This book is titled; "The Road to Madness" but the cover also reads; "The Transition of H.P. Lovecraft" and "Twenty-nine tales of terror by the legendary master of the macabre." These tales range in length from a mere page to 92 pages. The longest story; "At the Mountains of Madness" I sometimes found a bit tiresome in its attention to detail, what I would call 'pacing' in a movie. The fault may lie with me as I tended to find time to read after settling down in bed and was usually quite tired by that point. I found "Cool Air" to be awfully charming and perhaps my favorite Lovecraft tale thus far. Likewise, "The Unnamable" drew me in and had it's way with me with no effort whatsoever. This collection is, overall, horrible in the most wonderful way possible.
This is an excellent book to savor over a snowed-in weekend here in New England which serves as the setting for many of Mr. Lovecraft's tales.
This is a great Lovecraft collection. I'm a big fan so I was just letting ya know, hope I didn't come off as pretentious, as it was certainly not my intent. There's a lot of great Lovecraftian fiction out there, but also a lot of not so great. I'd love to make some suggestions! What other genres do you enjoy alongside horror/dark fiction? Recently I just finished Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy and his stand-alone Best Served Cold. Check it out!!
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Oh no, Justin, don't worry about it. Your comments were both welcome and helpful. I sincerely appreciate your sharing accurate information that corrects my guesses/ignorance of pertinent facts. :)
ReplyDeleteBesides horror and dark fiction/fantasy, well, I read a lot of different things. I enjoy certain kinds of history especially what everyday life was like for people at different periods in different places and the history of reading and books. I read lighter books too like Jasper Fforde's books, Christopher Moore, Jim Hines and Bill Bryson. I also like high fantasy like LoTR and I love R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt stories. Occasionally I read a bestseller or two and I will even read a well-written and entertaining cookbook like; "A Cookbook for Poor Poets and Others;" by Ann Rogers.
I'm sure I've heard of Joe Abercrombie but I haven't read anything by him unless he was included in one of the anthologies of short stories I'm suddenly devouring lately. I will look for the books you mentioned, thanks for the recommendation. ^_^
One of those anthologies wouldn't happen to be Swords & Dark Magic would it? That's a pretty popular 2010 anthology. That anthology ends with a story by Abercrombie set in his First Law world. I actually read that first, enjoyed it, bought the rest, but now that I've read The First Law trilogy and the stand-alone, but related, Best Served Cold I will re-read it. Actually, my roommates texted me not five minutes ago to say I received an Amazon package (The Heroes, Joe Abercrombie's latest, also related). That means I will re-read the story as soon as I get home, then curl up and dig into The Heroes. Definitely check him out.
ReplyDeleteOh, now I feel very silly. Yes, I read Swords & Dark Magic! I think it was the second book I finished this year. "The Fool Jobs" was excellent! I enjoyed the characters very much, they reminded me of some of the parties I've been in in various RPGs. I will absolutely look for Joe Abercrombie's longer works. ^_^
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