I admit to bringing a Lovecraftian perspective to my reading of AEG. That was due in part to various things I'd heard about the novel, which were then brought to mind with the HPL inscription. So I suspected far more cosmic horror from various quarters, including the flapping creature, than I ended up with.<div>
<br></div><div>My Phil Dick-style expectations were confirmed instead.<br><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 3:55 PM, Dave Tallman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:davetallman@msn.com">davetallman@msn.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><div class="Ih2E3d">Kieran Mullen wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
That needs a bit of explanation. For a work to be Lovecraftian I don't think it is simply sufficient to stick in Hastur and Cthulu and call it that. Lovecraft (IMO) came up with a truly original ontological horror premise for his fiction: the universe is dominated by inhuman forces which we don't have a hope of understanding or defeating. At best we can only hope that they ignore us. (We can't even pray that they do - there is no God, only atoms and a void). Humanity is a minor irrelevance in a dark and hungry universe. Any attempt to try to change that will only draw the attention of forces that will destroy the inquirer.<br>
<br>
</blockquote></div>
Given that Wolfe is a Christian I doubt very much that he would write a work consistent with such a nihilistic Lovecraftian premise. But other writers, such as August Derleth (also a Christian), have expanded the Lovecraft universe to include a more classical view of good vs. evil. To me, true horror cannot exist in a universe where our ideas of sanity and goodness are a mere fluke, a cosmic joke. The efforts of the protagonists become simply silly.<br>
<br>
But I don't think the Lovecraft parts are simply tacked on. From the beginning Reis announced his intention to retire to the South Seas (p. 14). This cannot be a coincidence. Reis may have learned something during his time as ambassador to Woldercan. He may have realized there was a connected menace on Earth and determined to fight it. To some degree his provoking a fight between Squiddy and the Navy seems to have been a success. At the very least the storms took out many Cthulhu worshipers on the neighboring islands.<br>
<br>
Even Lovecraft allowed the forces of good to succeed sometimes, for example in "The Dunwich Horror." Even he could not help rooting for humanity against the monsters.<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Bryan Alexander<br><a href="http://infocult.typepad.com/">http://infocult.typepad.com/</a><br><a href="http://twitter.com/BryanAlexander">http://twitter.com/BryanAlexander</a><br>
</div></div>