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bryangball's review against another edition
3.0
Lovecraft is a great horror writer, and “Herbert West: Reanimator” is not exception. Originally published as somewhat stand alone serials, this isn’t quite a novella, not quite a collection of short stories and not quite a novel. Because of this, the pacing is a bit off, and repeated exposition happens so often it’s jarring. Lovecraft has created an unabashed mashup of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and, with the unnamed narrator character, any number of Edgar Allan Poe stories. Absolutely a must read for H. P. Lovecraft fans.
agent_y's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
8one6's review against another edition
3.0
When I read this I couldn't help but think of the movie. Reading Herbert's dialogue in Jeffrey Combs' voice makes this really stand out in my mind as one of my favorite Lovecraft stories.
seaton731's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
olivvehh's review against another edition
1.0
Eu sabia que o autor era racista, e nesse conto ele mostra esse lado podre, além do conto ser ruim, chato e repetitivo.
donalwryan's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
zachlittrell's review against another edition
3.0
What if a mad scientist, not unlike Dr. Frankenstein, needed fresh bodies, and then WWI came along?
That would've been an excellent and intriguing story. It's a real shame then that Lovecraft had that at his fingertips and instead ignored the opportunity. While the story seems cliched out the yin-yang, it's important to keep in mind that Lovecraft is the pioneer to many of these cliches: Dr. Herbert West and his unnamed assistant, medical students too brilliant for their own good, conduct in secret the Grand Mamma of all medical science -- returning life to dead bodies. And of course, the revived bodies aren't 100% what they bargained for -- as the narrator says, the partial successes are more terrifying than the total failures.
The big issue for West and company, though, is fresh bodies are hard to come by. How convenient then that one of the most vicious conflicts in world history happens along. If Lovecraft had developed this angle, he would've had such a wide tapestry to work with, but he leaves the ripe setting as soon as he arrived and returns to standard fare mad scientist territory. It certainly would've been a better way to get a longer story, instead of the narrator literally repeating everything that had happened so far at the beginning of each chapter -- I am not being facetious (well, maybe a little) when I say that I thought the narrator must have been a member of the undead as well.
(The movie, though, with Jeffrey Combs is wonderfully camp).
That would've been an excellent and intriguing story. It's a real shame then that Lovecraft had that at his fingertips and instead ignored the opportunity. While the story seems cliched out the yin-yang, it's important to keep in mind that Lovecraft is the pioneer to many of these cliches: Dr. Herbert West and his unnamed assistant, medical students too brilliant for their own good, conduct in secret the Grand Mamma of all medical science -- returning life to dead bodies. And of course, the revived bodies aren't 100% what they bargained for -- as the narrator says, the partial successes are more terrifying than the total failures.
The big issue for West and company, though, is fresh bodies are hard to come by. How convenient then that one of the most vicious conflicts in world history happens along. If Lovecraft had developed this angle, he would've had such a wide tapestry to work with, but he leaves the ripe setting as soon as he arrived and returns to standard fare mad scientist territory. It certainly would've been a better way to get a longer story, instead of the narrator literally repeating everything that had happened so far at the beginning of each chapter -- I am not being facetious (well, maybe a little) when I say that I thought the narrator must have been a member of the undead as well.
(The movie, though, with Jeffrey Combs is wonderfully camp).
zilberbetch's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
fatalamelia's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
fabioescudero's review against another edition
5.0
Brillante narración de Lovecraft, muy gótica, lejos de su etapa de horror cósmico. Se disfruta mucho, sobre todo la ambientación que logra a través de su prosa, que para algunos puede ser muy recargada, pero una vez que te acostumbras a HPL, se disfruta mucho.
Recomendado, sobre todo para los que recién estén empezando con este autor.
Recomendado, sobre todo para los que recién estén empezando con este autor.