Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I know it's actually Monday but I've been out of town since Friday with no computer and no Internet. And almost no cell phone either, because I was in the mountains.
I used the time to get a ton of Lovecraft reading done with the anthology of his short stories that I purchased last week. I've gotten through nearly all of them and am now thinking of doing a Lovecraft essay, because there really is a lot more to his work than simply OMG! EXTRA-DIMENSIONAL ALIEN HORROR! He's actually pretty Modernist and I'd like to discuss that. Plus, his views were horribly racist even by contemporary standards (check out "The Horror at Red Hook") and I'm not about to let him get away with it.
And also: I just got Albert Cossery's A Splendid Conspiracy in the mail from its translator, Alyson Waters! I had previously reviewed another project of hers, Vassilis Alexakis's Foreign Words, so I'm really looking forward to this one. Cossery (1913-2008) is actually Egyptian but he wrote in French. The description of A Splendid Conspiracy reminds me of Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North: European-Arab culture clash, mystery, and all. Very eager to start this one but I have to review A Thousand Peaceful Cities first.
Happy four-day vacation!
And now for my weekly link round-up:
The Adventures of Lil' Cthulhu
Brontë Sisters Power Dolls! (via Feministe)
Calls for Cthulhu, Episode 1
A Conversation with Vader
Don't patronise popular fiction by women *
Ricardo's Story
* I disagree with some of this article but it does raise a very important issue.
Posts
2 comments:
I have been meaning to dip into Lovecraft for a while now, so I am glad to hear about the modernism (and distressed to hear about the racism. Sigh. Good for you for taking him to task as part and parcel of your admiration.)
Do check out Lovecraft. He's considered the most influential horror author of the twentieth century.
Post a Comment