The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft

Lovecraft benefits from annotation more than most authors do, both because of the self-referential nature of a lot of his work and the historical context that informs his work. HPL intended his work to be set in a realistic modern world, and as his "modern world" grows more and more remote from ours as time passes, the essential modernness of his settings can only be conveyed by annotation, unless the reader is especially well informed about early 20th Cent history and culture.

Those who want an annotated Lovecraft can now choose between Joshi's three Penguin volumes and this one. The Klinger edition has only a selection of stories, and some of these are questionable in terms of quality, and were included at the expense of other better work. So then, if you want annotations to all Lovecraft or simply want an annotated favorite that is not in Klinger, Joshi may be a better choice. If you want a full ranging experience though, Klinger's volume has beautiful production values, and lots of illustrations, along with a great introduction and appendices. (A faculty list of Arkham U!) Although not every story has great illustrations, and though the quality of annotations varies a bit from one story to the next (sometimes Klinger just doesn't seem to have much to say…) this is a great book for Lovecraft fans and a reasonable introduction to the author for newbies. (Though as the newcomer slogs through the pulp schlock of "Herbert West" and the erudite scientific blather of "Mountains of Madness", s/he may have second thoughts about whether or not they want to read more of Lovecraft!)

Klinger does a better job here than he did with his disappointing "Dracula" (which seemed to incorporate a rather high percentage of its note occasions from the earlier Leatherdale annotated Dracula, which was largely superior.) Klinger's annotated HPL is more on the level of his excellent annotated Holmes books, with a mix of notes, some based on earlier efforts to annotate the works (Joshi's) and some based on Klinger's own sensibilities and research. Klinger does not state in his intro as to whether or not he is pretending Lovecraft's work is "real" as he did with Conan Doyle & Stoker, and after reading a few of the stories, I couldn't tell if Klinger is attempting that feat of imagination here or not. It's fine with me either way, but I know some readers of his annotated Holmes or Dracula were greatly annoyed at his efforts along those imaginary lines. I presume such readers will find that trait less annoying here as it is not much in evidence.

Klinger also is to be commended for including a fairly wide range of modern Lovecraft interpretations in his notes, and does not just quote Joshi exclusively. I feel Joshi has a pretty keen grasp of HPL's mindset and aesthetics, but IMO Joshi sometimes tries a bit too hard to put his thoughts into Lovecraft's work, so a bit of critical variety adds depth and interest to Klinger's volume.

Though I wish the story selection was a bit more focused on the creme de la creme of HPL's work, this is a fun book for fans and its impeccable production and quality of annotation easily give it five stars. Plus at this price point, it's a great value, as it runs close to 1,000 pages in length for a nicely designed and well made oversize book. If you are a Lovecraft fan, this is a no-brainer purchase, and if you are new to this interesting author, this is a fine place to begin. I hope we will see at least one more volume in this series, if not two!