>Try to read Lovecraft
>Slog through the shitty writing of At The Mountains Of Madness
>Finally builds up to a big monster reveal
>Reveal happens
>The monster is literally a penguin
>It's not even a hostile penguin
>The penguin completely ignores the explorers the whole time
Fuck man, is this the fabled spooky cosmic Lovecraft horror I've been told about? ,
>>7581854
I couldn't get through that book. Weren't the monsters like black things...? Something about being barrel shaped and with spikes? I don't know but it sucked
>>7581854
>he thought the penguins were the monsters
senpai you gotta work on your reading comprehension
Mountain of Madness is bad but the monster aint a penguin.
>>7581854
i'm reading that right now op.
i like this one. it's a good yarn. i've read over 500 pgs already
>>7581854
1. It sounds like you need to work on your reading comprehension.
2. At The Mountains Of Madness is actually a pretty bad place to start with Lovecraft. Not only is it his longest work, but it's considerably improved by having read some of his previous stories, particularly The Call of Cthulhu. AtMoM "demythologizes" Lovecraft's earlier work (along with The Whisperer in the Darkness), explaining some of the occult aspects of these earlier stories in scientific (or at least science fiction) terms. I think a lot of the enjoyment some people get out of AtMoM (I'm not a huge fan of it either, honestly) is based on it being a bit of an info dump about Lovecraft's universe.
>hear about the geek boner for lovecraft
>sit down and read through his work
>dude couldn't write for shit
>monster was almost always indescribable nonsense
This is one of those internet jokes that everybody is in on, right?
Like rick rolls?
>>7581854
Call of Cthulhu was better in less words.
>>7582465
>>dude couldn't write for shit
No, he couldn't write dialogue for shit.
>>7582449
that's useful information, thanks. I just started at the beginning of this Lovecraft collection and ATMOM was the second story
The penguin is just there to show that there's lifeforms we don't know about (these penguins evolved differently than normal penguins). The actual monster inside the mountains shows up a bit later, and has nothing to do with penguins (though has already been mentioned a few times in the story.)
But yeah, I agree with anons. You should leave Lovecraft's longer works (Madness, Dunwich, Dexter Ward, etc) for later. Check out his shorter works first. Not sure which book you got, but if available try to read "the music of erich zann", "nyarlathotep" or "the thing at the doorstep" next.
>>7582672
you don't like thick ass accents?
>>7582465
>indescribable nonsense
That was the point, it's spooky because you don't know what it is.
Imagine if they made all horror movies in fullbright, and with the monster taking center frame for all the shots - would that be scary?
>>7582793
Even if you took away the accents he throws in, dialogue was not his forte.
>>7582449
Call of Cthulhu is like Final Fantasy 7.
The Colour out of Space was better, and so was Final Fantasy 8.
>>7581854
I personally loved The Colour Out of Space the most, out of all that I read. It didn't even have that many strange monsters, not compared to his other work, anyway.
>>7582465
No. He's not for everyone, and his writing is a little creaky, both for age and stylistic reasons, but he has merits. I think my favorite thing about Lovecraft is his portrayal of characters being "driven insane" by their contact with the Outer Beings. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a matter (usually) of "read this, go insane!" or "see this, mind literally blown!" but of people becoming convinced of the truth of things that seem insane to normal people and behaving accordingly, like becoming convinced that the modern descendants of an Eskimo cult are out to get you because you know about the secret hidden city.
He's not just about "le indescribable horror" either, whatever effect lesser imitators have had on his reputation. The Dreamlands stories are quite comfy, for instance. And despite his evident prejudices, Lovecraft had the presence of mind to show his universe from different perspectives. AtMoM is one example, another being the Randolph Carter's dealings withPickman the ghoulcompared to the portrayal in "Pickman's Model". For worldbuilding fags, of which you may have noticed there are many in SFF, this is pretty cool.
>>7581854
>a penguin
kek
