The Call Of Cthulhu: Truly Gripping, yet too Short

Well folks, I had FINALLY finished reading the highly rated Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft- a task I had begun way back in my college years- in my very first year. Its taken about three years to complete it. a thinker from a very young age- he wrote his short story "The Alchemist" when he was only 17 yrs old. Looking at his list of works- I was stunned, finding myself lost in a veritable ocean of infinite themes and varied genres.

Many of the modern writers have been inspired by him- Stephen King is one of the most famous examples, while his works reflect certain characterisitics found in Edgar Allan Poe- the legendary wordsmith of the mystery and horror.

I was surprised that I never heard of his name till now (and I am a voracious reader), and come to think of it I only ever heard of Cthulhu from the PC game of the same name. Anyway, after that I wanted to immerse myself in the world of Cthulhu, or atleast have a basic understanding of the plot- in order to play the game, of course (I hadn't suddenly been bitten by a Cthulhu bug, trust me), and the first book I took up was "The Call of Cthulhu"- the book, going by its name, where it all started.
But, it seems this whole Cthulhu business has no specific root. Rather than concern himself with trivial matters such as chronological ordering of events, Lovecraft leaves it to the readers to arrive at a sequence for the events- an enormous task considering the vast ocean of bits-and-pieces clues in his stories- stories that already leave us half-demented by their ubiquitous gloom and constant feeling of tension and suspense.

So this wasn't the start of all Cthulhu, but you are pretty much at home in the initial stages of the novel. Although a bit slow and transgressive at places, it proceeds like your average crime thriller, the story unfolding in the eyes of a victim's kin, who is reviewing the possessions that he has inherited.

The build-up to finale, and the suspense maintained for an explosive climax is all fine, even laudatory, considering there are few characters and things for the reader to think about. But, the story fizzles out at the critical denoument- the confrontation with Cthulhu itself. Maybe a hundred years back (when it was written), it would have been a chilling tale of the supernatural. But in this space age, it is no more than an amateurish attempt at imitating Allan Poe's style of suspense and horror. Whatever they may say, Edgar Allan Poe was far better than this chap, and shall be immortal.

You can read the book for free at Wikisource:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Call_of_Cthulhu

The Call of Cthulhu: Graphic Novel

Well folks, here's a graphic novel of the Lovecraft classic "The Call Of Cthulhu" which I found (after an excruciatingly painful search) in the Internet.

The illustrations nicely blend with the dark writing style of HP Lovecraft, (better known for "The Alchemist", which he wrote in 1908 at the age of 17) and if you found the book too recondite to understand, or too lumbering to read, you had better switch to reading the novel first, and then the book if you'd please. Of course, most of the success of Cthulhu is attributed to the slow building of the suspense- of the fear of the unseen, unimaginable Cthulhu, and if you read the novel first, you would miss out on that thrill.
But, in this fast paced world, who cares??
Anyway, here's the novel folks. Enjoy!!

Rapidshare Free Download The Call Of Cthulhu by H P Lovecraft
http://tinyurl.com/3bjms6

Note: Tinyurl is just a masked version of Rapidshare links. Its perfectly safe. It will redirect you to the rapidshare link in a moment.

Here's the Wikisource link for the original book The Call Of Cthulhu by H P Lovecraft
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Call_of_Cthulhu