Thread: "This is not for you"...House of Leaves

I posted a pic on SOTD earlier and I had my copy of House of Leaves in the background. Not accidentally, but I had it out on my desk and propped it up.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone on here had read this amazing book and what their thoughts were on it?

I read it two summers ago and plan to read it again this summer. If you have not read it, and are looking for something out of the ordinary, challenging and unconventional, House of Leaves is the book for you. It is extremely challenging, but the creative genius that is Mark Z. Danielewski cannot be overlooked.

A few years ago, a good friend and fellow bookworm suggested House of Leaves to me. I went to Borders Bookstore and sat down with a cup of coffee. I ended up putting it back on the shelf.

Maybe I'll give it another try. Thanks. ;-)
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Originally Posted by Morty

A few years ago, a good friend and fellow bookworm suggested House of Leaves to me. I went to Borders Bookstore and sat down with a cup of coffee. I ended up putting it back on the shelf.

Maybe I'll give it another try. Thanks. ;-)
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Morty,

The book is definitely not for everyone. In fact, I have recommended it to avid readers who did not like it at all. To be fair, it is not the type of book you can sit down with at Borders to try to get an idea of what it is about. I think the beginning of this book requires a good two hour block to get sucked in....alone with no distractions. Keep me posted if you decide to give it another shot.

Hmmm.. may have to give that a try as I have been reading "fluff" books lately to take a break ( Dean Koontz, Mario Acevedo) and have been looking for something with a little more bite.

Well, I'm a literature major, so I already have a rather long list of books I need to read, but I see nothing wrong with adding yet another to it.

House of Leaves? Sounds interesting now... Got a synopsis? Without spoiling it of course. Or I could just google it if you prefer.

I'm re-reading "Sackett's Land" by that great American author, Louis L'Amour at the moment. I will have a look at 'The house of leaves' though, for sure.

Originally Posted by JB01

House of Leaves? Sounds interesting now... Got a synopsis? Without spoiling it of course. Or I could just google it if you prefer.

Here is a brief summary that I found online. I think this book is impossible to summarize as there are so many intricacies both within the story and the writing. It is something you experience rather than read. I suggest googling it some more to get a better feel, but here is a brief, succinct summary of the story courtesy of shvoong.com:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danelewski is actually two stories in one. It all begins with a man named Johnny Truant, an average man living in California who is woken up at three in the morning by his best friend Lude. Lude takes him to the abandoned apartment of an old man who had recently died and Johnny finds something that changes his life forever... paper. Reams of paper in the form of envelopes, margins of pages from books, even the backs of stamps, and all of it is filled with writings from an old man about a movie he once saw. But as Johnny comes to find out the movie never existed, and if it did the old man couldn't have seen it, he was blind. But the beast had already taken hold and in the midst of Drugs, Sex, Bar Fights, and multiple apartments and hotel rooms the inane writings of the old man begin to take over until it's the only thing Johnny cares about. He becomes obsessed with the writing of a blind man (though different young women who came to read to him) about an award winning photographer named Will Navidson, who never existed. Will Navidson moved his family into the "house on Ash Tree Lane" and a documentary experiment. He had installed cameras in almost every corner of the house to film their day to day life. His plans changed along with the house. The family returned from an outing one day to find a small hallway connecting the master bedroom and the children's bedroom and Navidson's obsession began. He started measuring the house and found something shocking. The inside of the house was larger than the outside by less than an inch. Will called in family and specialist and no one could explain it. Then just as suddenly the extra fraction of an inch disappeared and they thought their problems had ended when they realized there was now a doorway in the living room that hadn't been there before and with the help of his brother and a rather eccentric hunter he begins to explore the enormous hallway, and attached rooms that only exist inside is house. The stories in this novel, however, aren't the only interesting thing about it. As Navidson explores and Johnny falls deeper and deeper into his own obsession the actual text changes, spirals, stretches and scatters on the pages, mirroring what's actually happening in the novel. The word "house" is especially significant in that it is printed in blue every time it is used in the book. This novel is an amazing read that brings both intertwined stories to life and will pull you in and invade your dreams, bringing your nightmares to life and maybe even creates some new ones. As a side note Mr. Danielewski's sister, singer/songwriter POE, released an album ("Haunted") that, mixed with this novel, form an indescribable adventure that will leave you wishing it would never end.