The Outsider - I am going on the idea that the arc to this
story is pretty simple: a creature who thought he was human realizes he isn’t
when he sees himself in the mirror for the first time. That’s pretty much the
story. And this story provided a little bit of a learning experience for me. I
tend to think of simple ideas like that as not being enough to center a story
on. And in some ways, I think I’m right. I saw the ending coming half-way
through, and kept hoping there would be something more to it by the end, and was
a bit let down when there wasn’t. My initial response was, “that’s it?” But, as
I thought about the story more, it was still a bit of an entertaining ride.
There was a lot of setting and mood in this piece. And even though I realized
the main character was a monster, and that he didn’t know it, pretty early on,
it was still the hints I got in the story that showed it to me. The way the
tallest tower was described, with no stairs, and how the main character climbed
up, I knew he couldn’t be human. It was interesting to see how that dangerous
climb was described. The creature was afraid of falling, but didn’t realize
that in telling us about the climb--that he not only attempted it but succeeded
at it--he was telling us he wasn’t human, even though he himself didn’t realize
he wasn’t human while he told it. There were a few things I didn’t understand
from a logic standpoint. It sounded like there was a ground level where he
lived, but then after climbing that tallest tower, that there was another
ground level up at that elevation too. Also, given how ghastly the creature
must have appeared to have provoked such strong reactions from the humans
above, I find it hard to believe the creature thought he was human, despite not
having a mirror to see himself in. You can see most of your body directly,
without the use of a mirror. I imagined this creature as a true beast. To be
able to climb the way it did, and to get those strong, immediate reactions, I
just felt like there would be more than just his face that would look inhuman,
and he would have at least noticed that while growing up. But overall, this was
a powerful piece in regards to mood setting.
Pickman’s Model – This story was a little all over the place. It started with the names. I believed he used the name Eliot to refer directly to the reader, and expected the reader to know who Oliver’s grandfather was. He talked about Boston in a way that seemed to expect that I knew the layout of Boston. That kind of thing. It also took me a bit to realize that Thurber was the narrator, too. Once I got acclimated to how Lovecraft was telling this story, it got a bit easier to follow. When they went down into the studio, I started having Poe flashbacks of the Cask of Amontillado, and was trying to convince myself that the narrator was going to meet with some sort of demise, while the logical part of my brain was telling me that was impossible, because the narrator was telling me the story right now like we were chatting together face-to-face. The logic side ultimately won out, because nothing bad happened to the narrator (except for psychologically scarring him for life), but boy, this gave me the feel of the Poe story for some reason. I guessed at the ending, but only just before it was revealed, so I think Lovecraft did a great job there. I knew the photo was going to be of the monster and not a background before he told me, but I think it was more a hunch, once I realized that nothing physically bad was going to happen to the narrator. Lovecraft did a lot of leaving the imagery to the imagination of the reader, which is great, but because the narrator was telling us just how amazing Pickman’s painting skill was, it got to be a little annoying that he copped out with the “words can’t describe it so I won’t try” attitude. I loved the part about the circle of nameless dog monsters with a stolen baby, and the changeling they left with its family, so the times he did describe I felt were rewarded. I did find a little trouble with the prose in general, and I had to re-read sections frequently just to understand what was being said, but then again, this story was written in 1926, so I’ll chalk that up to the effects of time.
The Call of Cthulhu – I was looking forward to reading this
story (I had always thought it was a novel!) and it didn’t disappoint. I had
seen images of Cthulhu many, many times, and knew a little bit about it from
its entry in the first edition Dungeons and Dragons Deities and Demigods book,
so I was happy to read this. Lovecraft does a good job of building up suspense
the way he tells this story, starting with the narrator being the executor of
his great uncle’s will, up until he reads Johansen’s memoir document. It is
just about as much a mystery story as it is a horror story, which is an
excellent combination. Most of the sleuthing was done by his great uncle, but
the narrator picks up where Angell left off and adds the information from the “Madness
from the Sea” section, to include connecting the dots that match dates to
events that happened in other places in the world.
The setting descriptions were a real strength to this story,
from the swamps in Louisiana to the magical island that was Cthulhu’s prison R'lyeh.
I had enough information to really visualize where I was. I enjoyed the description
of Cthulhu as well:
“when It lumbered slobberingly into sight
and gropingly squeezed Its gelatinous green immensity
through the black doorway
into the tainted outside air of that poison city of madness.”
Physically, Cthulhu was imposing--a monster of titanic
proportions. Yet this creature could affect the minds of people located anywhere
on Earth, while he submerged in a prison at the bottom of the sea. It is a compelling
major monster--like a mix of the Kraken and Freddie Kruger (Freddie worked through
dreams if I recall). The difficulty in comprehending the architecture of R'lyeh
was interesting as well, and spoke of an intellect far greater than man had.
“and twisted menace and
suspense lurked leeringly in those crazily elusive angles of carven rock where
a second glance shewed concavity after the first shewed convexity”
But my favorite line of all was this one:
“There are vocal qualities peculiar to
men, and vocal qualities peculiar to beasts; and it is terrible to hear the one
when the source should yield the other.”
This line is so well crafted, and at its heart,
it truly is a chilling thought. I pondered which would be worse… to hear the
animal and see the man, or hear the man and see the animal. I could not make up
my mind.
I’d have to say that I enjoyed my introduction
to Lovecraft. Some of his writing takes some effort to understand, but he
really does a good job with crazy, and he does a good job at helping the reader
to visualize the crazy.
AH! The first line of your post is fabulous. I didn't even consider that he was human not realizing he was a monster. Thanks for that!
ReplyDelete"Pickman's Model" was probably my favorite in this set. Do not get me wrong, I love Cthulhu. I read it a lot in my juvenile years, but as an adult, it drags on to me. Too many things being indescribable that could easily instill fearful imagery in readers. Lovecraft has some great horror elements, the inhabitants of the island and the monster, but the whole unable to be processed going on and on about everything just really irks me. "Pickman's Model," while it lacked the monster until the end, was very Poe style, terrifying, and kept me flipping the pages over. There was so much mystery, even in the end that drew me and still has me sucked into it as a reader. Sure, the same can be said about the ending of "The Call of Cthulhu" since we do not know if the monster is still around. We can assume it is swimming around alive, waiting. Pickman's leaves the whole story open with its end. The guy goes MIA out of nowhere and the picture is disturbing.
Which was your favorite and LEAST in this bunch?
I'd have to say my favorite was Call of Cthulhu, but mostly because I had always wanted to read it and never did. That, and the fact that after reading it, I didn't feel let down. That could have happened so easily. I also liked its layout with the three different sections. I thought that was a very effective thing to do, and I wouldn't have guess that because it was a short story.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite was probably The Outsider, but that is simply based on the fact that it didn't seem like a full story. It was too short and no real arc. To me, it was more a scene. And as a scene, I thought it was fabulous. But the whole time I was thinking to myself, Please tell me this isn't just going to end with him seeing he is a monster. And that's exactly what happened. But I thought the writing was great.
That puts Pickman's in the middle I guess. And it could have ended up my least favorite, simply because that was the one I had trouble following initially. But once I got into the meat of it, it was like you said... very Poe-like, and you really did want to see what happened next. I think it suffered as much as, if not more than, Call of Cthulhu in wasted opportunity for description. I don't know how many times he said something like "His painting skill was so awesome, I can't even describe it." Then he didn't.
I think I liked how The Outsider played out best. I do look at his work in a more literary sense, so less about the story that is being told and more about how the character is revealed and changes from beginning to end. I honestly think this is the only story out of the three which does the latter. It is difficult to come into Lovecraft's work without some sort of knowledge of Cthulhu or at least a vague idea of what it is already, so I think we're kinda boned a little on the surprise factor for any of the stories. The Outsider and Pickman's Model are not as famous as Cthulhu, but they do have off-shoot movies. Either way, I think it is difficult to judge the story aspect because Lovecraft is going to be one of the "firsts," which basically means it probably wasn't as predictable of a plot 80 or so years ago when it first came out. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree with Vince that "The Outsider" was my favorite of the bunch. I interpreted the narrator as a zombie-like creature—formerly human but somehow resurrected from the dead without realizing he had ever even passed. You make a really good point that there isn't a lot of plot or story to actually work with, since the major conflict really just comes from the narrator discovering what he is. I think that style worked for me in this particular case, though, because Lovecraft's writing is so atmospheric and such a pleasure to read for reading's sake. There are obviously reasons why the "rules" of fiction have been written, and I think in most cases they apply, but I can't help thinking that a talented enough writer can get away with breaking most of them. It makes me think back to the piece on dogma we had to read for residency back in June—maybe even rules like GMC need to be taken with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteHi Shoe, I think that may be the single best one-line description of HPL's work that I have ever read. "He does a good job with the crazy." Classic. I love it.
ReplyDelete