Rookie Questions about Lovecraft

[HoopyFrood]

I'm all set to go! Alas, I could only find the story online, in horrible white writing on a black background, so if I go blind, you know why! (I may have to do some copying and pasting, if only in order to save my poor eyes! )

[Mollygurl]

Is it too late to join the reading group? I haven't read Lovecraft in over 20 years and I would love the opportunity to re-acquaint myself with him.


I don't own "The Dreams in the Witch House" so I'll be heading out to buy it
Question for the experts: Am I looking for a single book or a collection of stories such as the one TT is reading?

[Mollygurl]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

I'm all set to go! Alas, I could only find the story online...

Would you be able to share the link Hoopy?

[HoopyFrood]

I can indeed! I was just about to suggest it after reading your post...shield your eyes, though!

Dreams in the Witch-House by H. P. Lovecraft

[Mollygurl]

Merci Beaucoup Mademoiselle!

[HoopyFrood]

*Salutes* Not a problem!

[j. d. worthington]

There's also this link, which would save your eyes, though it isn't exactly aesthetically pleasing, either....

Index of /hp-lovecraft

You should be able to link to the story from there....

[BeerClark]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

First, I have a question. There are several "best of" volumes out there with HPL, and the Blood-Chilling Tales of Horror thing from Del Rey has one serious flaw -- about 2 pages of text are missing from what may be Lovecraft's very best story, "The Colour out of Space" (or at least, they were in all the printings I've seen). So that one should be read from another edition, preferably the Penguin tpb or the Arkham House hb. ..................

I'm reading that book now but haven't hit The Colour Out of Space" yet. Can you identify what is missing? Can you tell from the page numbers? I remembered seeing this post a while back a wrote to Del Rey (couldn't find this post again at the time) and they did not seem to be aware of the problem.

Thanks

(PS - Thanks for the welcome from you and others on my first post the other day!)

[j. d. worthington]

I will have to dig out my copy and look it up, but I will try to get to that this afternoon, and fill you in.....

[Tets]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Okay, this is a bit of a lengthy one, but for those interested, here are some notes on "The Rats in the Walls":

...

...

The rites of Atys and Cybele are complex, and dealt with in Frazer's The Golden Bough at length, but even though they were agricultural in origin, they included self-mutilation (usually self-castration in imitation of Atys), much like some of the Mayan rites involved piercing of the penis with bone needles and such to let the blood fertilize the ground -- of course, it had to be that portion of the body, because that was whence the "seed" issued. So these rites were quite bloody and barbaric by modern standards.

really interesting, thx very much. do you have any exact sources which point out the relation between Frazers Golden Bough and Lovecrafts Rats in the Walls?

[j. d. worthington]

You may want to look at Chapter 34 of Frazer's book for starters. But, really, I think it is more a case of Lovecraft wishing to have the resonance (largely in relation to Catullus, but also reflecting an informed reading of Frazer as well), rather than too many specific details in this instance (unlike, e.g., the story of Bishop Hatto). This sort of reference allowed him to give an historical depth to the horrors he deals with in the tale by tying them to genuine practices of antiquity. Certainly, he held The Golden Bough in high regard, recommending it both in letters and in his "Suggestions for a Reading Guide" (which is actually a portion of the work he did for Anne Tillery Renshaw's Well-Bred Speech). You might also want to look up a copy of The Dark Brotherhood as well.

In the meantime, I will try to track down specific references, and post them once I have a chance....

[Tets]

thank you, i see. yes, he really dont use many historic details about the kybele and attis cult and their terrible practices in the story. While he references to a poem of catull(us), he doesnt mention anything of its content at all (a thing freudian psychoanalysis would be interested in i quess). But im sure youve allready know. One problem ive stumbled upon, that there is more than one Atys. Wikipedia knows:

* Atys (king) was a king of Alba Longa.
* Atys (King of the Maeonians) was an early king of Lydia, then referred to as Maeonia, and was the father of Lydus.
* Atys son of Croesus was the son of the later King Croesus of Lydia.
* Attis, a Phrygian/Roman deity

do you have any idea whos meant in the story? The deity is called AtTIs. was this a mistake of Lovecraft? Did he meant the deity but called him Atys instead of Attis?

In the meantime, I will try to track down specific references, and post them once I have a chance....

That would be really great if you find time to do so

[j. d. worthington]

The last named is the one he is referring to... though there is, if memory serves, some evidence that there may have been an historical personage to whom much of this became attached. At any rate, the spelling Lovecraft uses is an archaic variant no longer used, but still recognized at the time.

By the way... have you had access to Prof. Barton L. St. Armand's The Roots of Horror in the Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft? He takes this story as his basic Lovecraftian text, and his analysis of it -- despite some Derlethian elements -- remains both challenging and fascinating nearly 40 years after it was written, and you would likely find much of use there as well....

[Tets]

thank you

no i dont have access to this book, ive only heard that one major finding in it was, that there is a dream of C. G. Jung, which has very interessting similarities to the story. at least ive found the original descripton of C. G. Jungs dream and his interpretation of it.

[j. d. worthington]

You might check and see if you can get it via an interlibrary loan service. Failing that, you may (possibly) be able to find an affordable copy via the 'net. It is certainly one of the best (if not the best) examinations of the story I've come across....