the finder's commentary

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:42 pm

. . . the hell?

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:44 pm

If the finder's not reading what was found out to someone, then he's obviously presented it to someone. Books don't read themselves.

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:03 pm

Jesus Prime wrote:If the finder's not reading what was found out to someone, then he's obviously presented it to someone.

Very good.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:57 pm

Yes. So opening the story with the revelation that it's a finder's narrative means you've got to use one of those angles. Which is where the corny part comes into play.

JJ Burke · Post by **JJ Burke** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:15 pm

here are a couple of examples from 'tales of the cthulhu mythos,' where the story is told mostly by the narrator, and then at the end, some other guy tacks on his remarks:

• 'rising with surtsey' by briam lumley - a glasgow police officer's 'appendix to my original report,' including a couple of news clippings, explains that the narrator has jumped out the window of his hospital room

• 'the return of the lloigor' by colin wilson - the narrator's nephew reveals that both protagonists have disappeared in an airplane, after the narration is cut off in mid-sentence by the arrival of a telegram

in both cases, the story is not introduced or bookended by these remarks; they just show up at the end.. which makes me wonder if they were fully intentional, or just uh-oh-here's-my-deadline moments for the writers

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:16 pm

Yes. So opening the story with the revelation that it's a finder's narrative means you've got to use one of those angles. Which is where the corny part comes into play.

Whatever you think, man. Run with it.

odin2 · Post by **odin2** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:16 pm

JJ Burke wrote:what about those 2 endings sets them apart from other stories? (i haven't read them, so if you can explain without spoiling, go for it)

You can read them both here;
http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lo ... index.html

The Statement of Randolph Carter, I can't really say just what it is about this one, but it has but it just reall creaps me out.

The Whit Ship,
This one really builds up during the story, then it comes to the ending...With out giving it all away.....It leaves you feeling like you have really lost something, something that you can never have again, something that you just can't live without...

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:21 pm

odin2 wrote:[The Statement of Randolph Carter, I can't really say just what it is about this one, but it just really creeps me out.

Even though it doesn't use "finder's comment", that story does what such a device can accomplish at the beginning of a tale. Randy Carter's initial words foreshadow Harley Warren's unknown fate. As a result, the reader shares Carter's horror and confusion at the end, and isn't left wondering if the author ran out of time.