The Call of Cthulhu

Este ha sido mi primer relato de Lovecraft y mi primera andadura en el terror cósmico, el libro es corto y realmente lo puedes leer en un solo día aunque yo lo he espaciado un poco.

Ha sido una lectura interesante, pero no sorprendente y mucho menos terrorífica, aunque haya alguna situación medianamente espeluznante o algo perturbadora, pero vaya nada que realmente te quite el sueño.

Básicamente el libro trata de una especie de diario escrito por un señor que relata ciertos descubrimientos perturbadores que aparentemente llevaron a su muerte o desaparición, la parte que más me llamó la atención fue la del culto ya que es la que me hizo sentir un poco en tensión y quizás perturbarme un poco, pero realmente no ahondan mucho ahí ya que despues de todo el libro es muy corto.

Recomendable? Te diría que si ya que es una lectura corta y te la puedes acabar en unas horitas si te pones. Pero lo que mencioné antes, me quedé un poco tibio.

Dicho esto, todavía me queda por adentrar en el mundo de Lovecraft y mi siguiente objetivo es "The call of cthulhu and Other Storier" ya os diré por allí que tal ese libro y si realmente despierta algo más en mi que la mera curiosidad por las obras de Lovecraft.

Short but a duly impactful and iconic story. By today's standards, The Call of Cthulhu probably wouldn't be considered remotely scary - except in how dense the writing is compared to contemporary horror - but it's still such a great study in cosmic horror. I like to call it the fear of the vast unknown.

The writing style might not be for everyone but if you're able to stomach it, I strongly recommend it for just about anybody who loves fantasy, sci-fi, and the idea of being tiny and insignificant in a vast and unknowable universe.

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

I've finally gotten around to reading more about the Cthulhu mythos I keep hearing references to; and I must say that I enjoyed what I read. This short story is apparently the first one that all interested readers should go through before moving on to other books.

It nicely sets the stage for the feeling of dread and of the horrible enormity of the fate looming over mankind. What a bleak picture it paints, and how it insignificant mankind is compared to entities almost ageless in comparison.

The way the story is told to us from the perspective of a rich gentleman's point of view somehow enhances the flavour and feel of the mystery surrounding the strange cult being introduced to us. The prose was florid, yet surprisingly quite readable; I'd expected to stumble a bit given that the story was written so long ago. It was a very enjoyable read.

This was somewhat of a mixed bag with the majority of the stories being great and some that felt flat, but all of them being morbid.
The author has an amazing imagination and ability to create atmosphere. I could feel the dread and instead of being scared I was curious to know more.

My favorite stories include Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour out of Space, and The Whisperer in Darkness.

I can see how some of my favorite authors have been inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's writing and it felt special to finally read the original.

It is interesting... racist, of course, but that would have come up sooner or later.
I like the “non euclidean geometry” that makes one uncertain of if the sea is level... and acute angles that behave like obtuse angles. Lovecraft's stories give one this kind of feeling, one isn't really certain of anything :-D
Reminds me of the great late Andrew Gold's The Creature from the Tub
“Clammy and slimy, gooey, yucky, grimy
Icky and sticky, hope it doesn't lick me
Wobbly, runny, “Mommy, it's not funny”
Watch out for the creature from the tub!”

Lovecraft's seminal work seemed to be the place to start with the “father of cosmic horror” but I found it mostly dull with a few dazzling descriptive passages. Much of the language served to distance me from the adequate plot. Often I found myself re-reading passages to try to interpret the meaning in long, meandering sentences (not helped by reading it on my breaks during busy, noisy nightshifts).
Mostly I could not see beyond the narrator's racial and intellectual superiority (reflecting Lovecraft's own) more horrifying and alienating than Cthulhu themself. While some may try to explain this as “of the time” I have read many American and British works from this era that reflect the “casual racism” but lack the nasty haughtiness that Lovecraft's encompasses. This novella is supposed to be classic of horror and the macabre but I found it disappointing and disturbing (for all the wrong reasons). If this is Lovecraft's best work I don't think I'll be bother with any of his others.