Paula’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2025)

Paula’s comments from the Reading the Chunksters group.

Sarah wrote: "I was discussing the fact that I'm reading House of Leaves on another site and someone commented on this review, which is hilarious and makes me think the reviewer is having an awful lot of fun:

h..."

So perfect!

The first big shiver I got was when I turned past the Table of Contents to the page where all it says is:

"This is not for you."

Whoa.

Linda wrote: "Introduction

Ami wrote: "The tape measures were actually mentioned in the intro...i thought they were used to help create an enclosure within another enclosure; essentially, a room within a room?"..."

Me too! I totally missed that in the Intro, but I think I've been reading this book too late at night. It's atmospheric, but attention drops after 1:00 a.m. :-)

First Impressions (Pre-Introduction)

This is just the kind of book where I become a microreader (as with I.J.). I finished the Intro and Chapter 1 a couple of weeks ago and went back tonight.

And got stopped at the inner cover. I mean, I always thought it was kind of cool, that collage page, but I never studied it before. Has anyone else? The measuring tapes, compass (just by reading the flap we all know the house (wish I could make this blue :))is bigger on the inside than the outside, so the tapes and compass are eerie foretellings of maybe what a family would use to try to process something that must seem so unbelievable to their eyes.

Then, I noticed part of a typewritten page. It looks like a draft of a story - changing a story - something about killing the children. Gruesome stuff. Definition of the word "ghost" (including middle English and old English spellings. A MZ # (megahertz?)2147. Then postage stamps with Poe's picture. Airplane symbols, floorplans, strangely elongated stairs, blood splatters, a bullet casing, a maze under some dried leaves.

The pills stuck me because on the first page of the Intro, Johnny Truant talks about not being able to sleep anymore and he names all the pills he's tried, including Exedrin PMs (there is a pill with "PM" on it).

I used to pick up college money (back in the 1970's) working as a typist, so typefaces are something I notice. They stand out to me. I recognied the Courier type on the gruesome note. And I noticed that the Introduction has the same typeface. But not Chaper 1. So, if the Courier typewriter is Johnny's, then is all this weird stuff his? It would make sense if the pills are his. And then, if this stuff is his, why is he talking about altering a story (?). If he's putting together the writings of Zampano, why is he talking about altering the writings and in such a horrible way?

Ami, I was interested in your comments about being seasoned by Infinite Jest and the effect it has had on your reading HoL. I read HoL back in 2000 (I didn't read I.J. until last year and I've read it twice since then), but I don't remember being all that aware of these tiny little details and I don't think I spent much time at all reading the footnotes. Maybe that's why most of what I remember about HoL (beside the fact that it was 15 years ago) is that it was weird and cool and not like anything else I'd read before.

Plus, I've done a lot of collage art myself in the past 13 years and now, when I look at collage, I have a much better appreciation and awareness. In collage art, nothing is there just because it's pretty or strange; the whole point is that there is a reason for each image...what it is, why it's there, where its placed.

Ok, now that I've gotten all of this off my mind, I can move on to the text. Oh boy, at this pace, I'm going to be bringing up the rear in this read!

I'm rereading right now, will be back in a few hours!

Linda wrote: "John wrote: "Paula do you have a link to a good source of info about the new Danielewski series? how long is the series going to take him? Are each of them going to be full-length?"

Speaking of wh..."

I saw a forum discussion and it sounds as if they received galleys very recently and are just beginning to discuss.

Regarding the new Danielewski coming out in May, Ami wrote: Yes, volume one, of twenty-seven...Did your jaw not drop? LOL!

Ami, I'm ecstatic over it. He has such original ideas. They don't always work for me, but he's never dull. If anyone can write 27 volumes, he can (well, so can Vollmann - another original). :-)

Linda wrote: "John wrote: "Hey, I just noticed that Andrea nominated The Good Soldier Švejk and it didn't get put into the poll...was it disqualified? Maybe she could suggest it for the readathon!"

..."

When Andrea nominated it for the WWI reads, I voted for it and read it while everyone was reading Follett.

I really enjoyed it in a lot of ways. It's laugh out loud funny and the satire is just right. The translation is excellent and there are funny cartoon sketches that fit perfectly with the format of the writing.

Here's the thing that was hard for me - it didn't read as a novel. And to be fair, I don't get the idea that it was written so much with that in mind. To me, it's more like a huge series of funny sketches and I wish I had known this ahead of time so that I could approach it differently. I would have read it more like you read your favorite newpaper cartoon series. You enjoy each "episode" thoroughly, you love reconnecting with the character and you look forward to the next sketch the following day or week.

But to try to read this book cover to cover...it's like watching the Three Stooges (actually it's a lot like the Three Stooges)- you laugh during the episode, but if you decided on a week-long marathan of them for hours at a time, that gets a little difficult. I mean, pratfalls can be funny if done well, but do you want to watch them over and over?

You also have to understand that all of the sketches are very similar variations on a theme. Svejk is an idiot (this is no exaggeration). Unlike most of his fellow soldiers, all he wants is to get to the Front to fight and he is thwarted time and time again. He lands in one scrape after another, smiling all the time, driving his superiors crazy. And this goes on for hundreds of pages. Svejk the character can become a bit hard to take - it's one pratfall after another. He stays the same throughout.

Now for me, the better part is the satire and how it illuminates the corruption, hypocrisy, spying on one's own countrymen, manipulations, machinations, deceit and propaganda techniques. It's a superior book in that regard.

But you have to take Svejk along with you throughout and that gets tiring.

I definitely recommend the book, but my suggestion would be too read it in smaller doses, appreciate the serial nature of the structure, loosen expections with regard to plot, and vary it with other reading.

Sarah wrote: "I've wanted to read The Terror.

I still haven't managed to read Stephenson. I've got three in queue for this year."

A totally fun Stephenson is Snow Crash :-)

Zulfiya wrote: "I loved House of Leaves and am looking forward to the buddy read discussion as I will be a permanent lurker.

As for Neal Stephenson, I am more reserved than you are, ladies. I read the two books ..."

Stephenson is very cerebral in his approach and it can come across as dry. I like it, but not everyone does. He's so damn smart. I loved Anathem, but it's no easy read.

I really like the early Dan Simmons stuff. I liked The Terror a lot except for that silly mystic bear stuff. That very strong, compelling story didn't need it. It just seemed to come out of left field.

Drood, I wanted to like it but I thought it was bloated and verbose and should have been about 300 pages max. Which is a funny thing to hear from someone who loves long books :-). I haven't liked anything of his since The Terror.

Danielewski's says it is volume 1. Yay :-)

I know!!! I'm totally psyched!!

Total excitement: Neal Stephenson and Mark Danielewski both have chunksters coming out in May. They both look awesome!

The cool thing for me is that, out of 16 nominations, there are only three that I wouldn't want to read. That's kind of amazing.

For the readathon, do you think setting a price cap might be a good idea? I'm open to whatever the group decides...

Zulfiya wrote: "Kaycie wrote: "I never even considered really rare ones...eek! "

Adam Buenosayres: A Critical Edition is available as a kindle book, so if we are committed, it is easy to get ... t..."

Someone recommended it to me and I was intrigued as well. I mean...a Joycean novel, but with angels, demons, Borges, a la Dante? I couldn't resist.

I don't see it winning, but I'm reading it anyway :).

Zulfiya wrote: "These are also wonderful nominations, and I am quite curious about Paula's nomination, too. The only thing that scares me a bit is its availability and a price tag. Even second-hand bookstores offe..."

I got my copy from powells.com when they were having a sale. I think new it cost me $18. Amazon has it too...

Zulfiya wrote: "I will email the members on January 24 and will encourage the members either encouraging them to vote or to reconsider their choices and change the poll dynamics. :-)

Whatever the outcome is, the..."

Good plan, thanks!

Amanda wrote: "Hmm lots of books with 2 votes...."

Yeah, with 16 books, that's not a surprise. I really hope we have a runoff of the final two or three to give everyone a chance to consolidate around one of them.

Linda wrote: "Zulfiya wrote: "Do you think it counts as professional abuse?"

Not at all - you're one of the readers, right along with us. I say campaign away! Personally, I would love to hear specifics on why..."

I agree!