Was he really a great writer?

Was he really a great writer?

no

When, long ago, the gods created Earth
In Jove's fair image Man was shaped at birth.
The beasts for lesser parts were next designed;
Yet were they too remote from humankind.
To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man,
Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan.
A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure,
Filled it with vice, and called the thing a Nigger.

amazing post OP, please keep contributing your thought provoking critiques to Veeky Forums (sarcasm)

>(sarcasm)

uhhhhhh /s my fellow sir!

what the fuck dude

Why don't you read him and find out?

As a huge Lovecraft fan, I can say that he wasn't a great writer. He was talented though, and he knew how to create atmosphere and a mythos that could easily be used for many different things.

In short, he has staying power. That's why he is regarded as a great, not because he actually was so.

>I can say that he wasn't a great writer. He was talented though

What the fuck. If the writing is shit, then it's shit. No way around it.

>the only thing that matters in a book is writing

He had "staying power" because a bunch of hacks decided to copy him

>yeah, he might not have been a very good writer, but at least there were a lot of pages in his books which is a plus I guess..

>Was he really a great writer?
No, his writing was joke, compared to other classic writers, however his importance lies in his "Spirit","ideas" or whatever would you americans call it. I'd still recommend him to anybody becouse he's really fun to read and it's funny game to copy his writing style.

He had staying power because he introduced aesthetics and tropes that are staples of modern horror

I agree.

Yes, definitely. Not a capital-G Shakespeare-tier Great, not a canonical genius and nowhere near perfect, but an undeniably skilled, entertaining, and extremely original writer.

I think he is much closer to have been the first recorded nerd/geek in history than a great writer, if anything.

Only of the old-school nerd kind.
>I heard an eldritch sound, scream or perhaps even a word spoken in a language not ready to be comprehended by humans, ever: "BAZINGA!"

He was a good writer. He wasn't some lyrical master like Joyce or Woolfe, but he knew how to use language effectively to tell the stories he wanted.

I literally cannot think of a single more perfect male. Absolutely every aspect of him is 10/10. No homo though.

His style is not the greatest, but it works well for the type of stories he wrote.

The answer is Yes, OP.

Surprisingly, I find him in line with Shakespeare's plays in the vein of their writing being easier and more enjoyable to read aloud. For Shakespeare, it's obvious why works made entirely of dialogue are best read aloud, but for Lovecraft whose works contain very little dialogue at all I still find it compelling to read his stories aloud.

This might just be me though as I'm not a strong reader, and I can't use audiobooks without becoming bored. To answer your question, though, I wouldn't consider him a 'great writer' but more a good story teller who could maintain tone to tell his stories effectively and how he wanted, but you have to meet him halfway. Overall, he is entertaining.

He was a great stylist you brainless mooks. The reason you don't enjoy Lovecraft is the same reason you don't really enjoy poetry. It's not the poetry's fault -- it's you. You're too prosaic.

Sting in speedos > Muad'dib

kek

But the question is why did the hacks want to copy him and not somebody else?