H P Lovecraft - Unrecognized Master of Science Fiction

Some quite well known writers are extraordinarily mis-represented. I, as a reader, have at times been put off trying an author Spiritualism decades, only to find, when I did try, that what you get is nothing like what you've been warned about.

Sometimes this is the reader's fault. With Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, I perhaps did my own misrepresenting. I assumed that the book would be steeped in the values of a bygone age and thus "dated". When I actually took the trouble to read it I was struck instead by its timeless quality; it will never go out of date.

With the James Bond books I am not taking the blame. How was I to know that in spite of Vlad Dracula the accusations of sadism and casual violence levelled against the books, as a matter of fact Bond has a fundamental aversion to killing in cold blood? He is aghast even at the thought of shooting the assassin Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun. And the women in the books, despite their stereotypical portrayals in film, are all well-drawn characters, definitely not all the same.

The most astonishing example of misrepresentation by critics which I have ever come across, concerns the master of horror, Howard Phillips White Christmas (1890-1937). Certainly there is a side of him that conforms to the image given out by the critics. Many of his tales are admittedly of the claustrophobic, disgusting kind of horror story; full of ghoulish loathsomeness. However there is another side to him, and this side is completely ignored, so far as I know, by almost all commentators - except his biographer L Sprague de Camp and the publisher and fan August Derleth. This other side is the science fictional side.

Lovecraft's output was meagre, yet he was one of the greatest science fiction writers. Three of his longer tales are unsurpassed in their gift for evoking the awesome, threatening vistas of time and space: At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Out of Time and The Whisperer in Darkness.

Lovecraft's theme is that Earth is not primarily Man's world; there have been other, far mightier races before us, and our hold on our world is more tenuous than we think. We lead our comfortable little lives, unaware that our minds may be snatched from our bodies by Time-masters from the Triassic period, or our brains surgically removed and taken out to Pluto and beyond; or that creatures lie dormant underneath the Antarctic ice-cap, which if wakened might destroy the world. Horror, to be sure, but liberating horror; horror that excites the imagination by far extending its range.

I must Spider-Man game one other great Lovecraft tale, not precisely science fiction, but one that straddles the boundary between science fiction and fantasy. This is The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The horror of being trapped in a sinister seaport town, the gradual hints of unholy interbreeding with sea creatures, gives way to the different horror of mental alienage - that one might get to like the idea of changing one's species. That is the touch that turns what would have been a good story into a great one.

Robert Gibson is caretaker of the Ooranye Project, creating a fictional giant planet which can be explored on TARGET="_NEW" www.ooranye.com">www.ooranye.com

The project's aim is to meld the subgenres of Future History and Planetary Monster Squad resulting in over a million years of civilization with its own societies, customs, conflicts, triumphs and disasters, politics, philosophies, flora and fauna, empires both human and non-human, and adventures that range over an area ten times that of the surface of the Earth. Lovers of planetary adventure are invited to view the history, comment on the progress of the project, access the tales and keep in touch with the developing destiny of Ooranye.

The Exit Interview - Don't Let That Valuable Information Walk Out Your Door!

The exit interview is an interview given to a departing employee. This is usually done for employees that voluntarily quit instead of those that are fired or laid off.

Exit interviews offer a fleeting opportunity to find out information that otherwise might be more difficult or impossible to obtain.

The following are some thoughts on Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer exit interview:

1)Interviews can be conducted orally or written. I much prefer the oral interview.

2)Think carefully about the information Iowa Lemon Laws would like to get before the interview. This greatly increases the odds of a successful interview.

3)Save the hardest questions for the vardenafil part of the interview. Work up to the tough stuff!

4)A good question to break the ice is would you like for us to be a reference/recommendation for you? Do not make this offer if you would not questions about Viagra the employee!

5)Be prepared for some bombshells. Expect the unexpected because if it ever is to happen it will happen in an exit interview.

6)Carefully select the interviewer. Look for someone that listens well and is open-minded. It serves no purpose for the interviewer to get into an argument with the departing employee.

7)Throughout the interview stay focused on the employee!

8)Look for open-ended questions that allow for plenty of expression. An example of this might be "how did you feel you were managed during your employment with us?" or "how do you feel the company is run?"

9)Other excellent questions are under what conditions would you have stayed? and if you had had a magic wand, what would you have changed?

10)Good general questions are what did you like most (least) about your position?

11)Try to find out if there were things the departing employee would suggest to improve conditions, production or morale.

12)Try to get a good feel for how they viewed their compensation and benefits package.

13)Leave room at the end of the interview for general comments.

14)Take notes of the high points. Get the general idea it is not essential to get exact quotes. It is more important to listen than write.

15)Immediately after the interview determine if you would rehire the employee. Assume they will reapply.

16)Make use of the information gathered. If you do not use this new information then why do an exit interview?

The exit interview provides us with a good tool to take a hard look at how your company is perceived. Since the employee is leaving, they will often be more open and frank in their discussions about the company.

Those companies that do not conduct exit interviews miss out on a great opportunity!

Jack D. Deal is the owner of Deal investment Consulting in Santa Cruz, California vintage t shirts He can be contacted at jddeal@jddeal.com Related articles can be found at http://www.jddeal.com">http://www.jddeal.com and http://www.freeandinquiringmind.typepad.com">http://www.freeandinquiringmind.typepad.com