Introduction by China MievilleLong acknowledged as a master of nightmarish visions, H. P. Lovecraft established the genuineness and dignity of his own pioneering fiction in 1931 with his quintessential work of supernatural horror, At the Mountains of Madness. The deliberately told and increasingly chilling recollection of an Antarctic expedition's uncanny discoveries--and their encounter with untold menace in the ruins of a lost civilization--is a milestone of macabre literature. This exclusive new edition, presents Lovecraft's masterpiece in fully restored form, and includes his acclaimed scholarly essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature." This is essential reading for every devotee of classic terror.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Respected it rather than liked it.
This is a case of very cool mythos and great concept but later authors have written the same type of stories better. It left me even more impressed by Dracula and Frankenstein, which managed to be great books in their own right even as the blazed a trail.
A lot more geology than you'd expect in a horror novel and HP Lovecraft is not gifted with the writing ability to make descriptions of sediment layers interesting.
The payoff is top notch, loved the description of the shoggoth and the terror the protagonists experienced as they fled the city, really well done but it was too little too late.
Almost but not quite made up for the turgid middle.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This work is simply disappointing. I was willing to suffer through all those tedious, technical, and dry descriptions at the beginning, hoping that the latter half of the book will be mystical and worthy of madness, but it was not. It was rather uninspired. This story does not justify its length, especially since it felt like Lovecraft spent too much time describing certain things which did not warrant such emphasis, while completely neglecting others that indeed could have used a lot more focus.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
"Lovecraftian" is an adjective associated with several pieces of media that I enjoy. I decided to go straight to the source and read a little Lovecraft.
I won't make that mistake again.
Mountains of Madness is terrible. A glacial (hah!) start, a hint of action, and then a long investigation that basically goes nowhere.
"The greatest fear is that of the unknown." While this is true, here it is maddeningly frustrating. The narrator repeatedly expresses reservations about whether he should reveal the terrible things he's seen, yet when he actually does, there's little to be terrified of. The narrator is almost never in actual danger throughout the entire book. He is just following the trail of terrible things.
Lovecraftian prose leads much to be desired. I've played through Darkest Dungeon a few times and really enjoy the writing there... "You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from …
"Lovecraftian" is an adjective associated with several pieces of media that I enjoy. I decided to go straight to the source and read a little Lovecraft.
I won't make that mistake again.
Mountains of Madness is terrible. A glacial (hah!) start, a hint of action, and then a long investigation that basically goes nowhere.
"The greatest fear is that of the unknown." While this is true, here it is maddeningly frustrating. The narrator repeatedly expresses reservations about whether he should reveal the terrible things he's seen, yet when he actually does, there's little to be terrified of. The narrator is almost never in actual danger throughout the entire book. He is just following the trail of terrible things.
Lovecraftian prose leads much to be desired. I've played through Darkest Dungeon a few times and really enjoy the writing there... "You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor." In Mountains of Madness, Lovecraft falls on the same adjectives over and over again. The word "decadent" is used so often, it might as well be a drinking game.
This book never has a payoff. It's like he wrote a middling tale of unseen horror, and then decided to sprinkle three Lovecraftian adjectives (abhorrent, grotesque, etc.) in each sentence.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Terrifying and bizarre, At The Mountains Of Madness plumbs and disturbs the depths of the human psyche. I loved the vivid, detailed descriptions of the depths these two unfortunate protagonists unearthed, and the sense of tension and suspense as they descend deeper into the abyss. Lovecraft's writing style can at times be verbose, but at its best the often archaic language he uses serves to heighten the sense of otherworldly trepidation his literature invokes in the reader. I also loved that, at least to me, much of what makes the story so terrifying is the way it wriggles its way into the darkest recesses of the mind, and plays with the human tendencies towards fear of the unknown but also a morbid curiosity As with many of Lovecraft's stories, there is a slow start, but as the plot progresses it builds greater momentum, and by about a third of the …
Terrifying and bizarre, At The Mountains Of Madness plumbs and disturbs the depths of the human psyche. I loved the vivid, detailed descriptions of the depths these two unfortunate protagonists unearthed, and the sense of tension and suspense as they descend deeper into the abyss. Lovecraft's writing style can at times be verbose, but at its best the often archaic language he uses serves to heighten the sense of otherworldly trepidation his literature invokes in the reader. I also loved that, at least to me, much of what makes the story so terrifying is the way it wriggles its way into the darkest recesses of the mind, and plays with the human tendencies towards fear of the unknown but also a morbid curiosity As with many of Lovecraft's stories, there is a slow start, but as the plot progresses it builds greater momentum, and by about a third of the way through I was utterly gripped and could not put it down until I had finished it. One of the best stories I have read in a long time.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Lovecraft didn't put in any of the work required to help me suspend my disbelief. Yes, he had a wild imagination, but that isn't enough for literature.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This marks my premier venture into the world of Lovecraft. I've been longing to read this for a while, and I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised; the good bits are the language, which is both varied and interesting, plus the eldritch feeling that hangs o'er the entire work. The bad things, is that this is a work that feels like reading an architect magazine crossed with Edgar Allan Poe. I'm guessing Lovecraft fans may want to crucify me for that.
Still, I read an annotated version of this book; Leslie S. Klinger has done a great job with annotating both the Sherlock Holmes tales and the "Sandman" stories, the latter by Neil Gaiman, and he continues in that vein throughout this relatively short story.
A man goes to Antarctica and finds some scary stuff. There's a synopsis for you. I shan't spoil anything for you, but I think it's …
This marks my premier venture into the world of Lovecraft. I've been longing to read this for a while, and I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised; the good bits are the language, which is both varied and interesting, plus the eldritch feeling that hangs o'er the entire work. The bad things, is that this is a work that feels like reading an architect magazine crossed with Edgar Allan Poe. I'm guessing Lovecraft fans may want to crucify me for that.
Still, I read an annotated version of this book; Leslie S. Klinger has done a great job with annotating both the Sherlock Holmes tales and the "Sandman" stories, the latter by Neil Gaiman, and he continues in that vein throughout this relatively short story.
A man goes to Antarctica and finds some scary stuff. There's a synopsis for you. I shan't spoil anything for you, but I think it's safe to say that the film "Alien" and "The Thing" both have been heavily inspired by this tome.
I got tired of reading a bunch of "and the spires towards the skies from the unfathomable architecture of the Old Ones from 50 million years ago are scary" stuff, almost over and over again, so that didn't scare me; however, Lovecraft's way of weaving a gloomy, haunting atmosphere at the start of this book is admirable; he almost goes deep, headlong into describing landscapes and the recurring so much that it really hits home, when he goes into the oeuvre.
All in all, not my cup of tea, and it bored the pants off me from time to time, but it was at the very least well-written with a lot of nods to different cultures. And yes, I'd pick up the annotated-by-Leslie-S.-Klinger-version if I were you.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'LibraryThing'
2 stars
This marks my premier venture into the world of Lovecraft. I've been longing to read this for a while, and I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised; the good bits are the language, which is both varied and interesting, plus the eldritch feeling that hangs o'er the entire work. The bad things, is that this is a work that feels like reading an architect magazine crossed with Edgar Allan Poe. I'm guessing Lovecraft fans may want to crucify me for that.
Still, I read an annotated version of this book; Leslie S. Klinger has done a great job with annotating both the Sherlock Holmes tales and the "Sandman" stories, the latter by Neil Gaiman, and he continues in that vein throughout this relatively short story.
A man goes to Antarctica and finds some scary stuff. There's a synopsis for you. I shan't spoil anything for you, but I think it's …
This marks my premier venture into the world of Lovecraft. I've been longing to read this for a while, and I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised; the good bits are the language, which is both varied and interesting, plus the eldritch feeling that hangs o'er the entire work. The bad things, is that this is a work that feels like reading an architect magazine crossed with Edgar Allan Poe. I'm guessing Lovecraft fans may want to crucify me for that.
Still, I read an annotated version of this book; Leslie S. Klinger has done a great job with annotating both the Sherlock Holmes tales and the "Sandman" stories, the latter by Neil Gaiman, and he continues in that vein throughout this relatively short story.
A man goes to Antarctica and finds some scary stuff. There's a synopsis for you. I shan't spoil anything for you, but I think it's safe to say that the film "Alien" and "The Thing" both have been heavily inspired by this tome.
I got tired of reading a bunch of "and the spires towards the skies from the unfathomable architecture of the Old Ones from 50 million years ago are scary" stuff, almost over and over again, so that didn't scare me; however, Lovecraft's way of weaving a gloomy, haunting atmosphere at the start of this book is admirable; he almost goes deep, headlong into describing landscapes and the recurring so much that it really hits home, when he goes into the oeuvre.
All in all, not my cup of tea, and it bored the pants off me from time to time, but it was at the very least well-written with a lot of nods to different cultures. And yes, I'd pick up the annotated-by-Leslie-S.-Klinger-version if I were you.
Review of 'At the mountains of madness' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Hovering between 2 1/2 and 3 stars.
I enjoyed reading the first 2/3 of this book for the most part. I liked the dry recital of events from the respected scientist. I liked the descriptions of the polar landscape and the quiet creeping feeling of foreboding. But man, that last third... It was all good until the endless repetitive descriptions of the old one's ancient city, the story told by the murals. The murals, oh my god, the murals. Then it got very tedious and preposterous. They looked at these murals with flashlights shining in the darkness for what 3 or 4 hours, maybe?, and they knew the whole story of the old ones, their technology, the creation of different life forms, the loss of some of their ancient abilities...? Ahem. I mean sure this is a horror story or rather a story of the macabre; I'm willing to suspend …
Hovering between 2 1/2 and 3 stars.
I enjoyed reading the first 2/3 of this book for the most part. I liked the dry recital of events from the respected scientist. I liked the descriptions of the polar landscape and the quiet creeping feeling of foreboding. But man, that last third... It was all good until the endless repetitive descriptions of the old one's ancient city, the story told by the murals. The murals, oh my god, the murals. Then it got very tedious and preposterous. They looked at these murals with flashlights shining in the darkness for what 3 or 4 hours, maybe?, and they knew the whole story of the old ones, their technology, the creation of different life forms, the loss of some of their ancient abilities...? Ahem. I mean sure this is a horror story or rather a story of the macabre; I'm willing to suspend disbelief. I'll even say I "believe" in the ancient ones coming from another part of the universe to colonize earth when earth was still in its infancy. Okay, Cool. But to have the protagonists know the whole history of the ancients in one afternoon? Now you've gone too far, Bub.
So a good story that could have used some major editing and a little bit more thought on execution, IMHO.
I found I kind of liked Lovecraft, nonetheless, and plan on reading some of his short stories this month in honor of creepy and spooky tales.
