorian impetuously makes a wish that changes his life forever:

"How sad it is!" murmured Dorian Gray with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. "How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June.... If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that- for that- I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!"

Although the plot is very simple, Wilde's prose is magnificent, and this short (213-page) novel is utterly captivating. It is also interesting how delicately Dorian's sins are portrayed - everything alluded to rather than shown, perhaps due to the publication in 1890, when the work was decried as obscene - amazing how standards for the depiction of sex and violence have changed in the past century.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the novel is Lord Henry's indulgence in cynical epigrams, such as, "the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." Although his wordplay is delicious, Lord Henry's amoral fascination with beauty, and his artistic interest in the destruction of Dorian's life, is frightening - he would have done well to learn from his contemporary, Tolstoy, who said “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”

Heap House - Edward Carey

My bookclub's first book of 2016 was Edward Carey's Heap House. Clod Iremonger is the 15.5-year-old protagonist of this delightful and deeply original young adult novel. Clod lives with hundreds of his relatives (both noble "Uppiremongers" like himself, and multitudes of more distantly-related servants), in a sprawling hodgepodge of a mansion. The family's estate is the focal image of the novel - built from relocated pieces of London homes, riveted together with steel girders, it spreads across an immense landfill ("the heaps"), basis of his family's garbage scavenging empire. Clod is driven to avoid his family members by the cacophonous voices he alone can hear emanating from their "birth objects," household items assigned at birth and carried upon one's person until death.  Thus, Clod spends much of his time wandering alone over the estate, until he one day meets a spunky serving girl, Lucy, and together they begin to uncover the grim foundation of his family's wealth.

An engaging tale with compelling characters that vividly explores the dangers of greed, xenophobia, and blind obedience to authority.

One Weird Trick (Sex Criminals Volume 1)

When Mark and I visited Arizona over the holiday break, we hung out with his friend Jordan, who works at a comic book store in Tempe. He recommended this smart, fresh, graphic novel to me. One Weird Trick is about a young woman who wants to save her library from foreclosure, her unusual superpower, and her sexcapades with a likeminded young man she meets at a party. A fun and flirty caper with nice illustrations, this is my bookclub's February pick (along with The Picture of Dorian Gray), if anyone wants to read along!

The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History - Katherine Ashenburg

The Dirt on Clean is a delightful account of hygiene throughout history, from the sumptuous baths and strigil of the Romans, to the hydrophobia of the Dark Ages, to today's neurotic obsession with sterility, and everything in between. The course of humanity's love/hate relationship with cleanliness is surprising, fascinating, and sometimes repellent. Packed with diverting factoids, quotes, and anecdotes, this book makes for very pleasurable light reading.

Lauren's Bookclub 2016 Plan

Hello all -

My bookclub met tonight and we set our reading plan for 2016. I'm sharing it here, in case anyone would like to read along with us, and we can discuss!

DATE	BOOK
Sunday, JAN 31, 4pm	Heap House (Edward Carey)
Saturday, FEB 27, 7pm	The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) + Sex Criminals – Volume One – One Weird Trick (Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky)
Saturday, APR 2, 7pm (“MAR”)	Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America (Richard White)
Sunday APR 24, 6pm	Red Rising (Pierce Brown)
Saturday, MAY 28, 7pm	Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Jon Krakauer)
Saturday, JUNE 25, 7pm	Radiance: A Novel (Catherynne M. Valente)
Saturday, JULY 30, 7pm	The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America (Timothy Egan)
Saturday, AUG 27, 7pm	Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir (Ellen Forney) + Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama (Alison Bechdel)
SEPT 24 or 25, TBD	A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller Jr.) *previously reviewed by Colin, here.
Friday, OCT 21, 7pm	Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death (Susan D. Moeller)
Saturday, NOV 19, 7pm	The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (Stephen Greenblatt)
Saturday, DEC 17, 7pm	Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition (Oliver Sacks)

- Lauren