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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 6, Spring 1945
Page 110
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110 FANTASY COMMENTATOR but after long consideration, this writer cannot but place it at the top: it appears to meet all possible requirements and tests. Dulled a little in effect by its length, perhaps, but almost as great in its own way is the novel "At the Mountains of Madness." The acknowledged evidence of one-time tropical climate at the poles is used to bolster a magnificent and frightening account of the discovery of the ruins of a pre-human civilization of unimaginable antiquity in the Antarctic. Behind hitherto-undiscovered mountains, incredibly high, lurks this vast hulk. Within its dead walls is sculptured the history of a mighty race and its decadence and final downfall. The fact that underground there are---capable of being revived by heat---remnants of the creatures that destroyed this elder race is not too scientifically implausible (as fiction) in the light of what we know today about quick-freezing, hibernation and the innate toughness of some lower species of animal life. There is even a very thin scientific justification for the events in the series of horror-episodes entitled "Herbert West: Reanimator," although the quality of this writing is definitely inferior to much of Lovecraft's best. Aside from all that has just been written, however, it would appear that the basic reaction which occurs in the reader's mind is the final and most important point. When we think of Azathoth as ruling all space and time at the center of Ultimate Chaos, we do not experience the same feeling as did we when confronted by the vague, spiritual entities of an older supernaturalism. We feel somehow that Azaroth is explicable in terms of modern astronomy and physics. He seems nearer to our rational, scientific minds than the misty ghosts and purely spiritual forces of a past age. It is perhaps worth repeating that this is the leitmotif of Lovecraft's peculiar art, the core of his philosophy of the weird: that all these vast and mysterious aspects of the universes around us should be regarded in the light of the supernormal rather than the supernatural. It is perhaps even better exemplified by our feeling towards the physical monstrosities, the blasphemous abnormalities of structure, appendage, etc., as encountered in so many of the mythos tales. We feel that these strange and abhorrent creatures are not mere nightmare denizens of the Pit (as in old supernaturalism) but rather conceivable products of a process of biological evolution that might have taken place in an utterly alien cosmos under conditions which an earth-dweller could scarcely comprehend. Only a few suggestive examples have been given from the mass of Lovecraft's work; whole books could easily be written if and when a definitive critical analysis were attempted. Some of the most popular stories such as "Pickman's Model," "The Colour out of Space," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Rats in the Walls," "The Music of Erich Zann," "The Temple," "The Thing on the Doorstep," and others have not been specifically referred to merely because it is felt that confirmed Lovecraftians, if they feel that the ideas and opinions herein expressed may provide a slight trace of a new and fresh viewpoint, may like the intellectual entertainment of re-analyzing some of these tales for themselves. It would seem that enough has been cited to give those who are interested an opportunity to trace down evidence of confirmation or rebuttal should they feel so inclined. VI The importance of Lovecraft's style has been a point of some discussion among its devotees. Of course, the similarity to Poe's was immediate and self-evident: Lovecraft himself admitted that Poe and Dunsany had the greatest influence on his writings. We readily discern the same Poesque elements of morbidity, extravagant phraseology, melodramatics and somber atmosphere. However, while Poe was without doubt an infinitely greater writer in a strict literary sense, we can say that Lovecraft had an imagination equally as fertile; in addition he had the benefit of three generations of scientific research and the philosophical speculation arising therefrom. These same generations an almost complete revolution
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110 FANTASY COMMENTATOR but after long consideration, this writer cannot but place it at the top: it appears to meet all possible requirements and tests. Dulled a little in effect by its length, perhaps, but almost as great in its own way is the novel "At the Mountains of Madness." The acknowledged evidence of one-time tropical climate at the poles is used to bolster a magnificent and frightening account of the discovery of the ruins of a pre-human civilization of unimaginable antiquity in the Antarctic. Behind hitherto-undiscovered mountains, incredibly high, lurks this vast hulk. Within its dead walls is sculptured the history of a mighty race and its decadence and final downfall. The fact that underground there are---capable of being revived by heat---remnants of the creatures that destroyed this elder race is not too scientifically implausible (as fiction) in the light of what we know today about quick-freezing, hibernation and the innate toughness of some lower species of animal life. There is even a very thin scientific justification for the events in the series of horror-episodes entitled "Herbert West: Reanimator," although the quality of this writing is definitely inferior to much of Lovecraft's best. Aside from all that has just been written, however, it would appear that the basic reaction which occurs in the reader's mind is the final and most important point. When we think of Azathoth as ruling all space and time at the center of Ultimate Chaos, we do not experience the same feeling as did we when confronted by the vague, spiritual entities of an older supernaturalism. We feel somehow that Azaroth is explicable in terms of modern astronomy and physics. He seems nearer to our rational, scientific minds than the misty ghosts and purely spiritual forces of a past age. It is perhaps worth repeating that this is the leitmotif of Lovecraft's peculiar art, the core of his philosophy of the weird: that all these vast and mysterious aspects of the universes around us should be regarded in the light of the supernormal rather than the supernatural. It is perhaps even better exemplified by our feeling towards the physical monstrosities, the blasphemous abnormalities of structure, appendage, etc., as encountered in so many of the mythos tales. We feel that these strange and abhorrent creatures are not mere nightmare denizens of the Pit (as in old supernaturalism) but rather conceivable products of a process of biological evolution that might have taken place in an utterly alien cosmos under conditions which an earth-dweller could scarcely comprehend. Only a few suggestive examples have been given from the mass of Lovecraft's work; whole books could easily be written if and when a definitive critical analysis were attempted. Some of the most popular stories such as "Pickman's Model," "The Colour out of Space," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Rats in the Walls," "The Music of Erich Zann," "The Temple," "The Thing on the Doorstep," and others have not been specifically referred to merely because it is felt that confirmed Lovecraftians, if they feel that the ideas and opinions herein expressed may provide a slight trace of a new and fresh viewpoint, may like the intellectual entertainment of re-analyzing some of these tales for themselves. It would seem that enough has been cited to give those who are interested an opportunity to trace down evidence of confirmation or rebuttal should they feel so inclined. VI The importance of Lovecraft's style has been a point of some discussion among its devotees. Of course, the similarity to Poe's was immediate and self-evident: Lovecraft himself admitted that Poe and Dunsany had the greatest influence on his writings. We readily discern the same Poesque elements of morbidity, extravagant phraseology, melodramatics and somber atmosphere. However, while Poe was without doubt an infinitely greater writer in a strict literary sense, we can say that Lovecraft had an imagination equally as fertile; in addition he had the benefit of three generations of scientific research and the philosophical speculation arising therefrom. These same generations an almost complete revolution
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