House of Leaves?

[MJ12]

Has anyone read House of Leaves? I remember trying to get into it when I was like 16yrs old or something, but the format was too much for me, so I quit almost immediately.

For people who don't know, House of Leaves is a novel with a sort of cult following. It's noted for it's unusual typographical layout.

Is it a fun read or just a gimmicky teen novel?

 

[knut]

i've been reading it on-off for about a year now. i keep putting it down at university after reading 20/30 pages then just never getting around to picking it back up again for a while, even though i find it incredibly interesting and engrossing.

i ****ing love the type and formatting, though. i do love a good mind****. i don't find anything about it gimmicky or teen novel like, personally.

 

[Maestro]

It's not a teen novel, but I found it gimmicky. It felt like a Chuck Palahniuk novel. I find anything after Survivor impossible to stomach from Chuck, so I hated it. It's disjointed, and has a lot of distractions in the 'footnotes' (read: a second story outside the central one about the House).

All in all I slogged through half of it on a night when we lost power, and I got incredibly bored of the plot which seemed to progress nowhere.

If you're looking for a good mind****, then look elsewhere. Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter S Thompson are a great place to start. Most beatnik generation books have a heavy, heavy drug influence that makes them pretty trippy.

 

[MJ12]

I It felt like a Chuck Palahniuk novel.

I was worried about this actually. Chuck is one of those authors I cannot believe I liked so much as 15-16 year old. I actually feel kind of embarrassed about it at times when I look back on his stuff.

 

[xombine]

If you're looking for a good mind****, then look elsewhere. Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter S Thompson are a great place to start. Most beatnik generation books have a heavy, heavy drug influence that makes them pretty trippy.

Fear & Loathing is a helluva book, such an easy read too. Also makes you realize how closely Terry Gilliam followed the book in the movie.

 

[Maestro]

Fear & Loathing is a helluva book, such an easy read too. Also makes you realize how closely Terry Gilliam followed the book in the movie.

Fear and Loathing is amazingly confusing and descriptive of what it's like to be on various drugs.

 

[Yorick]

House of Leaves is actually my brother's favourite book but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet (despite having owned a copy for quite a few years).

It does sound a bit gimmicky, especially since the author has written one book since then which is both similar and not nearly as widely acclaimed.

If you're looking for a good mind****, then look elsewhere. Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter S Thompson are a great place to start.

I hardly consider anything Vonnegut has done to be a mind****. I'm not saying his work isn't amazing, but most of it is pure analogy, not a screw to the reader.

 

[Sulkdodds]

It sounds kind of boring if I'm honest. Like, of all the 'huge weird mind****' books that have been critically acclaimed, I'd probably rather read Joyce or Pynchon first. Not to mention Tristram Shandy.

Fear and Loathing. Now there's a book.

 

[Maestro]

House of Leaves is actually my brother's favourite book but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet (despite having owned a copy for quite a few years).

It does sound a bit gimmicky, especially since the author has written one book since then which is both similar and not nearly as widely acclaimed.



I hardly consider anything Vonnegut has done to be a mind****. I'm not saying his work isn't amazing, but most of it is pure analogy, not a screw to the reader.

OK, it's not a mind****.

But you want to get down to it?

Neither is House of Leaves.

Spoiler

"Oh! Uninhabited endless closet!"

That's not a mind****. It's honestly not even vaguely scary. It's rather boring after you get over the novelty of the typesetting.

 

[Yorick]

OK, it's not a mind****.

But you want to get down to it?

Neither is House of Leaves.

I didn't say it was - I haven't read it.

 

[knut]

mind****

mark z danielsjsbnweskieky would be lolling at you guys fighting over ''the kraaaziest book!'' competition up in here