Massive Book Club - Introduction & First Book

[DrFong]

Welcome to the first meeting of the Massive Book Club! We will be choosing books to read together and then discussing them. There is no need to sign up or apply. If you want to join the book club, all you need to do is read the current book club selection and post a comment on the thread. Each book club selection will have it's own forum thread like this one.

As of now, we are reading fantasy and maybe some light science fiction. Please, fill out the poll on this page with your book club selection preferences. You are welcome to suggest a book for us to read in the comments, but only if you are participating in the discussion of the current book club selection.

Our first book is called The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. It is both short (a novella) and public domain (free online). It is also great! It was written in 1931 and is a true classic of early American horror/supernatural fantasy. We invite you to read or re-read this thrilling tale! A link to the text is provided below.



The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft:

Feel free to chime in below once you have finished reading. You can answer the following questions, or pose your own for other members. Have fun and let's get some good discussion going!

• What do you think of Lovecraft's writing style?
• How does the story taking place in the 1920s changes how the characters act. If something like this happened today how would the story be different?
• What do you think of the deal made by the people of Innsmouth? Any takers?
• How does this famous tale stack up to the "thrillers" of today? Did it scare you?
• If you were the main character what would you do differently? The same?

DISCUSS!

 

[aprader1]

Is this the massive community reading books or are we just reading physically large books. Hmmm

 

[NoRezForYou]

I just love Lovecraft's work. I'll be sure to write up my side of the discussion first thing in the morning!

 

[Sozzer]

I'm an avid Lovecraft fan, so keep that in mind when reading my response to these.

• What do you think of Lovecraft's writing style?
  • I've always found that his writing style is very sombre, using descriptions heavily to really draw the reader in. Of particular note is how it approaches tone - nothing is ever particularly bright, and even when something might initially appear positive there's always an undercurrent of something being wrong, managing to turn even a peaceful & sunny day into a waking nightmare of sorts where nothing can really be trusted.
• How does the story taking place in the 1920s changes how the characters act. If something like this happened today how would the story be different?
  • Vastly. I don't think any of the stories Lovecraft wrote could really work in a modern setting, to be honest - they rely heavily on themes of isolation, secrecy, and closed off communities, which are drastically lessened these days. The protagonists never have the chance to contact the outside world in many cases, and even when they do, they don't know who they can turn to without just being branded insane.
• What do you think of the deal made by the people of Innsmouth? Any takers?
  • God no. We just don't know enough to really say it's worth it. After all, it's suspiciously one-sided, to the point where you can't help but wonder what else the Deep Ones are after.
• How does this famous tale stack up to the "thrillers" of today? Did it scare you?
  • I find that Lovecraft's works are almost never actually scary, so much as they are eerie, and SoI is no exception. Personally, I find it preferable to the tone of modern thrillers, as it's extremely easy to fall short of being outright scary, which can ruin a good thriller novel if it tries to aim for that.
• If you were the main character what would you do differently? The same?
  • I'd have left after finding out people sometimes disappeared after too much prying, frankly. Hell no, I'm not sticking around for that fate.

 

[Enkiduu]

• What do you think of Lovecraft's writing style?
  It's very immersive, very long and allows you to slowly sink into it. Very verbose though. I've read a few of his work and the writing often becomes very convoluted after a while to the point that I start skimming them just to get to the point and move forward. In this case, the escape scene started losing me, perhaps because I was multitasking and not reading in a relaxed state of mind, but it was hard to keep track of all the detail so I just skimmed across that part.
• How does the story taking place in the 1920s changes how the characters act. If something like this happened today how would the story be different?
  With the use of cellular phones and such, it probably would be a lot harder to become stranded in a strange town when you can just call someone to pick you up, or take and send pictures of your surroundings. Plus, I feel people nowadays are more genre-savvy and less prone to falling for common horror tropes. I wonder if people nowadays would be desensitized to such things to the point that they would be paralyzed with fascination rather than fear. I wouldn't be surprised if ironically people today were less likely to make it out alive because they wanted some selfies.
• What do you think of the deal made by the people of Innsmouth? Any takers?
  Seems more like the result of cult persona and mob mentality to me. I can understand a people of a far out rural community being sucked into it. Maybe nobody really believed anything would happen until it was too late and the deal was made. At that point, everyone is basically either in on it or a hostage.
• How does this famous tale stack up to the "thrillers" of today? Did it scare you?
  Lovecraft's works tend to be something that creeps on me slowly. It's not the jump-scare or gorey horror of today. For me, it's a more conceptual horror, the kind of what-if scenarios that my imagination brings up when walking along dark corridors in the middle of the night.
• If you were the main character what would you do differently? The same?
  I would've left that town even if it meant walking all the way. Even disregarding the fantasy aspects, there were plenty of signs that things are not right and something bad is about to go down.

 

[millawolf]

I love Lovecraft and especially love The Shadow Over Innsmouth. I'm very interested on how others think of the end. Where do you see the protagonist going? Should @DrFong set a time limit to discuss the story in details to avoid spoilers? I really love the idea of a book club and want to help promote it in our community.

 

[DrFong]

We have a great start! I'm just going to give this a little bump to hopefully get a few more responses. Give this story a read this Sunday and let us know what you think of it.

If you are reading the comments on a book club thread spoilers are a given.

Give up human life and live in the sea amid wonder and glory forever? Where do I sign up?