by Gene Michael Stover
created Thursday, 2026 November 5
updated Thursday, 2026 November 5
original at cybertiggyr.com/95e83d.php
At the Mountains of Madness, is a story by H. P. Lovecraft. I read a copy I obtained from Project Gutenberg. [gutenberg.org]
I read it for my book club. This is not the first time I read the story.
I kept notes on my Kindle. They are at FIXME. Below are my more general notes.
Near the beginning, there's a lot of text describing the equipment of the expedition. Overall, I guess that's letting us know how the characters will be able to go where they do & stay there for months; I mean that the point might be so we don't need to ask whether it's possible. I wonder why we're told that the drilling equipment is revolutionary in its compactness & portability. Maybe drilling equipment of the time wasn't, so Lovecraft is telling us that we should just accept it.
Another effect of all the equipment description is that it makes our narrator sound like such a delightful geologic expedition nerd. It's kind of cute.