Courtesy of The Lovecraft Ezine, a fascinating audio interview with H.P. Lovecraft biographer S.T. Joshi. One of the many interesting bits:
My belief is that what Lovecraft was doing here was what one Lovecraft scholar David E. Schultz has called an "anti-mythology." By that I mean this: The purpose of most mythologies and religions is, as it were, to reconcile humanity with the universe. That is, to say, to explain the place of humanity within the confines of space and time. Lovecraft reverses that, by saying, whereas religion says, "yes, human beings are at the center of the universe, and are the special product of the benevolence of an all-powerful god," Lovecraft says, "no, human beings are completely insignificant. They are at the mercy of these titanic forces that really care nothing about them, and that can brush them aside and destroy them without a moment's thought."
That reminds me: One of these days I need to buy a copy of the massive I Am Providence. If it wasn't so darned expensive...
I find a lot of Joshi's essays and stuff to be very tedious. I'd like to read that 2 volume biography as well however.
ReplyDeleteHe is far and away a better biographer than DeCamp was. Who's Lovecraft book was pretty bad, though not as bad as his REH one.