Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft by S. T. Joshi, Howard Phillips Lovecraft ISBN: 0-440-50660-3 Publisher: DTP Pub. Date: 07 July, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.95 (21 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: For your bookshelf: an essential Lovecraft book
Comment: I wish I had written The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, but I was happy someone did and was very interested in reading it. The stories included in the volume make a fine introduction to H. P.'s work for anyone unfamilar with his stories, but also offer real interest to those of us who have read these stories numerous times. Now we can find out what some of H. P.'s more obscure references meant, definitions to scientific terms he used, as well as insight into his inspirations for the stories. The book has a few pictures of some of the actual sites that Lovecraft used as scenes in his tales and how he got place and charactor names. Contents include "Rats in the Walls", "Colour Out of Space", "Dunwich Horror" and "At the Mountains of Madness". The only complaint I have with this book is there could have been even more annotation.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Mixed Blessing for HPL fans
Comment: Annotated Lovecraft--it sounds like a great idea, and it is. However, many of the annotations in this book seem unnecessary and irrelevant. Make no mistake, the stories themselves are some of HPL's best--"The Rats in the Walls," "The Colour Out of Space," "The Dunwich Horror," and the short novel "At the Mountains of Madness." A pretty good introduction by S. T. Joshi starts things off, and the final pages include some noteworthy comments on the art of writing horror (taken from some of Lovecraft's letters) and a short essay on the translation of Lovecraft's work into radio, TV, and film. This complementary material is very useful to someone just delving into the Lovecraftian universe, but the annotations are somewhat of a mixed bag.
While some of Joshi's annotations are quite interesting and useful, many seem to me to be totally unnecessary; some, such as biographical material, is interesting but immaterial to the stories themselves. For every chemical Lovecraft mentions, Joshi gives us the chemical formula and scientific name, which is okay if somewhat excessive. When some of the trademark Lovecraft terms pop up (e.g., eldritch), Joshi defines them; however, he also explains to us how aeon is an alternate spelling of eon, immensurable is synonomous with immeasurable, etc.--there are several unneccessary footnotes in each story explaining what seems to me to be patently obvious. Joshi also is fond of taking a notion from the text and explaining how Lovecraft "may have" been thinking of this or that, often ending the note with a quote of several sentences from authors such as Poe, Bierce, etc.--sometimes valid, sometimes not, usually over-the-top. He is also fond of referring back to his own footnotes from earlier in the book each and every time a certain subject is mentioned, which I find annoying.
Certainly, many of the annotations are useful, especially in the short novel At the Mountains of Madness. A good bit of the scientific nomenclature and theories, as well as geographic names, have changed since Lovecraft's time, and Joshi does the reader a great service in explaining what Lovecraft meant, what he was referring to, etc.; such important data contribute much to an understanding of the material and proper placement of the settings of the tales. While I would certainly recommend this book to Lovecraft readers, I would strongly suggest that anyone reading these stories for the first time ignore the footnotes completely. Besides sometimes giving away plot points to the current story and others, the footnotes totally interrupt the flow of your reading. To truly enjoy Lovecraft, you must immerse your mind in his language, structure, and flow. I don't think I can read any of these stories too many times, so rereading is more of a pleasure than a pain. Read these stories, move on to other things, then at some point come back and re-read the stories in conjunction with the annotations. You may well have to grin and bear it through many of the unneccessary, repetitive, and not entirely relevant footnotes, but you will gain some rewarding insights and make some new discoveries in these rich otherworldly tales by horror's greatest writer.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Tough One to Review
Comment: I've been a Lovecraft fan for decades, ever since I was a kid, and I loved this book. Joshi has taken some of Lovecraft's best works and illuminated each with the bright light of his scholarship.
There is a problem, however: Lovecraft appeals to a certain type of reader (IMO), and I think that the footnotes might detract greatly from the enjoyment of the stories for just such a reader; I know they did for me. Because of this, I feel that this is a great book for the already established Lovecraft fan, but might not be so appealing to someone who has just picked up Lovecraft for the first time. I could certainly be wrong about this, but I personally prefer to read Lovecraft's stuff in a different format, sans footnotes.
However, despite my misgivings, I ended up giving this book a five star rating based on Joshi's immaculate and voluminous scholarship. After all, the footnotes ARE the point here, illuminating, as they do, Lovecraft's eerie and unique prose.
I wouldn't have missed this one for the world.
 |
Title: More Annotated H.P. Lovecraft by H. P. Lovecraft, S.T. Joshi, Peter Cannon ISBN: 0440508754 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 10 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: The Annotated Supernatural Horror in Literature by H. P. Lovecraft, S. T. Joshi ISBN: 0967321506 Publisher: Hippocampus Press Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters by S. T. Joshi, David E. Schultz, Howard Phillips Lovecraft ISBN: 0821413333 Publisher: Ohio Univ Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: A Dreamer & A Visionary: H. P. Lovecraft in His Time by S. T. Joshi ISBN: 0853239460 Publisher: Liverpool Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
 |
Title: Crawling Chaos: Selected Works 1920-1935 by H. P. Lovecraft ISBN: 1871592720 Publisher: Creative Pubns Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
