what is the problem?i am trying to write something about slaithwaite at the moment and have a problem, perhaps you can help me.
I wouldn't characterise Lovecraft as anti science. As I recall, he actually fetishised the 18th century and its 'enlightenment' principles. He was certainly dejected by what science had seemed to have proven the existential case: that the universe is vast, and indifferent to human values, and beyond our paltry comprehension.he's anti-science therefore pro-transcendence - "here is a window such as Erich Zann's, beyond which lies a world more terrible than imagination can grasp, where science dwindles to zero and incredible passions rage as winds in a vacuum.... Where?"
Good post. And yeah, he was anything but anti-science. At one point he wanted to be an astronomer.I wouldn't characterise Lovecraft as anti science. As I recall, he actually fetishised the 18th century and its 'enlightenment' principles. He was certainly dejected by what science had seemed to have proven the existential case: that the universe is vast, and indifferent to human values, and beyond our paltry comprehension.
Nicked from Reddit
"Astronomy underwent radical expansion over the course of Lovecraft's life. Between his birth in 1890 and his short story "Polaris" in 1918, improvements in telescopes and the advent of spectroscopy had increased the number of stars we could catalog from around 400 (visible with the naked eye) to over 10,000, then upwards of a million. Then in 1920, the Great Debate over "spiral nebulae" opened up the staggering possibility that our Milky Way was not the only galaxy and that the so-called "Andromeda Nebula" and similar bodies were as well—which Edwin Hubble would conclusively settle only a few years later.
By 1926, when Lovecraft wrote his breakthrough "cosmic horror" tale "The Call of Cthulhu", the known size of the universe had increased another six orders of magnitude and humanity's place in it had grown all the more insignificant. No wonder Lovecraft's narrator felt that science "will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
I can't remember if houellebecq acknowledges (or refutes) this in his bookno one writes as badly as lovecraft except a few comic book writers. its unprecedented in terms of how bad it is.
"I often heard sounds which filled me with an indefinable dread—the dread of vague wonder and brooding mystery. "
if he doesn't know how to read then how has he been able to navigate this forum for so long?Corpsey can't read. He doesn't know how to. Is there an audiobook version?
i mean i picked this story because it for a lack of a better expression exists in its own universe its not bogged down by any of the Cthulhu stuff and feels like a more off the beaten path take on the kind of stories Poe was writing.nice one corpsey have you read it, it's literally a 20 minute thing, props to @WebEschatology whose opinion would also be good to hear
he wouldn't have lasted a minute in one of those old garage raves especially when the badman started taking overCat forcing Lovecraft to listen to old pirate sets like Ginsberg giving Ezra Pound the 'Yellow Submarine' treatment.
He's got a sort of knack for saying things which, though strictly speaking are irrelevant, feel somewhat related to the conversation. It's like a sixth sense but it's completely random.if he doesn't know how to read then how has he been able to navigate this forum for so long?
i say this with no knock on audiobooks btw
he wouldn't have lasted a minute in one of those old garage raves especially when the badman started taking over
is it a sixth sense or just that he has a habit of just saying things and dishing out takes just to say things and dish out takes?He's got a sort of knack for saying things which, though strictly speaking are irrelevant, feel somewhat related to the conversation. It's like a sixth sense but it's completely random.
the how did he have a music writing career and a blog?He can't read what we say, it's just random chance that gives the illusion of participation and communication. It's an eerie effect but I promise you he doesn't know how to read.