H. P. Lovecraft’s Novel Life: A Reading Challenge

Mythos Monday
CriminOlly’s video:
• A new reading challeng...
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[@arockinsamsara]

When I saw CriminOlly's video I instantly thought it was a great idea, too... But I am just doing it the boring way, your take is really creative! I can think of a few different authors for whom it would be fun to do a "Novel Life" of in the way you're doing for Lovecraft. Great thinking!

[@mondkalb9813]

Great List. 👍 And The Picture of Dorian Gray is of course a great book!

[@GentleReader01]

Anyone who thinks Dorian Grey is a bad book probably shouldn’t be allowed to handle sharp objects or operate heavy machinery. They can’t be trusted.

[@nunyabizness6595]

Lol!!!😂😂😂

[@StormReads]

Guess I can't be trusted. 🤷

[@GentleReader01]

@@StormReads always good to learn these things. I can’t either, but for other reasons. 👍🏼

[@CriminOllyBlog]

This is a really clever twist on the challenge! And of course you can reread Dorian Gray as many times as you like, it never gets old…

[@ronlyons7455]

Always enjoy your channel... The Well at the World's End, by William Morris is one of my 'All time' favorite stories. It is a long tale, which develops the trope of "The Water of Life", by the Brothers Grimm.... A Story that " Baptized my imagination",to use C.S.Lewis's phrase

[@user-rf6to7bl6l]

Neither the Time Traveller nor Professor Cavor was prepared for their travels. Professor Cavor never returns from the Moon, if you see my point. Great video Michael.

[@nonautomaton6230]

What a splendid idea! I can only imagine how many books dusty old Roger would have to work his way through!

[@CourteousKitsch]

I can't wait to see what other books you pick from the next few decades! These are the years of genre fiction I love. I already learned about a few titles I'd never heard before.

[@SEKreiver]

Good list! HPL was a big fan of Haggard's SHE, so 'Brighteyes' is a good choice. "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" was quite ground-breaking. Underappreciated.

[@inanimatecarbongod]

I'm not familiar with all of these, but this looks like a great selection from that period. It might be worth (re)reading Supernatural Horror in Literature for some suggestions too.

[@michelle_flora]

What a cool concept! And a great person to choose for this, because so much awesome stuff was written during the span of his life in particular. I hope you keep us updated throughout each decade, I'm sure you'll dig up some intriguing books!

[@gavinmcintosh5716]

What a novel idea😊

[@ellesse3862]

Nice way to spice up your 500 Readathon, I like the spin you've put on this Novel Life challenge, exciting possibilities, choices you might not otherwise choose and gems you might discover, ohhh I like it. One day I might do this myself, maybe CL Moore as my chosen muse. Mmm .. another great idea from booktube's infamous sons.

[@tuningmachine]

On the last chapter of The Time Machine right now. And just finished Turn of the Screw last week.

[@KyleMaxwell]

I read "Heart of Darkness" just last month and saw a lot of parallels to Lovecraft. Glad to hear confirmation!

[@RaynorReadsStuff]

I’m looking forward to jumping on the My Novel Life bandwagon too. Love your take on it. Brilliant idea😊

[@darger3]

Great idea

[@gustavo9506]

01:32 that kind of comment always cracks me up!

[@TheNineteenthCentury]

I don't know if you've read any of these, but I couldn't help making a few recommendations for the following decades of Lovecraft's life. _The Purple Cloud_ (1901) by M.P. Shiel (both Wells and Lovecraft praised this book) _Ayesha: The Return of She_ (1905) by Sir Rider Haggard (the sequel to _She_ -- but set in Central Asia instead of Central Africa) _The Red Thumb Mark_ (1907) by Dr. R. Austin Freeman (introduced the detective Dr. Thorndyke) _The Book of Wonder_ (1912) by Lord Dunsany (Lovecraft was of course a Dunsany superfan) _The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu_ (1913) by Sax Rohmer (introduced the long-running supervillain Fu-Manchu) _Max Carrados_ (1914) by Ernest Bramah (introduced Max Carrados, a blind detective) _The Holy Flower_ (1915) by Sir Rider Haggard (one of the best Allan Quatermain books) _The Ivory Child_ (1916) by Sir Rider Haggard (sequel to _The Holy Flower_ -- and potentially even better) _The Moon Pool_ (1919) by A. Merritt (another lost world tale) _Drome_ (1927) by John Martin Leahy (underground world) "In Amundsen's Tent" (1928) by John Martin Leahy (Antarctic horror story) _The Maracot Deep_ (1929) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (a tale of Atlantis) _The Horror from the Hills_ (1931) by Frank Belknap Long (includes a description of one of Lovecraft's dreams, taken almost verbatim from H.P.L.'s own account) "A Martian Odyssey" (1934) by Stanley G. Weinbaum (Lovecraft and Weinbaum were mutual fans) "Valley of Dreams" (1935) by Stanley G. Weinbaum (sequel to "A Martian Odyssey") _Death on the Nile_ (1937) by Dame Agatha Christie (a classic!) Sorry for such a long list!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Excellent recommendations! Thanks!

[@sams5963]

That's a very interesting list. John Jacob Astor was America's first multi-millionaire. He founded his fortune on the American fur trade but was smart enough to get out of it when he noticed that in Europe men were swapping out of beaver hats for silk hats

[@ArtBookshelfOdyssey]

I was thinking of doing this challenge too, but I love your twist in it. I could do it for some of my favorite authors like Bradbury or Dickens! Dickens would be a challenge considering when he lived. Those books are long!

[@freelivefree7221]

I read the original magazine version of Dorian Gray in which the homosexual elements were more prominent than in the later novel version. Eric Brighteyes was really an early fantasy novel since supernatural elements appear. It was really good. Which it being Haggard who really had the storytellers gift should not be surprise. I remember liking Well at World's End which I read between high school and getting my first job in the real world. During that time I read a lot of classic fantasy. A lot of the other books you mention I hadn't heard of (well obviously I heard of the Time Machine,) so I look forward to hearing about them particularly the Fate of Finella.

[@TheMikester307]

You could do most of Thorne Smith's novels! (Most of them..."Skin and Bones" was crap.) I'd go for "Topper," Turnabout" and "The Stray Lamb."

[@tonette6592]

I really have to check into more Lovecraft.

[@vilstef6988]

Hartmann the Anarchist is on Gutenberg, Fate of Fanella is not, but is at the internet archive.

[@ProfesseurDronte]

Lovecraft owned and read at least "The Picture of Dorian Gray" , "A Journey in Other Worlds", and "The Time Machine" He liked "She" by H. Rider Haggard, but I don't know if he read "Eric Brighteyes". By Jules Vernes, he owned and read "From the Earth to the Moon" and "20.000 Leagues under the Sea". He mentions he read "others" in magazines. We don't know which ones. (according to "Lovecraft's Library", by S.T. Joshi & David E. Shultz) He also read "The Turn of the Screw" because he mentions it in "Supernatural Horror in Literature". I've found no evidence of Lovecraft reading "Heart of Darkness" but I could be wrong. He apparently says in a letter that he's reading "Lord Jim", by Conrad. So, at least 4 books on your list were read by Lovecraft for sure. Maybe more ! Also, I'm surprised that you didn't put Dracula on this list 😄

[@ExtraT82]

Very imaginative spin on the challenge. Thought about doing the Booker Prize winners from each year as a twist, but this is way better

[@kallianpublico7517]

I'm sure he read about new developments in science, being a citizen who grew up in the midst of the industrial revolution. Tesla, Ford, Edison. But did he read science fiction? Wells, Verne, Shelley's Frankenstein? The reason I ask is that he seems to have an "uncanny" insight into science. Not technology, but the purpose or ends or consequences of science. Perhaps not the methodology of science but certainly what is suggested, if not discovered, by science. Especially evolution. For someone who could not possibly have understood evolutionary biology his writings strangely mirrors the modern discoveries about octopi.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

I really like your take on this challenge, Michael. I just read The Time Machine last week for Rocket Summer. 🚀 I used to teach Heart of Darkness. Great stuff. I think you’re going to have a lot of fun with the challenge this way! 👍🏼😊

[@Krommer1000]

11:59 This is my first time hearing the John Astor book even exists. Looking forward to your thoughts on it.

[@BookBlather]

Great twist on the challenge! Speaking of Heart of Darkness… you ever read Silverberg’s Downward to the Earth?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Not yet.

[@BookBlather]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Probably worth your while if you like Heart of Darkness that much. Just the novel, though. Don’t bother with the graphic novel… different and not that great.

[@Yellowblam]

This surely is the most interesting way to do this. Paying respects to great author’s! BO!

[@PeculiarNotions]

An interesting take on this reading challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing your updates on this no matter how long it takes.

[@DDB168]

An interesting idea.

[@vilstef6988]

A great tke on this challenge! Thanks, Michael!

[@AngryPict]

Some useless information: The author of Hartmann The Anarchist was the brother of Colonel Percy Fawcett, the British explorer that mapped a load of the Amazon and went missing in 1925 searching for a lost city.

[@jamesholder13]

Awesome idea!

[@StevenEverett7]

That sounds like and interesting list. I'll be waiting for your take on the stories.

[@justinjohnson529]

You should make a video covering the 1st year of Titan's run on Conan. I think they've done a great job.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I should.

[@troytradup]

Who's out there trashing Dorian Gray? Heathens. For some reason, I had both Turn of the Screw and Heart of Darkness pegged for much later -- 1910s maybe. Interesting!

[@redwawst3258]

Your videos are always cool. 🤠

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks.

[@charliedogg7683]

I like the way you change the challenge to HPL's life, though I'm sure your life is much more interesting than you modestly say. Highlights for me: Wilde, James and Conrad, not least because I've taught all three to senior English students over the years. And is that cover illustration for "Heart Of Darkness" by Mike Mignola? It could almost have come from one of his Hellboy stories. My alternative choice for 1899 is Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", an intriguing proto-feminist work that introduced me to writers who of Louisiana Creole heritage. Now a personal question Michael, and you can of course choose not to answer: are you related to famed comics writer Brian K. Vaughn?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@charliedogg7683 No, but I do like his work.

[@redwawst3258]

The Long Night by Stanley J Weyman

[@redwawst3258]

Night Watches by WW Jacobs

[@MagusMarquillin]

You didn't go extreme enough, in the vein of upping the 100 book challenge to 500, I thought you'd make it "The Novel: a Novel challenge" and read a book every year books have been around. Lovecraft's younger then you! :P

[@calebwelch6393]

Do more of these!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Okay.

[@w.adammandelbaum1805]

The Picture that Dorian's Gay... probably influenced Lovey's Cool Air along with Poe's M. Valdemar, which of course was the main influence.

[@TheNineteenthCentury]

I think Machen's "Novel of the White Powder" was the main influence on Lovecraft's "Cool Air."

[@w.adammandelbaum1805]

@@TheNineteenthCentury thanks, I'll have to reread that to see. Read it a long time ago, but forgot about it. Glad you reminded me.🤗

[@TheNineteenthCentury]

@@w.adammandelbaum1805 The pleasure's all mine!

[@w.adammandelbaum1805]

@@TheNineteenthCentury just read it and I'm sticking with Valdemar.😛 Valdemar was a case of the postponement of natural death, Dorian was a case of the postponement of natural aging. But it was cool to read Machen again.

[@ManDuderGuy]

I like to think his only regret was that he had bone-itis.

[@markdurand9076]

Hey Brian could the books you read count for both challenges?? Just a thought.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I will ask Brian.

[@markdurand9076]

@michaelk.vaughan8617 don't ask Roger I think he is secretly plotting to take over the stately Vaughn manor.