![]() On that last point I will, very slightly, disagree with you, I think. ![]() The phonograph record, the footprints, etc, all work to build a convincingly eerie atmosphere in the early stages, and later the false Akeley's passing revelations about the nature of its race and the vast multi dimensional reality of which we are a part helps in establishing a more cosmic background against which these events can take place. Where the story really works I think is in its hints and implications. Sort of like a far future society that has mastered hyperspace travel but still uses rocket jets. That these clunky cannisters are expected to make the journey beyond the edge of known space and the inconceivable gulfs beyond just doesn't ring true to me. I also found the notion of the brain jars to be incompatible with the generally advanced state of science and knowledge which the beings are said to possess. The aliens are reduced to too human a role (and rather bungling humans at that) to really work on the level of threat which Lovecraft seems to want. The effect is a subtler one, in that it relies not on providing a shock or surprise, but a gradual piling up of evidence to confirm what the reader has long since suspected to be the case, thus leaving no real outlet for avoiding the implications (both on the physical and emotional planes) of that fact. This is one of the many examples of what Henry Kuttner (if memory serves) rightly called HPL's "confirmational" rather than "revelational" endings. Incidentally, though, the ending was never intended to be particularly revelatory, as it is strongly indicated from the very first page of the story. The same can be said for "The Dunwich Horror" in that the Old Ones there are presented as having much too "human" motivations, and the concept of evil is made too simplistic as a result. It simply reduces them too much to be genuinely awe-inspiring, and that gravely detracts from the atmosphere of the story. The behavior of the aliens, for instance, is a serious drawback, as it is petty and, worse, inept (the telegram, for instance). My views on the story itself is that it is a wonderful, but seriously flawed, attempt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |