Biblioteca

Letto da:
- Frank
- Norman

1 settimana per leggerlo (skimming 1 ora). +3 miti di Cthulhu. 1d3 Sanity.

Descrizione esterna:
White leather, 6¼” x 10½”; 104 pages, title on
cover page. This slim volume looks to have been
hand-crafted with an eye towards quality
bordering on opulence. The pages and leather
cover are excellently hand-stitched and the
paper used is top quality. The pages themselves
were printed as individual lithographic plates,
that is to say, etched on plates rather than with
a regular moveable-type press. Every page has
elaborate geometrical designs along the
boarder; there is no artwork as such, save for
grotesques incorporated into the first letter of
each poem.
The most striking feature of the book is the
unusual medallion on the front cover. It appears
to be a very thin slice of some sort of polished
translucent rock, placed over a thin sliver
backing, creating a weird mirror-like effect in
rich gray and white tones. The pattern of crystal
formation is highly symmetrical and suggestive
of organic forms.
The front page bears, in a bold hand, a
dedication “To Mister Roger Carlyle. I hope you
find these words to be as inspiring as yours were
to me at our last meeting. My regards to
Anastasia.” There is no publisher or date
of publication given.

Lettura veloce:

Solo per chi ha fatto una lettura veloce

This work is a collection of poetry by one Justin
Geoffrey. The poems are in a modern style,
generally without fixed meter or structure, but
with a clear thematic link—menace, horror, and
a (sometimes romantic) nihilism. Titles include
“Out of the Old Lands,” “Strutter in Darkness,”
and the titular poem “People of the Monolith”.
The work is disturbing and shocking, at least to
a more sheltered reader. The stark horror of the
poet’s words are not tempered by the beauty of
his writing.

Lettura completa:

Solo per chi ha letto tutto il libro

It is clear why the author of this collection has a
poor reputation; these poems are not the work
of a healthy mind. The constant refrain is that
humanity is a temporary master of the Earth, at
best and that, lurking on the edges of our
perception, is the great truth of the world.
Humanity, the poems suggest, is inexorably
doomed, either from our own vices, or our
weakness vis-à-vis the true masters of the world great
sleeping gods who will arise and destroy
all. In certain places, fragments or signs of these
once mighty beings can be found (cf. the
monolith of the title). Despite the subject
matter and the obvious derangement of the
author, some of the poems here are arresting,
even moving.

Estratti dal libro:

Solo per chi ha letto tutto il libro

They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk
In dark forgotten corners of the
world,
And Gates still gape to loose, on
certain nights,
Shapes pent in Hell.
– “People of the Monolith”
– – – – –
They lumber through the night
With their elephantine tread;
I shudder in affright
As I cower in my bed.
They lift colossal wings
On the high gable roofs
Which tremble to the trample
Of their mastodonic hoofs.
– “Out of the Old Land”