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Mark Z. Danielewski: House Of Leaves

For what it's worth ..

For me the Truant parts were the least enjoyable parts of the book. They detracted too much from the main story.

That said, I found the book as a whole utterly fascinating. The intriguing story coupled with that odd layout was really really creepy - one of the few books I've read that was really scary in parts.

Cheers
 
Yeah, I agree. The guy got very annoying. Especially when he started rambling on for several pages. All I wanted to know about was the house. I suppose he added a lot to the story as these sidetracks built up the tension for when you finally got back into the house.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Very twisted and complex with a lot of unanswered questions. That how I like my books, and my movies too.
 
Hi!
I thought this was a brilliant book - came across it by accident in the library the cover just attracted me,
agree Martin this was one of only 2 books which have ever genuinely creeped me out so's I had to take a deep breath before reading on!(the other was Stephen King's The Langoliers)

beth
 
I started reading this book about 2 months ago and had to take a break. Understanding the story while referring to pages about another story and then the footnotes. :eek: I read up to page 90 and then read the notes from Johnny's mother...and then stopped. I don't think I was ready. Hopefully I'll be able to start it again next month. :)
 
Glad to see that I am not the only won with a love-hate relationship with this book. I loved the "Navidson Report" part and literally stopped reading the "Johnny Truant" part.

I really liked the "documentary" feel of this and the idea of a movie being made of it. It gave it a scary-thriller feel, without scaring the heck out of me. Very cool idea.
 
Hi everyone!

A book was recommended to me called 'House of Leaves'. They said it was scary but more of a physcological horror. I'm thinking about buying it, and if anybody here has read it please could you tell me if it is good or not?!

Thanks,

tommydarascal
 
Who wrote it, tommy? :)

(If you go up to the "Search" feature and type that title in, you will see some comments on a book by that name. is it the same one?) :confused:
 
It is written by Mark Z. Danielwski (spelling?). Thanks for the tip on the 'search' feature I never knew it was there, the book mentioned on some of the forums is the one I am talking about. :)

Thanks!

tommydarascal
 
Should I buy it?

I heard it was a good scary book too.

I want to buy it, but
a) is this book worth buying?
b) if yes, is it worth it to buy it in softcover ($20) or hardcover (and extra $20-->$40.)?

I really need to make a decision. Thanks!
And no, I don't want to buy a used copy.
 
Hey thanks for your opinion and the links.

I'm not rich or anything; do you think it's worth an extra $20 for the hardcover?

Any other opinions on this?
 
me said:
I would buy the hard cover if you don't mind the weight. I own the paperback and it started to tear.
Click to expand...

Well, I prefer hardcovers to begin with on anything. They usually last longer.
 
corneggs said:
I'm not rich or anything; do you think it's worth an extra $20 for the hardcover?

Any other opinions on this?
Click to expand...
You can find some other opinions here . We had a thread on this topic not so long ago.

I personally buy paperbacks because they are so much more comfortable to read, and because I don't really think that the extra money is worth it. Just be careful with your book and it should last as long as you need it to.
 
Hi everyone!

I have recently been given Hosue of Leaves for my birthday :D and this is to the people who also own this ... well ... this very weird piece of writing. The text is all over the place and some pages only have about 1 word on them while others have about 200 or something.

Anyway never mind about that. At the back of the book there is an index and, of course, I know what an index is for ... but why the hell is it in a novel? Is it just for effect because the book is a record or can the reader actually use it?

Please help!
Thanks.

tommydarascal
 
Hey I've read that some people actually use it. If I had the book I'd look it over for kicks.

PS did you get the softcover or hardcover version?
 
corneggs said:
Hey I've read that some people actually use it. If I had the book I'd look it over for kicks.

PS did you get the softcover or hardcover version?
Click to expand...

Hey,

I got the softcover version. To be quite honest I don't think there is any point in getting the hardcover. As long as you are careful with the book (becuase it is quite heavy) then I don't think you'll have any problems. Also if it is $20 more :eek: then NO WAY would I get it. If, however, you are going to re-use it and re-use it and re-use it then maybe you should get the hardcover. But if it was me: no way!

Good luck in making your decision! :)

tommydarascal
 
I got a chance to browse through Mark Z. Danielewski's latest typographical nightmare in Waterstone's. It's called Only Revolutions and the letter 'o' is highlighted throughout in much the way that House was always in blue in House of Leaves.

The story is told both ways - so from page one you can read Hailey's story, and, turning the book 180 degrees, you can read Sam's story. Both characters' stories work back to the first page of the other. Then, down the side of each page there's all these half quote things - no idea! - and then some more upside down stuff at the base of the pages.

The actual narrative part, when I read it, didn't seem to make much sense at all. So I didn't read it much further.

The sleeve comes with a reading recommendation from the publisher. They suggest you read eight pages of one character's story, turn the book round, read the next eight pages of the other character's, turn the book around, read the next pages of the first character's storry, turn the book around, read...
 
I read House of Leaves about a year ago and found it insanely engrossing. It scared the crap outta me and I was completely unable to put it down. The story pulled me in, hook line and sinker, with all its crazy layers. It was a brilliantly frustrating book. I realize that I missed so much as I was reading it. In checking out his website and a few other associated sites, I found there are some real addicts out there that have a great handle on many of the references. A bit too much work for me to dig through on my own but I'd love to have it spoon fed to me.
 
It's wonderful in that it's so rich - It feels like so much more than a story in a book. You could spend forever looking up the themes and references and just go off on these wonderful tangents, all because of a book. I'm too tried to word it properly now, but I find it sad that people couldn't get on with it. We should encourage people to try such different things like The House of Leaves.
 
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