Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

 

Author: Matt Ruff

Title: Lovecraft Country 

Publisher: Picador

Published: 2016

Pages: 384

Genre: Scince Fiction / Horror

     Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, twenty-two-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George - publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide - and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite - heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus's ancestors - they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours. At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn - led by Samuel Braithwaite and his son Caleb - which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his - and the whole Turner clan's - destruction.

     Lovecraft Country is another one of those books that have been on my to be read pile list for quite some time. Before the tv series was ever announced its blurb had its hooks in me. A book that was to blend so many genres together was always going to pique my interests. And whilst I have read a few of Lovecraft's own works he was someone that I never heralded with such high regards as others. In part, it is hard for me to get behind someone who was such an ardent believer in the Nazis, and that eugenics was the future of our race. But in undeserving what this book was about I was curious about subverting his works into something I highly suspect he would not have enjoyed. 

     Now to be perfectly honest with you at the time of reading this book I have already watch the HBO series. So going in I suppose I already had an image of what these characters looked like. I was glad to see that Atticus both here and the show shared this moral backbone. He is someone who believes in protecting his family and those he holds dear to him. It gives grounding to the otherwise bizarre and fantastical world that this story takes place. now there is no way I can truly understand what it is like to be a black man in this world let alone one in nineteen-fifties America. But if this story even captures a mere pinch of the day-to-day terror and injustice it is little wounder we find ourselves in the situation we do.

     To my surprise the supporting cast in the book whilst still present have their stories slimmed down a great deal compared to the series. Here we find ourselves much more in Atticuses shoes and whilst we do dip a bit into their lives it is mostly in the pursuit of where our lead is to find himself. Had I not seen the show I'm sure I would have been perfectly happy with this but I did, in reality, find myself missing their greater arcs but I cannot and will not fault the author for this. He had his story to tell and the shower runner had hers. Either way, the book holds its own and I still greatly enjoyed each of the parts they had to play. 

     Now whilst this book comes in great successions as to those horror and science fiction writers that came before them. Here Ruff wants to turn his light on a part of American history that is not only truly unpleasant but also continues to this day. As recent events have gone on to show us. Now whilst I have waxed lyrical before about how a good horror story goes to reflect our current fears and worries this one does this by looking back. Jim Crowe and everything it entails is something as far as I can see is something America has never been able to shake off. The names may have changed but they still run deep. As a non-American some of this I was aware of but there are certain parts that were definitely very foreign to me, Such as sundown towns. But to me. He has gracefully weaved this aspect in his narrative. It gives grounding to a story of monsters and demons. One is left trying to dissect who is the true villains of this piece. Ancient gods and monsters acting on their nature or those whos choose bigotry and violence.  

     For me, he has masterfully blended all these elements together in a narrative that not only strives to turner a mirror on our owns beliefs and past but also tells an amazing and fantastical story. And whilst I would say that there are a great many differences between the show and the book they both hold up with their aims. Lovecraft Country is a book that kept me glued to its pages maybe this is in part due to those very changes I spoke of. I really wanted to see where it would go not know if, in fact, it would come to the same sending. My suggestion is that if indeed you intend to do both start with the book. But either way I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.