Necronomicon Goals, Big Black Book Edition

After finishing up the stunning Providence, I figured that this might just be a good time to finish off some of the Lovecraft work I hadn't yet read. For illustrative purposes here's my copy.

It's of the Gollancz Black Books range, which I wasn't enormously into for some reason. The Whole list is comprised of only 6 books: of which I've read at least 1 completely (Complete Conan Chronicles), 1 at least partially (Conan's Brethren), 1 is a MUST read (Lyonesse) and one, despite nigglings that I really should, have absolutely no interest in (Tarzan). 

That last one might be because, compulsive as I am, I might feel forced to dig through the entire Tarzan series and as that thing runs to about 26 novels, there's no way I'm touching that thing with a ten metre stick. Although, I did read Princess of Mars, come to think of it, and I'm not feeling much of a need to read beyond that first novel. It was last year even. Hmmm...

Well, whatever the reasoning for my holding off on the others, I couldn't resist the 2 Lovecraft volumes which I did buy, because, why not put black faux leather with golden lettering on a book with occult connotations and eldritch naming?

These books are, in fact, the same size

Gollancz, I fookin' love ya.

It would be nice If I could finish this last part of the enormous Necronomicon book by the end of the week. All that's left is the short poem 'To a Dreamer', the lengthy short story 'The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath' and the 'Afterword' section. Which looks somewhat like this.

When done, there'll be no review for this one. This is just for me.

I've been aware that my reading pace has slumped to a pretty horrifying low, so this will enable me to add a book that I've dipped in and out over the years to the completely-read-Shelves without having to give it much thought.

Before beginning with this edition I was comfortably sure that I had read most all Lovecraft's stories, in various anthologies over the years, but I figured at the time that it wouldn't take much effort to make completely sure by purchasing and reading a complete edition.

Not yet quite exactly a decade later and I still haven't finished up that book and I haven't even started on the smaller, but still daunting Eldritch Tales. But I guess now the time is good to finish off the first. It'll add some context to some of the later Providence issues, the Randolph Carver ones.

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... Aaaand, my god, not many pages in and I'm already regretting it.
The 'Dream quest' short story, at this point in reading, seems to be Lovecraft's sustained effort to imitate Dunsany's stories. But where those things were artfully dreamy, Lovecraft's is just mindlessly, endlessly imaginative without restraint. Where it should be dreamy it is soporific. Where flowing without effort, it is instead clunky and unpolished. A quick search reveals that this is because it's one of those works not published during Lovecraft's lifetime.
However, it does seem to shed a lot of light on some of the mythology that was previously only hinted at throughout the other short stories, by giving an unrestrained, 'un-maddening' and thus 'all-accepting' view on the outer gods.

I'm having some difficulties going on, which is why this post has been polished a lot more than I'd been planning. Maybe because the tale is about dreaming itself and the wonder of imagination. Doesn't help that I'm tired and tucked in a warm bed after a cold, wet day.

Alright, continuing on. Have a nice evening (or day) yourself, dear reader.