"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski (BR)

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Starting a thread for House of Leaves! I’ve already read a little bit but put the book on hold until early October. Whoever wants to join can jump in when they are able.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Sasha(SpookyxSasha) wrote: "Yay! I can't wait to finally tackle this monster of a book!( I might have to dedicate an entire seperate review notebook for it too lol)"

Actually- a review notebook sounds like a great idea for this one!

So here's how buddy reads typically work:

Post the page/chapter/% you are at. Use < spoiler> (without the space) to start any comments related specifically to plot or characters, etc. And close the comment with < /spoiler> (no space) to hide any spoiler related things.

General comments are okay to leave with out spoiler tags. That way we can discuss without spoiling each other!

[Anna]

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[Sarah, The Unsettled]

My first impressions:

It's sort of a slow start! Theres a lot of dry info about the film itself, and theres a lot of information in here the reader is fed without it seeming necessary.

I'm up to page 54:
(view spoiler)[But I loved the first glimpse of found footage! It was creepy and mysterious and described perfectly.

I'm definitely enjoying the story line of the house a lot more than the actual book that's written about the house, and I like the story of Johnny Truant in the footnotes. He warns he's a liar so I'm wondering how many of these stories are true. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Thanks for the help Anna!

[Anna]

I have it ready to go for when people ask :D

[Pat the Book Goblin]

Have people already read this yet?

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Patrick if you would like to join in please do! I am still on page 100 or so. It’s been slow going for me but I’d still like to finish.

[Pat the Book Goblin]

Yeah I’d like to finish by the end of October. It’s very good. The beginning seemed like I was wading in a swamp but once I got the rhythm of it I liked it a lot more.

I’m kinda getting the feeling it’s a love/horror story.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Patrick wrote: "Yeah I’d like to finish by the end of October. It’s very good. The beginning seemed like I was wading in a swamp but once I got the rhythm of it I liked it a lot more.

I’m kinda getting the feeli..."

I agree- it’s really difficult to get the hang of it in the beginning. But I am enjoying it when I am able to pick it up.

I think it’s taking me a while because there are so many moving parts to the story, between footnotes and appendixes, that I don’t like to read it unless I can totally focus on just the book.

[Kai]

This book.... No spoilers, but it is one that stayed with me despite the very unusual format which makes it a challenging read at times. There is also a concept album by the author's sister, Poe, which is good and spooky too.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

I am still slowly plugging my way through this story. It’s amazing how easily it veers off track and devolves from showing us the film to analyzing and critiquing the film.

Page 152:
(view spoiler)[That was one wild chapter, took me forever to get through! Out of curiosity, I couldn’t find footnote 183. Did anyone else notice this? Or did I miss it? (hide spoiler)]

On another note- I’m really going. To have to power through it now- someone has it on hold at the library and it’s technically due back today, though I think I’ll suck it up and pay the late fines to finish. I keep telling myself I’ve read more than it looks like I have since I’m breaking to check out the appendices at the indicated moments.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Page 251- I discovered something kind of cool and am wondering how many of these I missed and what it means:

(view spoiler)[One of the people referenced, their name is “Nam Eurtton” which read backwards says: “Nottrue Man”. Definitely have to pay more attention to these and I’m wondering what it means in this context- is Tom not a nice guy? Or does Nam Eurtton not exist? (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Page 490:

(view spoiler)[I was surprised that parts of this did actually succeed in scaring me. The climax where everyone is scrambling to get out of the house and Navidson can’t find the kids was thoroughly terrifying. Like the house wanted to kill them.

Getting ready to wrap it up now. Enjoyed it much more after page 100 or so. It’s hard to tell what I’ve missed- lots of recurring themes lots of hidden clues in the text.
(hide spoiler)]

[YouKneeK]

Sarah wrote: "footnote 183"

I can’t imagine you care very much 4 years later, but I was briefly confused by that footnote too. (view spoiler)[It’s on page 140 of my edition, in reverse text on the other side of the same page that footnote 182 was on. It initially looked like a reverse image of the text I’d already read (well, skimmed), so I almost skipped it, but in the corner there’s a backwards 183. I didn’t try very hard to read it because it’s quite difficult to make out between both the reverse text and the italics. I read up to the point where he launched into yet another list and then moved on. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

YouKneeK wrote: "Sarah wrote: "footnote 183"

I can’t imagine you care very much 4 years later, but I was briefly confused by that footnote too. [spoilers removed]"

haha. good to know. i've been considering giving this a re-read, so i'll keep that in mind.