OConnor,CD Wrote:
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> He was truly a lonely soul and
> dead inside

"Lonely"? "Dead inside"? All the evidence suggests that Lovecraft was one of the happiest people who ever lived. His was certainly not a successful life by conventional standards, but this does not appear to have bothered him at all---after all, he managed to realize the dream of becoming an intellectual recluse that he had first conceived at age 4 or so! There is nothing in his writings or correspondence (what I have seen of it) that indicates that he was depressed or psychologically troubled in any way. Odd, yes, but by all accounts a content, charming man who inspired many others with his enthusiasm.

lol, no I didn't mean it that way jo jo. What I meant was that he often wished he could be more than what he was. He even says it in his letters. His letters were his way of talking like any two people on the street do. But was he happy being an intelligent recluse? Yes and No. Its a difficult question to answer fully. Most of it points to positive but a small amount also leans toward the negative to.

In any case, it seems likely to me that Lovecraft never so much as dreamed that the letters (with the negative comments about Derleth) would have made their way--even posthumously-- into Derleth's hands. (Let's remember also that he seemed to be counting on being alive for a few more decades at least.) Otherwise, he never would have said what he did. Indeed, I'm sure he would have been greatly put out over the mere thought of wounding someone (let alone a friend) on a personal level.

And I think the truth lies rather somewhere in between "lonely" and the "happiest person who ever lived."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 31 Jan 09 | 03:21AM by Dexterward.