The Book (short story)
Encyclopedia
"The Book" is an unfinished short story by American
horror fiction
writer H. P. Lovecraft
, believed to have been written in late 1933
. It was first published in the journal Leaves in 1938
, after Lovecraft's death.
In the story fragment, the narrator is given an ancient book by a strange bookseller, and when he takes it home and examines it, weird and sinister events ensue.
In October 1933, Lovecraft wrote in a letter, "I am at a sort of standstill in writing--disgusted at much of my older work, & uncertain as to avenues of improvement. In recent weeks I have done a tremendous amount of experimenting in different styles & perspectives, but have destroyed most of the results." The H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia suggests that "The Book" was one of the undestroyed experiments--an attempt to translate Lovecraft's poem sequence Fungi from Yuggoth
into prose. (The completed fragment corresponds to the first three sonnets, which form more of a coherent narrative than the rest of the sequence.)
"The Black Tome of Alsophocus", first published in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1969), is an attempt by Martin S. Warnes to complete "The Book". Warnes turns the fragment into a tale of possession by Nyarlathotep
.
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
horror fiction
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
writer H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
, believed to have been written in late 1933
1933 in literature
The year 1933 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.* James Joyce's Ulysses is allowed into United States.-New books:...
. It was first published in the journal Leaves in 1938
1938 in literature
The year 1938 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The trilogy, U.S.A. by John Dos Passos, is published containing his three novels The 42nd Parallel , 1919 , and The Big Money ....
, after Lovecraft's death.
In the story fragment, the narrator is given an ancient book by a strange bookseller, and when he takes it home and examines it, weird and sinister events ensue.
In October 1933, Lovecraft wrote in a letter, "I am at a sort of standstill in writing--disgusted at much of my older work, & uncertain as to avenues of improvement. In recent weeks I have done a tremendous amount of experimenting in different styles & perspectives, but have destroyed most of the results." The H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia suggests that "The Book" was one of the undestroyed experiments--an attempt to translate Lovecraft's poem sequence Fungi from Yuggoth
Fungi from Yuggoth
Fungi from Yuggoth is a sequence of 36 sonnets by cosmic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Most of the sonnets were written between 27 December 1929 – 4 January 1930; thereafter individual sonnets appeared in Weird Tales and other genre magazines...
into prose. (The completed fragment corresponds to the first three sonnets, which form more of a coherent narrative than the rest of the sequence.)
"The Black Tome of Alsophocus", first published in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1969), is an attempt by Martin S. Warnes to complete "The Book". Warnes turns the fragment into a tale of possession by Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
.