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Topic: Has anyone read House of Leaves - Should I finish it?

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Subject: Has anyone read House of Leaves - Should I finish it?
Date Posted: 6/17/2010 2:35 PM ET
Member Since: 9/27/2005
Posts: 88
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I was wondering how many of you had read House of Leaves?  I started it recently but I am having a hard time getting into it.  It is a long book and I want to know if those of you that have read it think that it is worth finishing or is it a lot of hype.  I am on a big Horror kick and was hoping for good things from this but it is not hooking me.

Cosmina avatar
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Date Posted: 6/17/2010 3:09 PM ET
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I skipped a lot of the book.  I read the part about the guy and the dark stair part of the house.   Then I swapped it.  I thought it was brilliant and unforgettable,  but not necessarily one of my favorite books.

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Date Posted: 6/17/2010 10:19 PM ET
Member Since: 10/18/2009
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I read the first hundred or so pages. Then I just didn't care anymore, so I very quickly skimmed the rest. Maybe it was just a lot of hype, I don't know, but it didn't live up to expectations (hopes).

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Date Posted: 6/17/2010 10:24 PM ET
Member Since: 9/27/2005
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That is kind of how I feel about it.  I just don't really care.  Seems like a lot of hype.  Maybe it was better when it was being done like a serial on the web.  I think I  may skip forward a bit and see how it goes.

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Date Posted: 6/18/2010 5:38 PM ET
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I read it a while back.  It is the most unforgettable book I've ever read.  It gave me the heebie-jeebies for a while too.  I found it very hard to follow until I "cracked the code" on how to read it.  It involves a lot of skipping around in the book.  Without having the book here in my hand, this is I think, how I remember I read it.  IIRC it's a story about a man who feels sorry for an old man and then finds a bunch of papers in a trunk and then decides to read those papers.  The papers, I think, is where I started reading the 'original' story about the husband and wife who buy a house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.  There's several different font types in the novel, and that is how I managed to read through it, by following the font and reading only from one font at a time.  Once I got to the index or appendix (or whatever it was), I think I stopped and started over again, following a new font trail through the book, much like Hansel & Gretel's breadcrumbs.  

It is very difficult and time-consuming to read, but is definitely worth it! 

Oh, and the author's sister has a band, that I think is called "Poe" (as in Edgar Allen...) and has some songs (I can't remember the specific songs right now) that rather neatly fit in with the story.  

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Date Posted: 6/26/2010 11:13 AM ET
Member Since: 1/17/2007
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Poe's HAUNTED is the companion piece. Buy it along with everything else Poe (nee Annie Danielewski) you can get your hands on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe_%28singer%29

http://www.amazon.com/Poe/e/B000AQ34I4/



Last Edited on: 6/26/10 11:16 AM ET - Total times edited: 2
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Date Posted: 6/26/2010 1:20 PM ET
Member Since: 6/19/2010
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Its definitely one of the more challenging books I've ever read. I think you have to take it in the right mindset though. You shouldn't expect to understand everything, at least right off the bat. Just try and absorb it and digest it later. That's what I did and then all of a  sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks and I "got it".

 

You definitely have to do some skipping around and read it out of order. Also I had to slow down my usual pace of reading. Overall though, I really enjoyed it.

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Date Posted: 7/2/2010 11:31 AM ET
Member Since: 9/27/2005
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I decided to pass it on.  Thanks for all the input.  It just wasn't for me.

However, I am on a Horror kick, anyone have any suggestions?