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/lit/ - Literature

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19566295 No.19566295 [Reply] [Original]

Is Lovecraft actually worth getting into or is he just overhyped by memes?

>> No.19566325

he was a pulp writer who had a mental breakdown over being a mathlet and overall midwit, no need to take him too seriously as he didn't even take himself seriously. read the fun spooky tales or don't, who cares. you're not going to have a massive knowledge gap just because you didn't read shit in the same league as conan the barbarian.

>> No.19566386

>>19566325

He was bad at algebra?

>> No.19566458

>>19566386
he dropped out of school at an incredibly young age due to bullying and just not being good at it and it was like 1930s public school so it was probably bad

he was probably quite bad at what we would consider basic algebra

>> No.19566459

BRAINDEAD ZOOMERS.

>> No.19566461

>>19566386
Probably. After all, almost all the "horror" in Lovecraft derives from his being terrified of quantum physics and cubism.

>> No.19566470

>>19566295
Yes give it a shot

>> No.19566483

>>19566295
the books are NOT WELL WRITTEN but it's this whole meme of a genre now

it's like not watching The Walking Dead. missing out on it was pretty awkward back in 2012 but now it doesn't matter. it's not like high art or anything.

if you want to see the same literary devices Lovecraft used but in a book that doesn't overwhelmingly and generally lag behind almost any experienced reader's standards, try The King In Yellow.

>> No.19566504

>>19566461
the boy did not trust anything he didn't understand, and I don't mean just other cultures, i mean everything he didn't understand. it's a bit of a meme, but yeah he had books about how horrifying air conditioners, mathematics, basic cultural studies, and the color spectrum are because the man's family weren't educated and he didn't socialized outside it and he did not read non-fiction, or in all likelihood, even non-pulp. so he didn't understand anything.

>> No.19566538

>>19566386
he used his wife's family fortune to set up a chemistry lab and was convinced he was going to be the next newton or whatever, but the math got too hard and he started shitting his pants, i.e. spending long hours on the couch moping and sleeping in depression.

he considered himself an intellectual failure and mediocre author. on that count he was probably right, but his stuff is still worth reading for a comfy dose of americana.

>> No.19566546

>>19566504
>he didn't understand anything
That's a little harsh. He was competent with astronomy and history at least, even if with the latter was anglocentric to the point where Queen Victoria herself would blush.

>> No.19566555

>>19566295
his is one of those cases where the secondary literature is more interesting than the actual works discussed

>> No.19566587

i really ienjoy him. at the very least you should read the colour out of space

>> No.19566601

Peak Lovecraft is some of the closest you will get to actually scary fiction. The Cthulhu mythos shit is boring as fuck though.

>> No.19566603
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19566603

He’s my favorite autist.

>> No.19566610
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19566610

>>19566295
Lovecraft is a comfy American writer, especially around Christmas (I don’t know why this is, he just feels like a Christmas writer to me). He’s definitely not scary (no literature is) but the atmosphere of dread can leave you with a creepy feeling in your skin. If you liked Poe, I think Lovecraft is worth a read.

>> No.19566850

>>19566325
Hello tranny

>> No.19566858

>>19566295

The Color Out of Detroit
ht2hh

>> No.19566872

>>19566504
>he did not read non-fiction, or in all likelihood, even non-pulp.

that is simply not true.

>> No.19566893

He's pretty good for a quick shot of spooky short story honestly. The memes seem to stem out of alt and goth culture which hyperfixated on some of his works, and it leaked out into the mainstream and by extension internet culture. At his best in the stories that you've probably never heard of and that most people haven't read.

That said he's very much in the vein of Machen and in many ways Poe. If you try Lovecraft and find that you like him try Machen.

>> No.19566915

I enjoy the world derived from his works more than his works.

>> No.19567086

>>19566325
I liked Robert E. Howard, and Howard P. Lovecraft.
Anyone who can't enjoy Soloman Kane or The Color Out of Space, I genuinely feel sorry for.

>> No.19567203

>>19566295
I think he's a fun read, and his works are short so they're great for interim reading or just killing time. His prose is also quite beautiful, so I'd say he's worth reading for sure. Also his stuff is online, for free, everywhere, and his collections are inexpensive.

>> No.19567271

>>19567086
I didn't say he was bad, just that he's not serious.