Lovecraft’s wife was a jew despite the fact that he wasn’t a big fan of the tribe and she was from New York. Maybe he knew something about tunnels even way back when.
"Red Hook's legions of blear-eyed, pockmarked youths still chant and curse and howl as they file from abyss to abyss, none knows whence or whither, pushed on by blind laws of biology which they may never understand." Brooklyn hasn't changed much.
This one is beyond a doubt my favorite; it's also my first. The one that opened the Lovecraft dimension to me. It's all connected into unique universe. The lore of each story puts strength into the next. There more delve the deeper the dive. Beware the tomes of ancient evils! Do not read the Necronomicon!
Lots of people read the Necronomicon in Lovecraft’s stories, reading it in itself doesn’t do anything to most people other than give them a sense of existential dread for a while. It e has even been known to help (such as in "The Dunwich Horror")
I have a huge collection of his works, one of the new books I got (amazing leather bound collection of short stories) outright says in the preface they left this out due to the “new age” of readers not being able to deal with “racism”. To be honest it pissed me off, that’s revisionism… you can choose to skip it if you do not like it but to outright not include his works to create a safe space for a reader is just wrong and goes against all that writing stands for. Like most writers, not all of his work is going to be for everyone, but I think this is a damn fine piece.
oh, pish tosh! you got your kkk robe in a bunch? if someone prints a book, they get to decide which piece of archaic drivel they put in it. some people (known as people with taste) don't inflict this trash on themselves. this was my final attempt to appreciate this dross. you happy now, joel? have i suffered enough?
Most of the things he says that are cited as examples of his racism or xenophobia are quite mild if you replace the words with their modern equivalents. They’re even more mild when you consider the fact that almost everyone was racist or xenophobic in the 1800s.
Agreed, that's definitely revisionism - but just as a note, I don't think it was meant to create a 'safe space' as most people use the word. I think anyone anti-racist wouldn't want the awful things HP believed to be hidden away. I think a a lot of that sanitizing is done by people who feel shame by association, and are looking to either cover their ass, and/or protect their own identity and nostalgia.
Seems to me Red Hook is ripe for a cinematic adaptation, with the Thomas Malone character embodying a strong protagonist role. Understandable that there hasn't been one considering the controversy that surrounds the story, but clever writing could bypass the problem. I think it could be great.
Such a great story, but I've never understood the point of the old man going to the underworld and pushing over the golden pedestal. What was he trying to achieve? Any insights?
They’re coming here from tik tok💀 to find out if the person said he was overly racist and he was. We are criticizing him the same way how other white men in the 1920’s did him
@@MA-qw8gwactually no lololol. During his time this is how every white person thought. The cultural revolution spread by communistic international bankers in the 1960s changed the way people looked at everything.
This stuff is light work tbh. Imagine if he saw how sick these cities are today with stuff like the Kensington zombies, the Chabad tunnels, the border crisis.
You'll be pleased to know that Lovecraft regretted his bigotry later in life. In a letter to his friend Catherine L. Moore only a month before his death, he wrote: "I can better understand the inert blindness & defiant ignorance of the reactionaries from having been one of them. I know how smugly ignorant I was-wrapped up in the arts, the natural (not social) sciences, the externals of history & antiquarianism, the abstract academic phases of philosophy, & so on [...] God! the things that were left out-the inside facts of history, the rational interpretation of periodic social crises, the foundations of economics & sociology, the actual state of the world today ... & above all, the habit of applying disinterested reason to problems hitherto approached only with traditional genuflections. Flag-waving, & callous shoulder-shrugs! [...] Holy Hades-was I that much of a dub at 33 ... only 13 years ago? There was no getting out of it-I really had thrown all that haughty, complacent, snobbish, self-centered, intolerant bull, & at a mature age when anybody but a perfect damned fool would have known better! [...] The only consolation lay in the reflection that I had matured a bit since '24. It's hard to have done all one's growing up since 33-but that's a damn sight better than not growing up at all."
Wow people need to grow the hell up, words from the past are simply warnings for the future. I fear the world of rewritten classics for modern (over)sensitivities
the two are linked, this has been known forever until modernity. you know it innately, you just lie to yourself. i don't think that makes you a bad person, but the effect of this way of thinking is negative
Lovecraft didn't like Yazidis it appears, neither does ISIL/Al_Quieda. There are few yazidis in North America, but far far more in Germany. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidis
Just like the sensational newspapers of the time loved to characterize Haitians as not only practicing Voodoo, but being cannibals and devil worshippers. It's not H.P Lovecraft's fault in particular, it was the society he lived in. Racism was accepted as well as encouraged by the government and media. If you don't believe me, check out the camel cigarettes advertisement that's on the back of a 1944 Popular Mechanics magazine I have: It says "whether you're fighting Germans or japs, enjoy our fine cigarettes, now with less nicotine for the taste you love".... Etc. Etc. The government forces that were operating during wartime encouraged this kind of racism. Chinese workers that were imported into the u.s.a. during the early 1900's were paid horrible wages and called "coolies" because the business conglomerations that built the railroads assured the pit bosses that they were "barely human". Even Jack London has a character in one of his books claim that 1 white man is worth 1000 dead n*****s. So you can't always blame the citizens 100% when they are being taught by their government, business leaders, and the media. Those groups are more at fault for spreading the propaganda in the first place, and never recanting their statements or clearing the air of their past lies Governments have a big problem saying: "listen, we fucked up, sorry. Those were lies we told you."
This writer was quite a racist wasn't he? This story's just an over the top example, because he's talking about NYC. I like the way he describes the loitering "blear eyed, pock marked youths" and "swarthy squinting hag". Brings to mind Bernard Goetz. Imagine him describing the "Burning Man" festival..the nightmare hordes! Dionysiac fury!
Yeah Lovecraft was very racist, even for his time. Its kinda hilarious how insane his racism was and that he turned into his brand of horror with incomprehensible events and beings. But we have to keep in mind that Lovecraft had a very very messed up early life, and his weirdo Aunts were the ones that ingrained this extreme Little New Englander into him. By the end of his life, he rescinded these views, spoke negatively of them and in great verbosity, in true Lovecraft fashion lol.
I'm normally able to ignore the racist stuff in HP's work since the narrator usually gets messed up at the end and I'm mainly here for evocatively vague descriptions of places and monsters; plus I'm privileged to not suffer from those ideas... that said I'm not half way through this time and I'm tapping out. Tragic it is that such an interesting writer was so cruel in his ideology and ignorant of the very truths that could set his fears at ease while slaying his prejudices.
To me, the combination of ignorant xenophobia, revulsion and paralyzing fear in the face of the unknown only adds to the horrifying atmosphere. This kind of human evilness and ugliness gives the story a tinge of unpleasantness and feels like a very accursed and unsavory part of human nature we'd rather ignore and tell ourselves we've evolved past, just like other aspects of his writing. This kind of nihilistic and dehumanizing worldview makes his words darker, more corrupted and downright upsetting, all potentially great horror fodder. The Mountain Goats song "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" plays with these themes of isolation, prejudice and hatefulness. Really getting inside Lovecraft's head and how he felt. Of course, for some people who have to deal with shit like racism in their everyday life, I could see how being reminded of it all over again would be anything but fun/spooky. It could also potentially be horror-repellent to some, as a core concept like "they're evil and scary because they're fat, ugly and asian" is so absurd it becomes downright comical, like a Chappelle's Show sketch.
Seems your default setting is, “It’s racism!” Yet, are you even listening to the discourse? I’ve got to wonder... He’s mostly being descriptive of their qualities, if you find those qualities inferior and distasteful and a intrinsic expression of their race, isn’t that a testament to your racism not his? Assigning intent is a matter of perspective. He makes distinction between utility of cultures in relation to the mores and values of his time. Seems more like common sense than anything else.
This story is in dire need of a reimagining. If you realize that this is being told from the bias perspective of a horrendous racist, then it reveals itself to be a tale of institutional racism, poverty, organized crime, police brutality and corruption, and human trafficking. I feel like a deeply meaningful story can be remolded from this.
Welcome to the real world, as it was in the 1930s. I'm not defending HP's views, but his attitudes were quite common back in the day. Isn't it nice that we have made some progress since then. HP was an old-school WASP. And WASPs didn't even approve of the Irish (my people), never mind any swarthier foreigners.
This was how America was in 1900. His cats name might be a clue …. Niggerman 😂. All these cancel culture lefty asswipes nowadays are just idiots. Don’t read it or listen to it if you don’t enjoy the language or points of view. All these woke mob have just gone completely the opposite way. They’re actively creating racism….. colleges with “ black only “ rooms and dorms !!!!! Reverse racism is still racism. How long have people fought to eradicate it , only for the woke left retards to actually instill it in universities and colleges. Look at Disney, everything they release today is racist!!! Black actress plays The Little Mermaid for more diversity…… but they lighten her skin 😂. Just pathetic really Changing history and festering or revising books and authors doesn’t work … Germany tried that in the 30’s and 40’s. You have a choice…. read or don’t read …. but don’t try and force your opinion on everyone else
@@WhoCares69 ' Wow. .Your irony deficiency is something else. ' Don't force your opinion on everyone else ' He writes , after a ignorantly defense of a story that was condemned back when it was written. Acknowledging racism' is not 'woke . This isn't some Disney movie kid ' .
There IS a book called "The Horror of Black Tom" by Victor LaValle that deals with this. Basically The Horror at Red Hook from the perspective of a black man from Harlem.
@@ConsideringPhlebas Seriously? Lovecraft was incredibly racist, he's someone who has a huge amount of merit as a horror author despite this, but it's not a new discussion how he was considered racist even for the time he lived in. If you missed that, then you're the one who isn't leaving your own bubble.
Superb. A poignant display of White culture. The feigned purity and obscene reversal of victim and perpetrator. Lovecraft was an artist-priest serving at the altar of Whiteness, painting not just his own striking self-portrait, with weak-jawed and cruel features, but that of the European enterprise as a whole. To be so blind and so perceptive all at once. The Horror at Red Hook is an absolute masterpiece and will serve generations to come in providing a view into the schizophrenic, fratricidal heart of White culture. And will help explain the rapid downfall of a society turned suicidal out of guilt.
