![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joysilence posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
darkling_talesLJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dfordoom)
Michel Houellebecq’s long essay H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life is essential reading for anyone who has ever fallen under the spell of the Lovecraft. He sees the greatness of Lovecraft’s achievement as lying in Lovecraft’s refusal to compromise with life, his defiant insistence in saying no to life. Lovecraft was utterly hostile to the 20th century world he found himself in. His contempt for capitalism was complete; his disdain for idiocies like democracy knew no bounds. As Houellebecq points out, as the world has continued evolving in a direction that would have appalled the misanthrope from Providence, this has only served to magnify Lovecraft’s achievement and to enhance his relevance. Lovecraft matters even more now, in the early 21st century, than he ever did in his lifetime. Houellebecq sees Lovecraft’s time in New York as being crucial to his development as a writer. It allowed him to hone hatred into a powerful literary weapon. It gave him the literary tools to describe the horrors of his later stories in such a unique and forceful way. Houellebecq sees Lovecraft as a literary figure of central importance to our world. The book also includes a completely pointless introduction by Stephen King. Just ignore it and go straight to Houellebecq’s essay. The paperback edition I have also includes two of Lovecraft’s most important stories, The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer in Darkness – useful for anyone not acquainted with his work. H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life is lively, idiosyncratic and absolutely fascinating. I recommend it very highly.
x-posted
dfordoom)Michel Houellebecq’s long essay H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life is essential reading for anyone who has ever fallen under the spell of the Lovecraft. He sees the greatness of Lovecraft’s achievement as lying in Lovecraft’s refusal to compromise with life, his defiant insistence in saying no to life. Lovecraft was utterly hostile to the 20th century world he found himself in. His contempt for capitalism was complete; his disdain for idiocies like democracy knew no bounds. As Houellebecq points out, as the world has continued evolving in a direction that would have appalled the misanthrope from Providence, this has only served to magnify Lovecraft’s achievement and to enhance his relevance. Lovecraft matters even more now, in the early 21st century, than he ever did in his lifetime. Houellebecq sees Lovecraft’s time in New York as being crucial to his development as a writer. It allowed him to hone hatred into a powerful literary weapon. It gave him the literary tools to describe the horrors of his later stories in such a unique and forceful way. Houellebecq sees Lovecraft as a literary figure of central importance to our world. The book also includes a completely pointless introduction by Stephen King. Just ignore it and go straight to Houellebecq’s essay. The paperback edition I have also includes two of Lovecraft’s most important stories, The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer in Darkness – useful for anyone not acquainted with his work. H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life is lively, idiosyncratic and absolutely fascinating. I recommend it very highly.
x-posted
