The Case of Charles Dexter Ward--Oct 2020

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Hope no one minds that I started this thread

Did anyone else read this this month? I got a kick out of it, but I'm not sure if it was because I used to read a lot of Lovecraft and it was fun revisiting it, or if was one of his better efforts. Lovecraft kind of had a schtick--he liked to keep dropping hints about what was happening without ever really saying exactly what it was, until the end, which usually had the big reveal.

Lovecraft never was much on dialogue--I bet there's less than 20 lines total in this whole book. I suspect that's because Lovecraft himself was such a recluse he just didn't know much about how people would talk amongst themselves.

Well, anyway--I thought this was kind of fun. When I was a younger lad, this kind of stuff went straight to my imagination, and I would get seriously creeped out. Now, not so much, except if I let myself go with it, then there's a little chill now and then

[Mariella]

Hi Bryan!

Hope no one minds that I started this thread

Not at all! Thank you for having done this! Any (legit) activity on this group is much appreciated!

Did anyone else read this this month?

I haven't read it yet, being still stuck on Dickens' Bleak House (our September reading) and Gramsci's Lettere dal carcere. Furthermore, I haven't been able to get the book from any of the local libraries so far, but it should be available by next week. As soon as I read it (and it shouldn't take long, I hope), I'll be glad to share my opinions with you.

Has anyone else read it? What do you think about it?

[Jane]

An Interesting story, but I thought it was a little too nightmarish for me to read again.

[Mariella]

I ended it last night (I had fallen behind schedule...): what a great story! I'm impressed by Lovecraft's ability to make fear concrete and tangible by the great emphasis he puts on sensorial descriptions. Now I can easily understand why, after more than a century from his birth, he's still considered one of the Masters of this genre. I'd like to read more from his production: can you recommend some titles to start with?

A funny thing: one night, while I was reading (view spoiler)[the part where Dr. Willett explores the Pawtuxet undergrounds (hide spoiler)] a general blackout took place. I currently live alone in a flat in the city (Pisa) where I study. It's been particularly hard for me to fall asleep after that...

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

After listening to different reactions to Lovecraft over the years, it seems to me that there's not much middle ground--either people are really affected by him (and either want to read more/don't want to have anything more to do with him) or else his technique doesn't really work for them.

I think that if you enjoyed this one, then you'll probably enjoy most of the other things he wrote. There are a lot of different collections of his out there--I would look for any collection that had The Colour out of Space and The Call of Cthulhu. Those were two of my favorites

[Mariella]

Bryan--Pumpkin Connoisseur wrote: "After listening to different reactions to Lovecraft over the years, it seems to me that there's not much middle ground--either people are really affected by him (and either want to read more/don't ..."

Thank you so much, Bryan! I'll surely try to find them during my next visit at one of the local bookstores! 😍