The Picture in the House

[Tinsel]

I thought that it said something about him failing to achieve his goal. At the time I was wondering what qualified those guys to do the video considering that the movies that I had been watching are not up to par with Lovecraft's stories.

At any rate I didn't buy it, but are you suggesting that it is good?

[j. d. worthington]

I didn't see anything on the pages at the link about failure (save that the Blu-ray itself is nothing special, which is quite another thing).... Yes, Del Toro is the only Mexican interviewed with the film, and his opinion of HPL is that he was anything but a failure. That he had failings personally is addressed, but put in context rather than made the main thrust.....

[Tinsel]

That book in the story "The Picture in the House" was described as antediluvian. In other words before the flood.

So than God destroyed everything with the flood. Anyway the books destruction was foreshadowed.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Tinsel

I thought that it said something about him failing to achieve his goal. At the time I was wondering what qualified those guys to do the video considering that the movies that I had been watching are not up to par with Lovecraft's stories.

At any rate I didn't buy it, but are you suggesting that it is good?

I did, and I am... I've watched it a few times now and, though there are some areas where I may have a disagreement with one or another of the people discussing Lovecraft, it is an intelligent, informed, and rather accurate view of the man... at least, as much so as one can get with such a limited time (and yes, I include the extended interviews, which are nearly as long as the film itself)....

[Tinsel]

Originally Posted by knivesout

Del Toro's the only Mexican there, as far as I can see. Lovecraft was certainly not a financial success; that does not make him an artistic failure and I don't think anyone was implying that.

Apparently the editor of Wierd Tales magazine rejected most of Lovecraft's stories because Lovecraft was inflexible. On the other hand Robert Howard had many of his stories published by the same editor.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Tinsel

That book in the story "The Picture in the House" was described as antediluvian. In other words before the flood.

So than God destroyed everything with the flood.

This is a favorite word of Lovecraft's, and is not meant literally, but rather in its broader, figurative sense of something exceptionally old, something which has an air of it of unwholesome antiquity. I also suspect that he meant it also to have the faintest whiff of Biblical judgment as well, just for the added atmospheric association....

[Tinsel]

I wonder why there was only one Mexican.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I don't think it was meant to be an international survey; they seem to have chosen people who are prominent in different creative fields and seemed like likely interviewees either because they are avowed Lovecraft fans or because they deal with subject matter that is somehow in the broad horror genre.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Tinsel

Apparently the editor of Wierd Tales magazine rejected most of Lovecraft's stories because Lovecraft was inflexible. On the other hand Robert Howard had many of his stories published by the same editor.

Not most, but several. Farnsworth Wright did not do so, however, because Lovecraft was inflexible, but because he was attempting to keep the magazine afloat in very difficult financial times, and often felt that, however good the story was (and he often pronounced them to be very good indeed), he was worried that it was too unusual or bizarre for his readers to accept right off, and might alienate some of the readership... which could sink WT, which was nearly always just barely able to keep ahead of dissolution....

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Originally Posted by Tinsel

Apparently the editor of Wierd Tales magazine rejected most of Lovecraft's stories because Lovecraft was inflexible. On the other hand Robert Howard had many of his stories published by the same editor.

All writers face rejection slips; Lovecraft's fiction was more unusual than many others' and perhaps faced more rejections than some others did, but so did his friend Clark Ashton Smith, whose works Lovecraft often tried persuading Farnsworth Wright to publish. Howard had a better hit rate, it seems, with Conan emerging as a readers' favourite. However, he did not fare much better than Lovecraft as far as the monetary end of things went; in fact, his desperation over dwindling payments played a role in his eventual suicide.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by knivesout

I don't think it was meant to be an international survey; they seem to have chosen people who are prominent in different creative fields and seemed like likely interviewees either because they are avowed Lovecraft fans or because they deal with subject matter that is somehow in the broad horror genre.

The people they interviewed are all writers, directors, scholars, etc., who have been influenced by Lovecraft. Carpenter, for instance, has made several films with Lovecraftian references in them, while his version of The Thing has heavy Lovecraftian elements (as does In the Mouth of Madness). Joshi, of course, is the world's leading Lovecraft scholar. Peter Straub edited the Library of America edition of Lovecraft's Tales. Caitlin R. Kiernan has written several things influenced by HPL and is herself quite a knowledgeable Lovecraftian. Del Toro has also had several elements in his films which derived from HPL, and has long been trying to get backing for a film version of At the Mountains of Madness. And so on....

So yes, J. P. is right; it wasn't a survey, it was interviewing people who had some genuine notable connection to HPL and/or his work.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Yes, I was alluding mainly to Peter Straub; I haven't detected a Lovecraft influence in the few of his works I've read, I'd forgotten about the Library of America book he edited.

[Tinsel]

If it wasn't for that word "antediluvian" than it would have been impossible for God to use the thunderbolt because he promised never to destroy mankind again. I'm supposing that the antagonist was killed.

[Tinsel]

It had to be him. What choice did he have.

[Tinsel]

Or is this a proof of life theory, they both lived.