House of Leaves by Danielewski

Noritha · Post by **Noritha** » Fri Dec 26, 2003 4:18 pm

Has anyone else read this book?

It's kinda strange.

It's a book within a book, with footnotes in different fonts, and words in blue, and words backwards on pages, or sideways, or overlapping.

Some pages are practically blank.

My husband bought me a copy for Christmas, and it's so hard for me to read that I keep drowning in it. I want to read the whole store the old man wrote, but part of me thinks I should read the Appendix sections first. I don't know. It's like getting caught in a spider web, I'll probally have to read it all the way through then go back and read it again to understand what the story is.

Very strange.

But I want to know now, does it suck? If so, tell me, so I can put this down now.

For those of you who might care, this book is written by Poe's brother. Like the singer Poe. And the book and her cd Haunted somehow go together, but again I guess I'll figure that out later.

Ladybee · Post by **Ladybee** » Fri Dec 26, 2003 8:00 pm

I loved House of Leaves.

Don't worry about "drowning in it," I think that is part of the point of it. It was initially conceived as i understand it, as a website project, so it's intentionally put together so that you can pick through it in the sort of self-directed almost-arbitrary way you peruse a website. If you want to read the old man's story entirely, go ahead! But I'll warn you, it'll probably make you want to page back and pick up one of the other storylines, which will then make you want to check out an Appendix...you get the idea.

Just look at it as something that you don't have to read front to back without stopping, as you would a normal book, and it'll work out exactly the way the author wanted it to. Sort of.

Anyhow, I guess what i'm getting at in a roundabout way is, no, I did not think it sucked, I thought it ruled, and just go with whatever flow you feel like in the reading of it.

JaNell · Post by **JaNell** » Sat Dec 27, 2003 4:26 pm

I want to read it.

Noritha · Post by **Noritha** » Sat Dec 27, 2003 6:55 pm

JaNell wrote:I want to read it.

Give me another week or so, and I'll pass it on to you for a while. Just return it in the next 18 months before I move.

JaNell · Post by **JaNell** » Sat Dec 27, 2003 7:19 pm

I'd rally like that, and I read fast so as long as I get it back to you as soon as I'm done, no worries.

white_darkness · Post by **white_darkness** » Wed Dec 31, 2003 3:24 pm

I haven't been out this way in awhile, but it's an excellent read. Frustrating at times but an excellent read.

You may also want to get The Whalestoe Letters (I think that's the title), it's a small book of just letters from Johnny's mom and has some that weren't in HOL. It fleshes her out more.