And your first Lovecraft tale was ....?

[Fried Egg]

Thanks

[BeerClark]

The Rats in the Walls.

Looking back, I would have thought the story would have seemed too slow for me. There is not a lot going on through 3/4 of the story. But I think what kept me very interested (besides his reputation) was the way Lovecraft writes as well as the little morsels of information he drops along the way.

It seems like this story (and some others) was 'hyperbolic'. But I've only read through 9 so far.

He generally explains enough (for me) to at least satisfy as an explaination... but I'd love to know what that lost note DID say!

[Connavar]

Polaris

Very short tale but it was very wierd. It was good. His style really takes time to get use that it took me alot of time to read each page. He does know how to write though, the story it self was not easy to understand.

[j. d. worthington]

Glad you liked it, Connavar. I've got to admit that it's one my favorites among his earlier pieces, in part because the interpretation of "what's really going on" in the story is not as simple as it seems....

[akfarrar]

I have to be honest and say I didn't even know Lovecraft existed until about two months ago: BBC/OU reading board got into a discussion about him (and it is proving to be one of the more active threads).



Just obtained and read my first story - interesting - see him struggling in this one with mass of ideas and feelings, not quite getting there but tremendous potential.



After waiting for delivery of the book from the UK I walk into the local bookshop and discover several copies in English - so, what have I been missing?

[Nesacat]

afkaffar ... did you pick up a book? If you did what are the contents? I love Lovecraft's work myself and will therefore, be the first to admit that he is not at all everyone's cup of tea.

I do hope that you will come to love the way he writes and makes you feel. Tell us how you go along and what stories you have read of his.

I take it Dagon was your first ... you might want to give the movie a chance as well then. It's very well done and tends to grow on your with each watching.

[GOLLUM]

Never seen the movie actually, so I'll need to cahse that up.

My first story by Lovecraft was The Music Of Erich Zann. It still remains one of my favourite of his.

Apparently there was a short film made about this that is highly regarded. Perhaps JD can shed light on this?

[Nesacat]

The Music Of Erich Zann is indeed a wonderful tale. I like the way it builds until you find yourself reading faster and faster and almost holding your breath as the music gets wilder and wilder.

Am curious how a movie would manage to catch all this and the building Erich lived in and those streets.

[Ningauble]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Never seen the movie actually, so I'll need to cahse that up.

My first story by Lovecraft was The Music Of Erich Zann. It still remains one of my favourite of his.

Apparently there was a short film made about this that is highly regarded. Perhaps JD can shed light on this?

Yes, it was one of the first Lovecraft-themed amateur movies made, in the late 1970s, I think.

My memory is a bit hazy on this, but I think it is the same movie that was included on the third disc of Lovecraft films from Lurker Films Productions.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Nesacat

The Music Of Erich Zann is indeed a wonderful tale. I like the way it builds until you find yourself reading faster and faster and almost holding your breath as the music gets wilder and wilder.

Am curious how a movie would manage to catch all this and the building Erich lived in and those streets.

Thank you for reminding me. Yes, it was really the superb way Lovecraft built that feeling of suspense so cleverly with the ever increasing wildness of the music that had me on tender hooks. I also like the way that after having reached such a supsenful climax the author of the story is never able to recapture or indeed relocate the scene or its protagonist. There's something wistful, indeed almost tradgic in this like a love that can never be rekindled. I understand this was also a personal favourite of the Old Gent, so looks like great minds do think alike...

I think Ningauble is correct in the previous post but if someone has actually seen it I would like to know their opinion.....

[Tea is my copilot]

Originally Posted by Connavar of Rigante

Polaris

Very short tale but it was very wierd. It was good. His style really takes time to get use that it took me alot of time to read each page. He does know how to write though, the story it self was not easy to understand.

Also my first.

[Nesacat]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

I also like the way that after having reached such a supsenful climax the author of the story is never able to recapture or indeed relocate the scene or its protagonist. There's something wistful, indeed almost tradgic in this like a love that can never be rekindled.

Absolutely. I could imagine walking those streets and searching and sometimes thinking I'd seen a familiar gambrel roof but never ever finding it. I think it would have haunted him all his life that music and the man who made it.

[j. d. worthington]

"The Music of Erich Zann", though not one of my earliest, is one of my personal favorites, as well.

As for the film... On the whole, an admirable endeavor, though the ending -- with the window -- is (inevitably, especially given a small budget and limited time constraints) rather disappointing, I felt. Still, it did quite well at capturing most elements of the tale, had the very clever idea of making the protagonist of the story Charles Dexter Ward (during his sojourn in Europe), and had some very nice subtle touches. One thing though: Like so many, Strysik & Co. made the same mistake of thinking that what Zann played was a violin, when it was the mediaeval instrument, the viol... quite a different thing, with a different symbolic meaning (not to mention tonal resonance)....

Here's a brief bit on the film:

The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft

That last note should now read that it is available on The H. P. Lovecraft Collection, vol. 3, which also includes (as the main feature) Out of Mind.....

[GOLLUM]

Thanks for the update Sir, looks like it would be worth seeking out then.

[Abyssimal]

My first was At the Mountains of Madness after that Call of Cthulhu and The Colour out of Space. I found Mountains to be the most accessable of the three I read but was a little put off on how much emphasis was placed upon mood and so little on character development.

Thinking back, my first introduction to Lovecraft was actually a short written by Stephen King called Couch End. Pretty damned scary.