In this prescient work, Michel Houellebecq focuses his considerable analytical skills on H. P. Lovecraft, the seminal, enigmatic horror writer of t...
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Apr 07, 2009
R.
rated it: 
A must. A misanthrope essaying a misanthrope. Read by a misanthrope. All created by a misanthropic God? Am I missing anything? Nope.
Update: A great remix of the Mountain Goats' "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" : http://youtube.com/watch?v=PvkMEoqmbBA
Update: A great remix of the Mountain Goats' "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" : http://youtube.com/watch?v=PvkMEoqmbBA
May 09, 2008
Josh
rated it:
Reading a book by one of your current favorite authors about your all-time favorite author is possibly one of the best literary experiences I can imagine.
In H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life Michel Houellebecq, the bitterly cynical, oft-misunderstood French misanthrope and champion of 21st-century nihilism, attempts to demystify exactly what it is about Lovecraft's fiction that has allowed it to remain fresh and relevant after nearly a century.
And he succeed More...
In H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life Michel Houellebecq, the bitterly cynical, oft-misunderstood French misanthrope and champion of 21st-century nihilism, attempts to demystify exactly what it is about Lovecraft's fiction that has allowed it to remain fresh and relevant after nearly a century.
And he succeed More...
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Jun 22, 2007
Jason
rated it:
(Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)
For Americans who don't know -- there's this French dude named Michel Houellebecq who a lot of Europeans are super pissed at. And that's because he's a writer, see, a brilliant one, who also happens to be a misanthrope, and who sincerely despises just about 98 percent of all humanity, and takes great care to detail all the ways they deserve his hatred in his provocative novels, which hav More...
For Americans who don't know -- there's this French dude named Michel Houellebecq who a lot of Europeans are super pissed at. And that's because he's a writer, see, a brilliant one, who also happens to be a misanthrope, and who sincerely despises just about 98 percent of all humanity, and takes great care to detail all the ways they deserve his hatred in his provocative novels, which hav More...
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Aug 01, 2011
Matthew
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"H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life" is an excellent(albeit brief)analysis and survey of Lovecraft's life and its central influence on his work. The reason this is such an excellent and bold work is because Houellebecq pays tribute (in a most personal way) to a fellow writer. Some will find this book to be offensive, but few will have enough ammo to argue against Houellebecq uncompromising conclusions and lucid insights. I also found Houellebecq's writing to be more int
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May 25, 2011
Nick
rated it:
A great study of Lovecraft.
24:"In general, few authors, even amongst those most entrenched in fantasy literature, have made so few concessions to the real."
41: "And what is startling is that all attempts at [biographical] demystification have failed."
47: Astute observation: 'Supernatural Horror in Literature' doesn't take into consideration Lovecraft's own contributions to the genre.
61: "Obscurely and unpleasantly, there is also the f More...
24:"In general, few authors, even amongst those most entrenched in fantasy literature, have made so few concessions to the real."
41: "And what is startling is that all attempts at [biographical] demystification have failed."
47: Astute observation: 'Supernatural Horror in Literature' doesn't take into consideration Lovecraft's own contributions to the genre.
61: "Obscurely and unpleasantly, there is also the f More...
Oct 04, 2010
R.
rated it:
Il s'agit bien d'un essai de Michel Houellebecq consacré à l'un de ses auteurs favoris Howard Phillips Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft est l'un des maîtres du récit fantastique et d'horreur. Dans ce court essai, Michel Houellebecq étudie l'homme et son oeuvre et cherche à trouver des parralléles. Ce n'est ni une biographie ni une étude approfondie de l'oeuvre mais un subtil mélange entre les deux pour n'en garder que le meilleur. Il évoque l'inadaptabilité sociale de l'auteur, ses difficultés avec l'a
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Jan 10, 2010
Jeremy
rated it: 
I am a great fan of Lovecraft. I confess to finding his work curiously profound, finding in the great Cthonic deities and the cosmic scope of evil some basic truth about reality. There is a great dearth of secondary literature on Lovecraft, so mostly I've looked elsewhere for the satisfaction of my curiosity (a curiosity Lovecraft's protagonists always fail to resist to their misfortune.) This book was tremendously helpful to recognizing what is it about Lovecraft with his florid tones and uneas
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Mar 15, 2011
Spoonbridge
rated it:
A surprisingly breezy, quick read, I found much to ponder in Houellebecq's analysis of Lovecraft's work. Houellebecq's argument that Lovecraft's genius sprung from his hatred of the world, indeed, that all art originates from a distaste for the "real," is an interesting one but I am not sure that I can truly agree with it. It is definitely some food for thought. It also contains my two favorite stories written by HPL as well.
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Nov 12, 2009
Gabriel
rated it:
The inclusion of the two stories at the end is, frankly, bizarre, and runs a bit contrary to the exultation Houellebecq claims is due Lovecraft here, as it makes the book seem rather pulp-ish after all. But they are two of Houellebecq's "great texts," and of course worth reading; I wished for Houellebecq's commentary (in the light of the essay, it would have been a perfect demonstration of his sometimes outlandish (or at any rate, intentionally controversial) claims), but Believer Book
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Feb 27, 2009
Tom
rated it: 
This is a very slight book, and offers little new information for anyone already at least casually acquainted with Lovecraft's life, works and general character. It is, however, a very quick read, and worth it for the insights into the nature and allure of weird fiction which Houellebecq's essay provides, as well as the author's various postulations on the how and why of Lovecraft himself. The book also boasts an excellent (albeit obviously hastily written) introduction by Stephen King, and the
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Aug 08, 2010
Jeff
rated it:
A quick read, I found it in the local library looking something completely different, read in a day. The intro by Stephen King is a resectful and thoughtful look at HPL. The main body of the text is a simple introduction to the man, written by a fan. A big fan, maybe a bit of an apologist? It's nice though that there are translators notes included as Michel may have elaborated a touch here and there to confirm his viewpoints.
A good read for newcomers and kind of like a fresh cup More...
A good read for newcomers and kind of like a fresh cup More...
Jul 28, 2011
Derek
rated it: 
If I had paid for this book rather than borrowed it I would be feeling really cheated: Houellebacq's text is no more than one-third of the volume. 100 pages or so. Padding it out are two of Lovecraft's novellas, which fall into what Houellebecq terms Lovecraft's "great texts". Much of the text is fairly general waffle which would be a B+ grade university dissertation. This is merged with an "antibiography" (which was quite interesting, to be fair) and the sum of these parts r
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Dec 04, 2011
R.John
rated it:
Houellebecq's thesis is great. Lovecraft against life. Exploring HPL's New England exceptionalism burdened by his poverty and experience of failure living in New York City, Houellebecq paints a compelling backdrop for the Mythos. The real strangely otherworldness of the Lovecraft world is that it is completely divorced from this world - unburdened by money and psychologically free of sex. HPL's horror is that it shrieks in an outer space, removed from the comforts of traditional fiction and visi
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Oct 29, 2008
Louise
rated it:
If you love Michel Houellebecq you'll find this fascinating. Howard Phillips Lovecraft is an underrated tale teller and misanthrope with an amazing imagination, the influence of which can be felt in Houellebecq's works especially the last, The Possibility of an Island. And even tho, at times, Houellebecq gets as close to a hagiography as one can with a sexless racist, his explanation of Lovecraft's life and works is a captivating read due in no small part to the quality of Houellebecq's writin
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Mar 16, 2011
Quentin
rated it:
It's an extended essay on the human condition disguised as a biography of H.P. Lovecraft. Houellebecq's vision of the world is ultimately as nihilistic as most of lovecraft's anonymous protagonists, but he lays out a convincing case that Lovecraft was ultimately an anti-rationalist--he was a profound believer in science, but saw no hope in science's ability to save or uplift anyone. And this pessimistic contradiction was confounded (or augmented) by Lovecraft's virulent racism, which located t
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Sep 26, 2011
Kelvin
rated it:
A perspective on Lovecraft regarding his outlook on life in general and how it affected his craft. *Hee hee, joke joke laugh already* Sometimes it feels that Houellebecq is really talking about his own passions in love other then what made Lovecraft tick. Great perspective on how Lovecraft's stay in New York and his increasing racist paranoia affected the mythos.
Nov 17, 2011
Katri
rated it:
In the section "Translator's notes" Dorna Khazeni writes that Houllebecq cites French editions of Lovecraft's texts and letters, but in many cases the sources of these citations are not clearly referred to, hence the translator hasn't been able to use the exact English Lovecraft used. According to Khazeni, Houellebecq has been "unable to assist in locating or identifying these citations". Fishy? I think so.
Mar 11, 2009
John
rated it:
Houellebecq is another of those French authors who hate everything, only he's a contemporary. This book consists of a long essay by him about Lovecraft and two of Lovecraft's short stories. Recommended for a different take on American horror.
Aug 26, 2010
Tpeter
rated it:
Brilliant book, brilliant title, brilliant chapter-names. This is a sort of biography, as well as a salutation to H. P. Lovecraft - but the very special nature of Houellebecq and his gift for being honest shines through.
Aug 10, 2008
Chris
rated it:
Misanthropic Houellebecq discusses the nihilism and fear implicit in one of his early influences, the fantastic author of weird fiction, Howard Phillips Lovecraft. I did not know Lovecraft's works were divided into his minor works and "the Great Texts", as Houellebecq names them. Basically, a few very short essays by Houellebecq, an intro by Stephen King, and two Lovecraft shorts "The Call of Cthulu" (1926) and "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931).
A nice interl More...
A nice interl More...
Jan 24, 2009
Daniel
rated it: 
I didn't get very far into this. Not sure what I was expecting, but I couldn't really get into it. Some books make you want to stop whatever you're doing in order to read them. This one made me wonder what chores I could do when I had free time.
Apr 04, 2010
Jeff
rated it:
A wonderfully bleak, almost nightmarish assessment of Lovecraft's rift with reality by France's greatest and most decadent living writer.
Sep 07, 2007
Jesse
rated it:
This was the only book I completed this summer aside from Harry Potter. It's sort of funny because I completed Potter as a gesture FOR the world and life. HPL : ATWAL successfully rekindled my interest in Lovecraft (although that fizzled when I subsequently attempted to expand my Lovecraft reading beyond the "major texts" that I had devoured in high school and college), who was a fascinating, tormented individual.
I'm sure that someone familiar with M.H.'s fiction would fin More...
I'm sure that someone familiar with M.H.'s fiction would fin More...
Nov 11, 2008
Henrik
rated it:
Read this a year or two ago. While I disagree with Houellebecq on some, main, points, I still value that he takes the issue of HPL & his stories serious and has true respect for it.
Also, it is fascinating to read something which is on one hand scholarly-like and on the other fiction (he claims that this is really his first novel); only a French author could get away with that, I think;-)
Contrary to many I quite like Stephen King's foreword to this edition--even if he make More...
Also, it is fascinating to read something which is on one hand scholarly-like and on the other fiction (he claims that this is really his first novel); only a French author could get away with that, I think;-)
Contrary to many I quite like Stephen King's foreword to this edition--even if he make More...
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Jul 05, 2011
Adam
rated it:
Well-set during a nightmarish 2.5 day greyhound trip through the Middle-west to Rhode Island.
Jan 31, 2011
Nick
rated it:
Houellebecq was able to say more in 120 pages than L. Sprague de Camp got across in nearly 500.
Feb 21, 2010
H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life by Michel Houellebecq (2005)
Aug 21, 2009
Bojana
rated it:
I realized that Lovecraft was a racist and that if I knew him I would probably hate him, but still his works wouldn't be as good as they are if he hadn't been so full of hate towards others.
Jul 28, 2011
Interesting view of life and creation of H. P. lovecraft with 3 of his stories.
