BLACK SEAS OF INFINITY

[John Thiel III]

I just acquired this one and find it valuable reading. It's supposed to be a collection of Lovecraft's best and most important writings. I find this to be true of "At the Mountains of Madness" which is heavily scientific, has a grand cosmic view and a sense of wonder, as well as the usual terrors he likes so well. "Dreams in the Witch House" has a closer look at Arkham than is usually given. Has anyone else gotten this anthology who would care to discuss what is in it? I think a discussion of its contents would be highly profitable--but then, would those be sinister words?

 

[w h pugmire esq]

It is an excellent collection, contains classics and rarities alike. I know nothing of the editor, who seems to be well-known in fan circles. I just try'd to find my copy so as to reread Miller's Introduction; but I cannot now locate it in ye chaos of my rooms. I like that it has some of ye revisions/collaborations; it's been a while since I've read WINGED DEATH, and I've been wanting to explore that story anew to judge its possible racist contents. A bonus in ye book are ye four appendixes featuring some of HPL's non-fiction scribblings such as "History of the Necronomicon" and "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction".

 

[John Thiel III]

Well, his journalist doesn't think very highly of negroes, but I don't think Lovecraft thinks very highly of his character. I doubt if Lovecraft could be considered a racist, though I've seen some try, and as I just read the story yesterday I thought I had discovered the source of this opinion of him. But he didn't have any prejudices, and he was just trying to portray a character there.

 

[John Thiel III]

I'd say that Lovecraft's views of reality are still a matter for controversy these days; he seems to create his own reality to contrast with a reality he regards as shaky, and his "raw" material is what is doing the shaking.

 

[John Thiel III]

After reading "At the Mountains of Madness" this thought occurs to me--John Campbell wrote a similar story called "Who Goes There"--which story came first? Considering when HPL wrote no more, I'd say the Campbell story was likely to be written later. Which suggests that Campbell got the idea for the story from Lovecraft. Perhaps it was a coincidence in thinking such as is spoken of in the works of Charles Fort. But I seem to remember that the Lovecraft story was published in Astounding.

 

[John Thiel III]

I just checked that out. Lovecraft's "Mountains" was serialized in Astounding Feb-April 1936. Campbell took over that magazine in 1937.

 

[John Thiel III]

Checked again, and found that "Who Goes There" was published under a pen name by Campbell in the August 1938 issue of Astounding. I wonder if any of the readers noticed the similarity.