While sitting on a tomb in a burial ground (for some reason), the narrator is mocked by a friend for his “illogical” and “superstitious” beliefs, which arouses anger in said narrator.
They discuss “The Unnamable”, which of course isn’t named.
The narrator makes (what he considers) an intelligent, logical argument for the existence of things beyond the bounds of human perception/conception/imagination both in physical and spiritual form.
In making this argument, he cites quite a few “sources”.
It’s a pretty boring discussion, really…at least by two-thirds of the way through.
Why? Because it’s SO common for a Lovecraft story, an argument that hints at “unnamable”/”indescribable”/etc… things at GREAT length without the buildup building up to anything.
After about 16 minutes in, it starts to hint at some kind of…action. Resolution. ANYTHING.
Then, when it’s almost done, a whole sh1tload of things just HAPPEN. Maybe. Kind of.
I mean, if this was the first work of an unknown writer, my interest would be piqued.
But it’s just SO redundant of so many Lovecraft tales that have almost exactly the same formula. Lots of buildup, lots of wordiness, lots of uncertainty, more buildup, and then things happen – or maybe they don’t – and it becomes a matter of “Was it real, or Memorex?”
When he does it right, he can make it unusual and creepy enough to be impressive and enjoyable.
What he DOESN’T, it turns out like this: A competent but colossal waste of time.
I mean, the story is basically just a textbook of “How to write an H.P. Lovecraft story”. All competence, no inspiration.
Like a segment from the Monty Python Flying Circus ‘How To Do It’ sketch. Thanks, H.P., GREAT idea!
And I LIKE him, at least in theory.
Grade: D-