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GAF Book Club (Jan 2015) - "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
- Thread starter SteveWinwood
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Buttonbasher
Member
Yeah Night Film rules. Awesome book, that makes cool use of a companion app on smartphones.
Definitely in for the House of Leaves Book Club too!
RepairmanJack
Member
Started reading this today and I can't tell if I'm reading too much into a pattern I've noticed or not... It's hard to tell in books like this if things are intentional sometimes.
RepairmanJack
Member
I'm around page 80. I'm holding off on that appendix part until I finish the first milestone (pg 96). The Navidson parts have me curious while the Johnny parts have me absolutely enthralled. When his parts begin to ramble and become somewhat lyrical I end up reading them multiple times. I just really like the way they read. Maybe an odd comparison but those parts almost read to me like slam poetry in a way.
The Outsider
Member
I'm ready, GAF. As soon as I finish Dark Force Rising.
I'm about 100 or 200 pages in, but I read them about a year ago. Should I start over?
And what are you guys' tips for the footnotes? I've found it really hard to read because there's just so much there, and reading the footnotes kind of makes the narrative feel disjointed. But I don't want to skip anything, because I feel like I'd be missing crucial information.
And what are you guys' tips for the footnotes? I've found it really hard to read because there's just so much there, and reading the footnotes kind of makes the narrative feel disjointed. But I don't want to skip anything, because I feel like I'd be missing crucial information.
I think the footnotes are more important than the analysis portion itself, overall.
No matter how you read it, it's going to be disjointed as fuck.
Book arrived today. After reading e-books only for the last two or more years I can already feel my arms getting tired just by looking at this thing. Just started and I really liked the style the introduction was written in. Though while I must admit that there is a certain creepiness to it, I'm not sure how such a "Blair Witch"- Style story will translate to book form. Especially since I already thought that Blair Witch was boring as hell. Well, I guess I'll just read on and see how it goes on.
That's what I'm doing so far as well. Thanks to being a huge Pratchett fan I'm used to reading a lot of footnotes. Though I think that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel was even worse in that regard.
That's what I'm doing so far as well. Thanks to being a huge Pratchett fan I'm used to reading a lot of footnotes. Though I think that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel was even worse in that regard.
HORRORSHØW
Member
the footnotes are there to evoke a sense of convolution, much like the twisting, labyrinthine house. it (the footnotes) and text will get more and more twisted, mimicking not only the house but johhny's psyche, too. it actively makes the reader participate in the madness in a sense.
it can also act as a commentary on, or perhaps a mockery of conventional literary aids.
it can also act as a commentary on, or perhaps a mockery of conventional literary aids.
bigwinnerx
Member
Went through the first 230 ish pages today up to XI. It's....hmm. We'll stick with interesting.
RageWaffles
Member
What a fun book. I loved the bizarre typography and all the footnotes. Definitely read the footnotes as you come to them. (I ended up skimming most of the appendices, though.)
SteveWinwood
Member
I never promised it would be something everyone would enjoy
I'm just hoping for some fun conversations!
RobertJCross
Neo Member
I lived on Whitley and Franklin in the apartment complex on the corner when I was about 7 years old. As I read this book, all those memories came back. I was there during the Rodney King Riots, so all those as well.
bigwinnerx
Member
I never promised it would be something everyone would enjoy
I'm just hoping for some fun conversations!
Ha, I'm getting into it. Reading it during the day feels like a waking dream though.
I read this before a long time ago. It was fun. But I don't think of it as a good narrative novel so much as a really fun literary toy. It's basically an adult version of those children books with lots of gimmicks in them. It's a very impressive book in terms of how it's put together, designed, and arranged. Definitely something that takes full advantage of the physical format of books. I don't think it'll work all that well as an ebook (I don't even know if there is one), but it could probably be adapted pretty easily into an interactive text adventure app of some sort.
Incandenza
Banned
Not spoiling anything past where you're at:
Everything in Courier font is written by Johnny Truant, the character who is reading The Navidson Record. The introduction is him explaining how he found the book. He presumably wrote the introduction some time after he wrote the footnotes in the first few chapters.
I thought The Navidson Record was a movie?
Incandenza
Banned
It's both the name of the movie and the name of Zampanó's written critical analysis of the movie.
RepairmanJack
Member
Read up to page 96 and read the letters in the back.
I'd look it up but afraid of spoilers.
Before I go wasting a bunch of time, has anyone used the "code" from Johnnys mother on her previous letters or even some of Johnny's more rambling parts?
TheExhaustedWalrus
Member
I loved it. I read it like two years ago and kinda wanna go through it again, but I'm reading two other novels right now. Good luck to those who do, it's a weird but engrossing ride.
HORRORSHØW
Member
As someone who's interested in comparative mythology I'm impressed by Danielewski's citation of various usages of the Echo myth, both in literary and religious settings (and in some cases both). This demonstrates how much literature is borrowed, right down to the House of Leaves, where myth is appropriated for modern consumption. On the superficial level it functions simply as a thematic device, reconciling Echo's literary and scientific schism, but Daniekewski is also linking his fictitious work to those ancient sources (Ovid,Milton, Cervantes, et al.), lending an air of credence for his own literary undertaking.
ClayKavalier
Banned
I bought this back in May, read the prologue and first chapter, and put it down. I started again after seeing this thread and I'm a few chapter in now.
I agree with a lot of the posts so far, it's interesting but I feel like I get the point already. I want to see what happens to the family but 50 pages in all of the analysis is already becoming a slog. It's well-written, the satire is spot-on and the parts where Zapano spends pages dissecting a glance or gesture totally remind me of the English major friends I had in undergrad who straddled the line between entertaining and annoying.
I don't feel like I need to read 200 more pages of this though.
I'll keep with it to see what happens to the family, but I have a feeling I'm going to start skimming some parts if nothing changes. I like how Johnny's sections read, that style could have easily come across as forced (and at times they do), but for the most part I think the tone of those parts a lot. So far I don't really care what happens to Johnny though, especially after reading multiple posts here saying that his story has no payoff.
Has anyone here read S? That'd be fun to do a book club for too. The premise is similar (very similar actually, I knew HoL was an inspiration but didn't realize how much S lifts), you're reading a library copy of a book that was the final novel written by an obscure but influential author. The book is thought to contain clues about his life and death (which may have been faked), and the margins are covered in notes written between a graduate student studying the author and an undergrad who finds the book in the library and gets involved. It has the interesting use of the media that HoL has, but with a more traditional plot.
I agree with a lot of the posts so far, it's interesting but I feel like I get the point already. I want to see what happens to the family but 50 pages in all of the analysis is already becoming a slog. It's well-written, the satire is spot-on and the parts where Zapano spends pages dissecting a glance or gesture totally remind me of the English major friends I had in undergrad who straddled the line between entertaining and annoying.
I don't feel like I need to read 200 more pages of this though.
I'll keep with it to see what happens to the family, but I have a feeling I'm going to start skimming some parts if nothing changes. I like how Johnny's sections read, that style could have easily come across as forced (and at times they do), but for the most part I think the tone of those parts a lot. So far I don't really care what happens to Johnny though, especially after reading multiple posts here saying that his story has no payoff.
Has anyone here read S? That'd be fun to do a book club for too. The premise is similar (very similar actually, I knew HoL was an inspiration but didn't realize how much S lifts), you're reading a library copy of a book that was the final novel written by an obscure but influential author. The book is thought to contain clues about his life and death (which may have been faked), and the margins are covered in notes written between a graduate student studying the author and an undergrad who finds the book in the library and gets involved. It has the interesting use of the media that HoL has, but with a more traditional plot.
Navidson REC
Member
One of my favorite books of all time.
If only I could find my copy. No idea where it is right now...
I loved to get back to certain passages.
And what a ride that whole thing was.
If only I could find my copy.
No idea where it is right now...I loved to get back to certain passages.
And what a ride that whole thing was.
This is exactly what it is.
SteveWinwood
Member
I found my copy!
Read ahoy!
Read ahoy!
The worst part of this book (aka the one thing that kept me up one night) was
EDIT: spoiler from the last third of the book
the passage about "fingers of blackness" or whatever appearing for a split second before the footage ends. brrrrrrrr.
best use of a monster that only appears in one sentence ever
EDIT: spoiler from the last third of the book
SteveWinwood
Member
The Illiterati
Member
Major interpretation spoilers:
Only read if you've read the book or want something VERY spoilery to chew on while reading:
Only read if you've read the book or want something VERY spoilery to chew on while reading:
I came to the conclusion after reading(and later found many others with the same viewpoint) that the characters are more closely linked than most readers believe. Namely, Zampano is Navidson, Johnny Truant is his son(Chad), Pelafina is the mother(Karen) and the daughter is Thumper(Daisy). There's a ton of evidence for this if you read between the lines, but most never do and decide that it is all unrelated and useless.
Incandenza
Banned
The tower in Annihilation gave me some serious HoL vibes while I was reading it. If you're like me and adored Annihilation but found Authority and Acceptance way less enticing, House of Leaves might rekindle the magic.
RepairmanJack
Member
I had a weird ass dream last night where I was Navidson. I think this book has gotten to me...
Ingueferroque
Banned
Amazing book. Pushes the medium.
RepairmanJack
Member
What was the mess up? I've seen a lot of typos and figured they were in some way intentional. I went on a wiki plunge on Picses because Truant's mom said she was torn to pisces instead of pieces in one of her letters.
Nothing major and nothing that I think was intentionally. Just a couple of mixed up or missing letters. Just thought it was funny that no one bothered to check it, probably because most people will jump right to the translation anyway. Which by the way is phrased much clearer than the original.
bigwinnerx
Member
Bought S. for my wife for Christmas. Will take that on after HoL.
Hm, looks interesting, I may have to pick that up. For all my ambivalence about HoL's narrative layers, I did adore the playing with the medium it did and could probably tolerate at least one knock-off doing something similar.
show me your skeleton
Member
fucking love this book, moreso as some incridible piece of architecture to admire. how a human being approached the design, craft and completion of such a dense text is beyond me. incredibly inspiring, even with its flaws. danielewski's other works, such as only revolutions and the fifty year sword are very different but also very, very good.
when i'm not on my phone i will get the name of another book that shares the house of leaves' play with genre,
and design. some dictionary thing.
also poe's album is amazing.
also everyone that likes this should read if on a winter's night a traveller.
gosh i love postmodern writing.
when i'm not on my phone i will get the name of another book that shares the house of leaves' play with genre,
narrator
also poe's album is amazing.
also everyone that likes this should read if on a winter's night a traveller.
gosh i love postmodern writing.
This was a previous book club choice (hi Mumei!) and it is indeed pretty sweet.
I've been going pretty slow, only on page 26, but I have a question that I don't think has been answered in the book; where is Ash Tree Lane? Is it a residential neighborhood, or more of an "out in the middle of nowhere" kind of place? I'm having a hard time imagining what kind of location Navidson's house is in.
It probably explicitly said at one point and I just missed it. This is the first book I've read in a while, so my reading comprehension seems to have gone in the shitter.
Edit: nevermind, the last chapter I read referred to it as a "Virginian suburb".
It probably explicitly said at one point and I just missed it. This is the first book I've read in a while, so my reading comprehension seems to have gone in the shitter.
Edit: nevermind, the last chapter I read referred to it as a "Virginian suburb".
I had to skip past [Ch.5 spoilers]
I'm starting to find that Truant's footnotes in this chapter
It sounds simple of me, but I really don't care to analyse the bits mentioned at the top of my post, not right now, not after the way chapter 4 ended
Maybe that's Danielewski's way of toying with his readers and testing their attention span.
Zampano's long-winded passages on Echo and his need to disprove the other author's (who is cited, not Truant) argument about the etymology of the word.
I'm starting to find that Truant's footnotes in this chapter
are dragging a lot too. Hopefully it gets back to the "core" narrative about Karen's reaction to the bookcase incident after this. I did love the run-on sentence where he describes the threesome he had, specifically the line where he says "and then we sent our childhood to die" (something to that effect) implying they exchanged a more innocent moment for one that was decidedly more adult. Some really great prose, IMO.
It sounds simple of me, but I really don't care to analyse the bits mentioned at the top of my post, not right now, not after the way chapter 4 ended
with that mini-cliffhanger.
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