NOW READING

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To keep me alive during those long and long time apart sessions of A Dance with Dragons I have read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins in the last three days. I can see why it's a bestseller and I really liked itin a way, though I wanted to kill all of the three POV characters and you could say it's her first serious work from time to time, since the style's struggling a tad here or there. But it's good and fun to read (unlike the latter parts of ASOIAF series, it seems :S ... I think I definitely like the series more now, however big a blasphemy that might be).
 
CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
Interesting & balanced article on Lovecraft; touching on his cosmic philosophy, misanthropy, racism, etc.
http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/10/weird-realism-john-gray-moral-universe-h-p-lovecraft
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That's incredibly interesting, Cried, thanks!

I'm something of an amateur Lovecraft scholar, read all the works, analyzed them, read the biographies, and I have to say: I think it's hard to separate his personal attitudes and beliefs from his work. This article is the most well-balanced, well-reasoned piece I've ever read about the man and why his fiction should be held to a higher standard than simple psychological analysis of the author himself, but Lovecraft's beliefs are still at the core of everything. Whether written as an escape, as a means to an end, as a literal retelling of his dreams (as was often the case), or as an anti-mythology regarding the insignificance of mankind, Lovecraft's "feeble humanity" was still entrenched in horrendous sexism, racism, and simple hatred.

I also think it shouldn't matter that Lovecraft was a bigot, he wrote some of the most influential, original, and legitimately scary stories to ever exist, but I'd argue that his hatred and bigotry inspired those things rather than divided them.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
I also think it shouldn't matter that Lovecraft was a bigot, he wrote some of the most influential, original, and legitimately scary stories to ever exist, but I'd argue that his hatred and bigotry inspired those things rather than divided them.
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It matters, but it shouldn't matter to appreciation of his writing. Churchill won a Nobel Prize and he was as big a racist as any.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
That's incredibly interesting, Cried, thanks!

I'm something of an amateur Lovecraft scholar, read all the works, analyzed them, read the biographies, and I have to say: I think it's hard to separate his personal attitudes and beliefs from his work. This article is the most well-balanced, well-reasoned piece I've ever read about the man and why his fiction should be held to a higher standard than simple psychological analysis of the author himself, but Lovecraft's beliefs are still at the core of everything. Whether written as an escape, as a means to an end, as a literal retelling of his dreams (as was often the case), or as an anti-mythology regarding the insignificance of mankind, Lovecraft's "feeble humanity" was still entrenched in horrendous sexism, racism, and simple hatred.

I also think it shouldn't matter that Lovecraft was a bigot, he wrote some of the most influential, original, and legitimately scary stories to ever exist, but I'd argue that his hatred and bigotry inspired those things rather than divided them.
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Didn't know you were so HPL well-read, Knicks. Good stuff. Like you, I've pretty much read everything published by Lovecraft. I have to concede, I haven't comprehensively read & dissected every piece of literary criticism on Lovecraft or of multiple books about him; but I've read most of the biographies & most of his published letters to date. I collect every significant hardback publications of his works, all his Arkham House publications, Necronomicon Press, Hippocampus Press works, etc.
LooseCannon said:
It matters, but it shouldn't matter to appreciation of his writing. Churchill won a Nobel Prize and he was as big a racist as any.
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I think we've discussed this before in this thread, but Lovecraft's racism seems to be being discussed quite widely at the moment. The main reason right now is due to the World Fantasy Convention's decision to stop using the HPL bust for their World Fantasy Award. Basically, if you were black, would you appreciate being presented with this as an award? They had an impossible decision to make in terms of pleasing everyone.

There is currently a fairly extensive discussion of this over at SFF Chronicles for those that are interested:
https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/562057/
It's lacking a bit in factual comment, but is interesting nonetheless. The argument is almost entirely in favour of the decision, with very few people actually discussing Lovecraft's racism at any great length.

S. T. Joshi's defence of Lovecraft's racism (if you want to characterise it as such) is also worth reading. The following letter touches on more than just Lovecraft's racism & was in response to "one of the most vicious articles ever written on Lovecraft" that appeared in the New York Review of Books:
http://stjoshi.org/review_baxter.html
I don't agree with everything Joshi says, but at least he has the ammunition to make the point either way because of his vast familiarity with Lovecraft texts & letters. That aside, the World Fantasy Award debacle is about more than Lovecraft's racism; it also has to to do with the bust being, now, unsuitable as representing the award. After all, it doesn't represent Lovecraft's work (which people already think doesn't represent all of the SF/Fantasy community), but represents Lovecraft, the man.

It's difficult. Obviously, it doesn't stop one reading & enjoying an authors work. But Lovecraft's racism doesn't stop me enjoying reading about Lovecraft either. Lovecraft was a complicated guy; lots of mis-facts out there about him. There is much to admire about him. And, like his racism, much to really dislike about him. Why would this stop one reading about him though? I suppose it's easy to say this as someone who has never experienced, and is never likely to experience, racism. But I think people forget, that Joshi himself is hardly likely to be biased in this respect, being of Indian decent. My guess is he understands racism just fine.
 
CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
The main reason right now is due to the World Fantasy Convention's decision to stop using the HPL bust for their World Fantasy Award. Basically, if you were black, would you appreciate being presented with this as an award?
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Good reason to not give out a bust as an award. We can still enjoy the works of the man, but maybe he isn't the best figurehead anymore.
 
LooseCannon said:
Good reason to not give out a bust as an award. We can still enjoy the works of the man, but maybe he isn't the best figurehead anymore.
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Exactly. Any figurehead now is going to be problematic. As people have pointed out, if the bust had been Cthulhu or something then none of this would have happened. Problem is, in the beginning the bust was meant to represent Lovecraft, not his work; as Lovecraft was incredibly influential to a whole host of writers, many of who would have been at those first awards in the 70's. Different times. It now doesn't fit for many reasons.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
@CriedWhenBrucieLeft and others, do you also read other horror fiction besides Lovecraft? It's a jungle I think - I want to read more horror literature by newer authors but really have no idea where to start.
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You should pick up a copy of The Loney (2014) by Andrew Hurley.
http://www.tartaruspress.com/hurley-the-loney.html
Weird fiction always struggles at novel length in my experience, but this is one of the best novel-length Weird/Supernatural stories I've ever read. Also the guy's first book. The reviews, in fact, are so stellar that you might be put off. But it is to be highly recommended. First published by specialist private publisher Tartarus Press (I'd recommend looking at any number of their contemporary authors); now widely available through a mainstream publisher in paperback, etc.

Other suggestions:
Robert Aickman
Ramsey Campbell
Thomas Ligotti
 
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Well, I'm not really picky if it's psychological or supernatural horror...I'm just completely blank when it comes to good new horror writers. The mainstream market is still dominated by the big names and I'm trying to dig a bit further, but don't know where to look :)
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Well, I'm not really picky if it's psychological or supernatural horror...I'm just completely blank when it comes to good new horror writers. The mainstream market is still dominated by the big names and I'm trying to dig a bit further, but don't know where to look :)
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I used to be guided by modern anthologies (in themselves a minefield), like some of the ones Tartarus Press, mentioned above, release. Their anthologies are all short stories by new writers; I'd then jump from there to single authors that stood out from those collections.

I dunno, but I agree it's hard to know where to start or look. I'm not actually that fussed if an author is new or not; in fact, I tend to avoid new authors. Too much hype usually. I'm still trawling through early Supernatural fiction while taking in a few return-to authors, like Aickman. Besides Tolkien & Lovecraft (neither of whose fiction I return to that much), Aickman is probably my favourite author. He's one of those authors that I didn't really understand at first. But now I love reading his fiction.

Have you read much Ramsey Campbell? His novels are a bit hit & miss, but his short fiction is superb. He's not new, but he's alive if that helps.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Thanks Forostar. There's a lot of recommendations dropped in the interview to continue my search from. He mentions Algernon Blackwood, and I actually forgot I have a collection of his called "Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood" from Dover publications.
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Hey, wait a minute; I thought you wanted "good new horror writers" recommendations? If it's any old recommendations you want, then...
 
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