tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post5356211263951320562..comments2024-03-19T07:56:00.031-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: The Man Behind the MadnessJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90613623422946238662012-09-17T07:14:10.826-04:002012-09-17T07:14:10.826-04:00People always mention Red Hook as an example of hi...People always mention Red Hook as an example of his racism infiltrating his writing, but have people forgotten the story "He" ? The sanity blasting horror is that while glimpsing into the future he sees the world is run by Asians. Seriously, that is the "terrible future" meant to inspire fear in the reader.Zzarchov Kowolskinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-86972721220510451212012-08-26T18:37:37.790-04:002012-08-26T18:37:37.790-04:00In many ways, Lovecraft is an invention. His legen...In many ways, Lovecraft is an invention. His legend is indredible: a solitary man, obsesed with old cults, very racist and misogynist. But it's not real because he was very a sociable man and travelled to meet many pen pals, never belived in his cults and gods, had a wife (right, his marriage didn't last... how many last these days?) and spoke bad words about inmigrants (something that many people do nowadays) but never did anything against them. He was a geek in some ways... but he never was the dark writer some people said.Jose Rodrigueznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71428194068636442982012-08-26T03:42:19.093-04:002012-08-26T03:42:19.093-04:00Have you seen The Strange Case of Howard Phillips ...Have you seen The Strange Case of Howard Phillips Lovecraft? It's a made for TV biopic-meets-documentary with a very peculiar, personal view of HPL and his work. <br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Case-Howard-Phillips-Lovecraft/dp/B000UL61FW<br /><br />(It got aired here in Hungary on Spectrum. Not to be confused with the comedy of the same title, featuring HPL's animated briefcase...)Balfakenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88177653144917354842012-08-22T00:26:23.628-04:002012-08-22T00:26:23.628-04:00James has posted before on Lovecraft and I never m...James has posted before on Lovecraft and I never mentioned Lovecraft's bigotry. This is because the previous posts pertained to Lovecraft as an author or a gaming influence; his racism didn't seem relevant. But this post is about Lovecraft as a human being, which means his racism IS relevant. If you haven't read any excerpts from his letters it may seem like I'm making too much of this, but he went well beyond the kind of prejudiced remarks associated with, say, Archie Bunker. He would have hated me without even knowing me, simply because of my ethnic background. He would have hated Mr. Maliszewski and probably most of the other people on this blog for the same reason. Go ahead and enjoy his stories, but don't celebrate him as a human being without at least acknowledging his pernicious beliefs.Merciful DMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-64658797247436619312012-08-21T00:45:56.583-04:002012-08-21T00:45:56.583-04:00No one denies those letters are bigoted. On the ot...No one denies those letters are bigoted. On the other hand, those attitudes were not unusual for the 1920s, when racial theories were still viewed with respect in many quarters (the most prestigious American universities followed racial quotas with little comment). It is also worth noting his attitudes became noticeably more modern in the 1930s.Michael Rooneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-36512891130446500882012-08-20T22:55:14.788-04:002012-08-20T22:55:14.788-04:00the guys been dead for 80 years. I don't thin...the guys been dead for 80 years. I don't think any amount of self-righteous pontification is going to change him at this point. He wrote great stories...Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-2123799525918839452012-08-20T22:10:11.546-04:002012-08-20T22:10:11.546-04:00I don't anyone denies that Lovecraft was, even...I don't anyone denies that Lovecraft was, even by the standards of his own day, a bigot.James Maliszewskihttp://grognardia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89219542130888873742012-08-20T22:05:48.700-04:002012-08-20T22:05:48.700-04:00To say he had his flaws is an understatement. If t...To say he had his flaws is an understatement. If the letters he supposedly wrote regarding his experience in New York are genuine, he was staggeringly bigoted. Can anyone on this blog contest Lovecraft's racism?Merciful DMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18842697182954388342012-08-20T14:45:40.940-04:002012-08-20T14:45:40.940-04:00Is that a lidless, unblinking eye of unknowable co...Is that a lidless, unblinking eye of unknowable cosmic horror behind him?joe whitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-9414504064274178262012-08-20T13:18:00.702-04:002012-08-20T13:18:00.702-04:00There's quite a good Lovecraft biography avail...There's quite a good Lovecraft biography available on YouTube:<br /><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8PIeFN05rI <br /><br /><br /><br />It mixes in interview segments with people like Gaiman & Del Toro that are interesting in their own right.Mark Krawecnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-294782041053094102012-08-20T11:44:50.517-04:002012-08-20T11:44:50.517-04:00Well put. Slightly related, just Sunday I was at a...Well put. Slightly related, just Sunday I was at a local bookstore looking for some R. E. Howard goodness, and I started browsing a book on the shelf, "Conan's Brethren" about the other R. E. Howard characters. The thing that struck me most, was the introduction, written by Howard himself, where he speaks about Picts and his fascination with them from a very young age. It was this glimpse into his tastes, and related anecdotes, which made me want to try and acquire Howard's letters.Antonio Eleuterinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-49785103211153312562012-08-20T11:01:04.702-04:002012-08-20T11:01:04.702-04:00I remember learning I shared my birthday with the ...I remember learning I shared my birthday with the old gentleman from Providence and thinking simultaneously it was kind of cool and kind of creepy. I need to read more of his letters. I agree, from what I have read, he clearly was more than the mere HPL myth.Fletcher Vredenburghnoreply@blogger.com