H.P. LOVECRAFT WEEK (DAY 4)

"For Lovecraft, history was both the foundation of a culture's sense of identity and a merciless force that revealed that identity for the farce that it was." - James Holloway

In his article from the August 2018 issue of FORTEAN TIMES, author James Holloway proposes that H.P. Lovecraft's writing is infused with the themes of history and archaeology and that the revealing and subsequent knowledge of both ultimately emphasize the truth of mankind's insignificance in relation to the cosmos, as well the pathway to its inevitable destruction.

Heady and insightful, Mr. Holloway uses many examples from Lovecraft's writings to make his point, and after reading this article, it's hard to disagree with him.

But Lovecraft's body of work (including his voluminous letters) has been scrutinized under a literary microscope by many critics and authors, and the collective material that has been produced by the effort uncovers many common themes to his writings, revealing it to be much more complex than the "weird fiction" under which it is generally categorized. The acceptance and understanding of this as a prerequisite will offer a guaranteed richer experience when reading the stories of Lovecraft.