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GAF Book Club (Jan 2015) - "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski

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S

SteveWinwood

Member
Some of us in the Giant Bomb community thread had this book laying around and always wanted to read it, and we wanted to not leave it all exclusive and tucked away in case others wanted to join in. So I wrangled the book club thread from Cyan's hands and here we are. Come join us all in January to read...

kC93rZW.jpg


House of Leaves

Stolen from amazon said:
Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth -- musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies -- the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.

Now, for the first time, this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and newly added second and third appendices.

The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Click to expand...

"um what"

Okay how about this then:

Also stolen from amazon said:
Had The Blair Witch Project been a book instead of a film, and had it been written by, say, Nabokov at his most playful, revised by Stephen King at his most cerebral, and typeset by the futurist editors of Blast at their most avant-garde, the result might have been something like House of Leaves. Mark Z. Danielewski's first novel has a lot going on: notably the discovery of a pseudoacademic monograph called The Navidson Record, written by a blind man named Zampanò, about a nonexistent documentary film--which itself is about a photojournalist who finds a house that has supernatural, surreal qualities. (The inner dimensions, for example, are measurably larger than the outer ones.) In addition to this Russian-doll layering of narrators, Danielewski packs in poems, scientific lists, collages, Polaroids, appendices of fake correspondence and "various quotes," single lines of prose placed any which way on the page, crossed-out passages, and so on.
Click to expand...

Yeah I dunno it's fucking weird as far as I can figure. But it should be a fun ride right!? Right?!

Where to buy it
At your local book store! Or off the internet.
There is no ebook version that I can find, presumably because part of this books shtick is to have crazy formatting and colors everywhere so it wouldn't translate well to eink.

Jev7XGK.jpg


You can see how it might be an issue.

Guidelines
  • 1 Discuss! It's a book club, whatever you wanna talk about the book, go for it as you read along!
  • 2 Please use spoiler tags sensibly. I don't have any real plans for spoiler tag use. I don't want the first post to be "I just read this last week the ending where everyone went out for ice cream was crazy". Just be smart.
  • 3 The milestones are a guideline. They might shift, some might be faster, some might start behind. It's no big deal. Go at your own pace and just chat about where you're at!

Milestones
Incandenza is going to be our resident expert on the book as he has read it so here's his proposed plan:

Day 1-12: Introduction - Chapter VII (Pg. 1 - 96)
Day 13 - 18: Chapter VIII - Chapter XII (Pg 97 - 312)
Day 19 - 24: Chapter XIII - Chapter XVIII (Pg 313 - 417)
Day 25 - 30: Chapter XIX - Chapter XXIII (Pg 418 - 528)

Don't freak out at some of the page numbers, some of it is just a hot mess that moves really fast.

Anyway, the plan is to officially start on January 1st! The thread is up a few days early so if people wanna join in they can make a run to the local Barnes and Noble, if it hasn't been closed yet, and grab a copy.

Happy reading!
 
I

Incandenza

Banned
Very excited for this. I recommend this book to damn near everyone but nobody ever finishes it, so I'm looking forward to seeing how first-timers respond to this thing.
 
M

Mr.Swag

Banned
What the fuck I'm actually already getting this in the mail tomorrow.
There a buy two get one free on bn.com this part of the deal.

Wasn't gonna read it yet, but ill read with yall.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
Has Book Club here ever done William S Burroughs? Would convince me to finish a book, his stuff is mindblowingly weird and interesting.
 
W

Wensih

Member
Will GAF Book club be a monthly thing? Can I suggest Infinite Jest in the summer months? I'm sure Incandenza would love that.

I'll go to my local bookstore tomorrow. My goal is to read 12 books this year. I want to start reading good novels again now that uni is ending for me in the spring.
 
J

Jack Scofield

Member
Good book. I actually wouldn't have minded if the house portion was the only part of the book. The Johnny stuff didn't really do much for me.
 
S

SteveWinwood

Member
Messofanego said:
Has Book Club here ever done William S Burroughs? Would convince me to finish a book, his stuff is mindblowingly weird and interesting.
Click to expand...

Minishdriveby said:
Will GAF Book club be a monthly thing? Can I suggest Infinite Jest in the summer months? I'm sure Incandenza would love that.

I'll go to my local bookstore tomorrow. My goal is to read 12 books this year. I want to start reading good novels again now that uni is ending for me in the spring.
Click to expand...

I actually stole the book club thing from Cyan and some other regulars just to get more people in on this one.

This is what they've done in the past (minus one more in September: Meditations):
Previous Book Club Threads:
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (Apr-May 2014)
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (Mar 2014)
Blindness by José Saramago (Feb 2014)
The Quiet American by Graham Greene (Jan 2014)
If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino (Sept 2013)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (July 2013)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Feb-Mar 2013)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Sept 2012)
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (Jan 2012)
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Dec 2011)
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy (Oct 2011)
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov (Sep 2011)
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Aug 2011)
Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian (July 2011)
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (June 2011)
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (May 2011)
The Afghan Campaign, by Steven Pressfield (Apr 2011)
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein (Mar 2011)
Flashman, by George MacDonald Fraser (Feb 2011)
Click to expand...

I should read more as well. There is also the general reading thread that pops up every month!
 
L

lightus

Member
Jack Scofield said:
Good book. I actually wouldn't have minded if the house portion was the only part of the book. The Johnny stuff didn't really do much for me.
Click to expand...

Same for me in a way. I didn't mind the Johnny stuff as a whole. I just felt the way the author added that plot in messed up the pacing of both stories.


Looking forward to seeing what others think.
 
Y

YesNOnoNOYes

Member
I've read this.

Some parts were very cute. Some parts were underwhelming and pretentious.

I'll join in with my more wordy review later, maybe, when January closes :>

Hope you enjoying the reading, BookGAF!
 
S

SteveWinwood

Member
Afrocious said:
I had to put the book down. Had no idea how to get through it.
Click to expand...

You start at the front and work your way to the back :p

I'm gonna be reading all the footnotes and stuff as they come up, I'm not sure if they're important or not but I'll try to read it as much as a "normal" book.
 
A

Afrocious

Member
SteveWinwood said:
You start at the front and work your way to the back :p

I'm gonna be reading all the footnotes and stuff as they come up, I'm not sure if they're important or not but I'll try to read it as much as a "normal" book.
Click to expand...

I tried that. I really did. And it got old fast with footnotes spanning for pages and pages on end.
 
L

LProtag

Member
I tried reading this while I worked at Borders. I always tried sneaking a book behind the info desk when there was downtime.

Needless to say I lost where I was halfway through when I was on upside down page 239 using a mirror to read it. In retrospect it wasn't the best book to read in short snippets while working.

Maybe I'll give it another shot.
 
C

corn_fest

Member
Oooh, I just finished this. I think I'll drop back in at the end and talk about it a little bit.
Despite not really liking it that much as a novel, I actually wrote out about 4 pages of thoughts after I finished it just to get it out of my mind.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
I still don't know what to make of this book. The underlying story portrayed by the documentary is chilling, but the literary analysis of it is unreadable bloviating verbosity for its own sake, and the author's annotations and story add nothing of value.

But it's still probably the best use of the medium I've ever seen, it literally doesn't work in any other form than as a printed book.

Though I wouldn't mind a film adaptation of the documentary part alone...
 
Weapxn

Weapxn

Mikkelsexual
I own this book. I didn't make it too far in. I could try again with you all, but I feel like I would need to try and stick to only one of the three texts the first round through, the main story.
 
W

Wensih

Member
Cyan said:
Meant to do it last summer, but Making of the Atomic Bomb just flattened me. :p
Click to expand...

I pulled up some excerpts from Making of the Atomic Bomb, and I think I really need to read this book. This will be my summer goal most likely.
 
H

H.Protagonist

[-_-]/
Nice choice! I read it ages ago and it's one of my favorites for the sheer weirdness. Definitely not a book for everyone, but if you immerse yourself in it, I think you'll get something pretty good out of it.

Make sure you set the scene before you read too!

Nighttime. Check.
Cozy seat/bed. Check.
Somewhere quiet and closed off. Check.

Lit candle. Bonus.
Wine. Extra points.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Lazyslob said:
it looks awful. you have to solve puzzles and shit just to read a story?
Click to expand...
Just read the bits about the documentary, and maybe the frame story bits. The analysis (which is the majority of the text, if I recall correctly) can be skipped entirely.
 
B

bistromathics

facing a bright new dawn
Mike M said:
Just read the bits about the documentary, and maybe the frame story bits. The analysis (which is the majority of the text, if I recall correctly) can be skipped entirely.
Click to expand...

This seems to be a recurring comment in the thread, but I disagree. Keep in mind the context of the documentary - it's a story that we are two-narrators removed from. Getting backstory on each of the narrators is pretty important, imo.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
bistromathics said:
This seems to be a recurring comment in the thread, but I disagree. Keep in mind the context of the documentary - it's a story that we are two-narrators removed from. Getting backstory on each of the narrators is pretty important, imo.
Click to expand...
I emphatically disagree. The documentary is the only interesting part of the story, the literary analysis is nothing but a ridiculous satirization of literary analysis that spends thousands of words saying nothing. The frame story is more tolerable, but still superfluous and underbaked with all the parts about the manuscript affecting him amounting to absolutely nothing in the end.

The Navison Record would make a great movie.

House of Leaves as a whole is a great exploration of the limits of the medium.

Everything else misses the mark by varying degrees. A story about the discovery of a manuscript about a movie that doesn't exist is a solid premise, but I feel like when the frame story starts out with the character going on about measuring the dimensions of his apartment for fear they are changing after reading a manuscript about a similar phenomenon, there ought to be some payoff.
 
D

Dalek

Member
No spoilers, but when I read it the first time and figured out the secret codes in the book, I got goosebumps. Chilling.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
Eugh, I read this a few years back and couldn't stand it.

Yeah, it's terrifying and heartbreaking in parts, but it's just so fucking infuriating to read.

Endless end notes and framing devices really killed my enjoyment of the book.

I *think* I still have a copy of this. Wonder if I should re-read it.
 
R

RoyaleDuke

Banned
It's a piece of shit love story with almost no horror other than the fact it's a terrible love story, this is the worst book I've ever read in my life.

The most interesting thing was the mystery surrounding Zampano and it didn't even deliver on that.

Christ I have no idea why this book gets me so angry...oh wait yes, I know why it's because I wasted so much fucking time reading it.

It's a terrible book with a kitschy layout.

I'd rather read Stephen King's IT or any number of Lovecraft's work.
 
A

Afrocious

Member
RoyaleDuke said:
It's a piece of shit love story with almost no horror other than the fact it's a terrible love story, this is the worst book I've ever read in my life.

The most interesting thing was the mystery surrounding Zampano and it didn't even deliver on that.

Christ I have no idea why this book gets me so angry...oh wait yes, I know why it's because I wasted so much fucking time reading it.

It's a terrible book with a kitschy layout.

I'd rather read Stephen King's IT or any number of Lovecraft's work.
Click to expand...

IT was a good read.
 
T

The Illiterati

Member
Most people that have read this book and dislike don't understand it. Most people who have read this book and like it don't understand it. I'm not saying it's the end all be all of books or anything, but it all connects together and makes sense and it is all necessary. Anyone who tells you to just read one part is full of crap and has no idea what the book is about.
 
A

Astaereth

Member
As a film nerd, I find the documentary and the various intellectual lenses through which it is put to be pretty fascinating. As a horror fan most of the frame story is poorly written nonsense to little purpose, and should never under any circumstances have been allowed to come back after establishing the provenance of Zampano's book. As purely a framing device, it's passable; as a narrative in and of itself, it's both bad and ludicrous, an overly emotionalized, overly complicated (ugh, the theory that the post-script recontextualizes the whole thing as a
dream/hallucination/whatever that Johnny's mother had while in the asylum
), and full of a sort of bad Brett Easton Ellis pastiche about sex and drugs and being down and out in LA, as if written by someone who had never done or been any of those things but could identify with the character's self-loathing.

I'd never say skip any part of the book (well, you don't have to read the entire bits where it lists things for pages, I just skim those to get the idea), but that doesn't mean all parts of it are good. Luckily for House of Leaves, the parts of it that are good are pretty fucking amazing.

Also, anybody who likes the literary aspects of House of Leaves should try The Raw Shark Texts, which is a phenomenal read and also does some fascinating stuff with typesetting and language.

Anybody who likes the horror aspects of House of Leaves should go read The SCP Foundation.
 
R

RepairmanJack

Member
Finally a reason to finish this book. I liked what I read so far but I always seem to lose interest, but that happens with a lot of books for me. Just need to finish up The Shining before the first. I'm about 80% through right now.
 
T

teruterubozu

Member
I used to live just one block from Zampano's fictional pad on Whitley St. & Franklin St. in Hollywood in the 90s. The book describes the neighborhood to a T.
 
Y

YesNOnoNOYes

Member
Astaereth said:
As a film nerd, I find the documentary and the various intellectual lenses through which it is put to be pretty fascinating. As a horror fan most of the frame story is poorly written nonsense to little purpose, and should never under any circumstances have been allowed to come back after establishing the provenance of Zampano's book. As purely a framing device, it's passable; as a narrative in and of itself, it's both bad and ludicrous, an overly emotionalized, overly complicated (ugh, the theory that the post-script recontextualizes the whole thing as a
dream/hallucination/whatever that Johnny's mother had while in the asylum
), and full of a sort of bad Brett Easton Ellis pastiche about sex and drugs and being down and out in LA, as if written by someone who had never done or been any of those things but could identify with the character's self-loathing.

I'd never say skip any part of the book (well, you don't have to read the entire bits where it lists things for pages, I just skim those to get the idea), but that doesn't mean all parts of it are good. Luckily for House of Leaves, the parts of it that are good are pretty fucking amazing.

Also, anybody who likes the literary aspects of House of Leaves should try The Raw Shark Texts, which is a phenomenal read and also does some fascinating stuff with typesetting and language.

Anybody who likes the horror aspects of House of Leaves should go read The SCP Foundation.
Click to expand...

SCP is very addictive to delve into ❤

And thanks for the rec for the raw shark text, will check it out after that pretty spot on assessment in house of leaves !

👍
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
yeah it's quite a book. may cause insanity. sort of amazed no one has tried to just make the Navidson film as an actual film, yet.
 
T

teruterubozu

Member
9hATv1b.jpg


Hardcore Leaves fans might want to check out the album Haunted by Poe (Mark Danieleski's sister).
It's a companion album to House of Leaves.
 
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