House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

[jonzr]

Just finished this and am not sure what I think yet.  A strange book to be sure.  Has anyone else read it?  There's a board for it and theories abound.  The author ain't saying jack though.  But the board is a useful tool to help in deciphering clues, etc.

It was interesting and chilling at first but it started to lose my interest as it sort of unraveled towards the end but maybe that was intended.  Or maybe it was that my interest was held while I read some each day but waned after returning to it a week later.  Perhaps it needs to sit and roll around in my head for a bit.

[Finnegans Wake]

Friend of mine loved it, been on my Amazon list for ~2 years now.  Sounds interesting but confounding.  Will still probably check it out.

[jonzr]

I'm still pondering it so that says something.  It was a generally enjoyable read and many people on the HoL mb have read it multiple times.  Maybe I'll return to it someday and have a different perspective, but I don't usually reread stuff when there's so much stuff unread.  But I guess that's kind of stupid, if one enjoys a book he should probably reread it.  Not like a person can read everything anyways, eh?

[Finnegans Wake]

I succumbed to peer pressure and ordered.

Also ordered two more Murakami novels, as I'm finishing Kafka on the Shore.  KoS has some of the same weird shit that 1Q84 did, but it's a totally different book.  Definitely enjoying his style so far though. 

[Finnegans Wake]

So, just finished my third Murakami novel (A Wild Sheep Chase), which started off rather un-Murakami-like, which is to say, sort of a straight narrative in the mystery genre.  Then came the mutant sheep that does some sort of psychic possession slash Mephistophelean deal, and his dead friend who maybe has or maybe hasn't done in the mutant sheep via his own suicide and ... well, it was either time to crack a fourth Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) or HoL.  Had a case of the Vapors and thought I was turning Japanese, so just started HoL. 

Hoping it's not too gimmicky, maybe an Eco of Borges amidst the cuteness of all the footnotes, etc., which for the most part drive me mad in modern novels.

[jonzr]

A major part of the narrative is in the footnotes.  It's a weird book but I enjoyed it.  Have been reading Peter Watts' 4 book Rifter Trilogy:  Starfish, Maelstrom, Behemoth: B-Max (current) and Behemoth:  Seppuku.  They've been some great scifi, I love Watts' style, he's a terrific writer.

[Finnegans Wake]

How many books have the idea that a house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside?  HoL, but also John Crowley's Little, Big.  Any other suggestions, the Tardis notwithstanding? 

[jonzr]

Haven't heard of Little, Big so I guess the Tardis and a bag of holding are the only non-math references I know.  I'm interested to know your opinion of some character and plot issues, etc after you finish.

[pensodyssey]

How many books have the idea that a house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside?  HoL, but also John Crowley's Little, Big.  Any other suggestions, the Tardis notwithstanding? 

There's that Borges story about the endlessly expanding library, forget the title now.  And in The Trial, buildings seem to expand in the attic space.

[Finnegans Wake]

How many books have the idea that a house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside?  HoL, but also John Crowley's Little, Big.  Any other suggestions, the Tardis notwithstanding? 

There's that Borges story about the endlessly expanding library, forget the title now.  And in The Trial, buildings seem to expand in the attic space.

Remember that Borges story and also forget the title.

[pensodyssey]

How many books have the idea that a house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside?  HoL, but also John Crowley's Little, Big.  Any other suggestions, the Tardis notwithstanding? 

There's that Borges story about the endlessly expanding library, forget the title now.  And in The Trial, buildings seem to expand in the attic space.

Remember that Borges story and also forget the title.

"The Library of Babel", duh.  Tots obv.

[jonzr]

No word yet, Finny must have hated it.

[Finnegans Wake]

Just got to where Holloway shot Wax... and the fucking footnotes go bizzzzzwacky.  It's treading a fine line for me.  I'm not doing the decoder thing (Drink your fucking Ovaltine?!), and, f'rinstance, sidenote 147... uhhh, not reading it.  Get the idea.  Skimming the contents of the blue box that appeared in the middle of the page.  I see the idea.  Enough good parts to keep going.

[jonzr]

Just got to where Holloway shot Wax...

That boy cray.

The codes and stuff, you can find solutions at this forum just be careful of the spoilers.

There was a point that it kind of drug along for me but it picked back up as I wondered just wtf was going on.

[jonzr]

Finally finished the Rifters trilogy, a great read I'd recommend - especially for free: http://rifters.com/real/shorts.htm

Watts released the books and all his works under the Creative Commons license.  So, go download the pdfs and check 'em out.  He won a Hugo for the short story, The Island.  I'll be reading his most recent (2008) novel, Blindsight, soon.

But I have some non-fiction stuff to finish first.

[Finnegans Wake]

Sorting out the shit at the end, not yet to the letters from Momma.  I dunno.

[jonzr]

Seems like there was footnote to go read the letters in the first half of the book, did you save 'em to the end?  I don't get the impression you've enjoyed it much.

[Finnegans Wake]

Seems like there was footnote to go read the letters in the first half of the book, did you save 'em to the end?  I don't get the impression you've enjoyed it much.

I'm a read straight through, don't go jumping around the hypertext kinda guy.

Had my ups and downs with it, frankly.  More clever than satisfying. 

[Finnegans Wake]

Yeah, just finished this yesterday, likewise not sure what to think.  Don't love or hate it, by turns fascinating and infuriating.  I suppose someone whose moniker is Finnegans Wake shouldn't fault a book for piling on wordplay and esoteric clues, but after a day of poking around the HoL chatter site, I'm no more enlightened than when I closed the book.  Codes, acrostics, intentional errors, hidden references, it should all add up to more than it does.  I start by asking what MZD is trying to do here.  Play with hypertext, lit crit, the endless rabbit hole of onionskin stories within stories?  Is it a horror story, a love story, or no story at all?  Who is real:  Johnny, Zampano, Pelafina?  Is the Navidson Chronicle real (within HoL) or a sly creation of one of the characters - if the latter, to what end?  To what end, almost everything.  What is the relation between Pelafina and Zampano (if there is one, or does Johnny insert "clues" into the Whalestoe Letters)?  Where are the minotaur references and Jacob and Esau metaphors really going, if anywhere?  Eventually, the idea of the house itself (bigger on the inside) sort of crumbles away like... the house itself does.  If one patiently unlocks the mysteries are the rewards worth the effort?

The Wake is likewise confounding, but it has its well-researched keys and guides, and it is not merely an original work, but otherworldly.  HoL is original but not of its own universe to any degree that the Wake is. 

HoL does not leave me with the sense of wonder that great works do.  It leaves (!) many open mysteries to ponder if one decides to pursue them, but the construction of this house (the novel) owes more to the patient sensibility of clue-gatherers of elaborate video games.  So HoL is a complex, sometimes erudite, sometimes troglodyte, but finally exhausting.  I felt like I had wandered a long time in seemingly dead-end passages of a labyrinth and wandered out into open sky, sun, fresh air.

I like to watch a good juggler, but I don't like to see him sweat.  MZD handled the bowling balls and chain saws, but his shirt was drenched.

[jonzr]

Great review finny.  If I could add to it, I would.

[VanWilder]

Read HOL back in 03 or 04, I remember I liked it enough to recommend a friend read it. 

The friend hasn't returned it yet, lol.