House of Leaves | Book Review & Reading Tips
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- Spoiler-free review of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and tips on how to read it!
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0:00 intro
0:18 review
8:48 reading tips
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#horror #houseofleaves
You calling it a "found footage horror film" made me understand what was happening so much better.
I will use your review as a guide when I start it. You gave me confidence that I could tackle it. Btw, love your accent
Great review! You really hit the nail on the head with the "found footage horror film" comparison. That's exactly how the reading experience was for me - like reading through footage scenes.
Thank you! I had the same kind of experience so I'm glad you agree 😊
I agree, I described it in the same way to people that hadn't heard of it
instaBlaster...
Nice review! Thanks for being spoiler free. I am 90 minutes reading (last night) in, and I’m excited. And nervous. Lol. I was thinking about it all day at work today. Here we go!...
I've owned this book for 11 years and make it a point to read it every year. Each time i feel like I'm peeling back a new layer and reading a completely different story. I'm also a huge movie fan and feel like this book exists int he same universe as The Shining and The Exorcist. I'm also a film major and really hope to have the opportunity to adapt it into a film.
What a fantastic and well structured review. This is one of those books that I was just so confused as what it was about, yet equally fascinated. Ultimately I was intimidated and haven't picked a copy up but your review really put it into an interesting perspective, so thank you
Thank you for this review. I've owned this book for 10 years and attempted it multiple times. I will attempt it again because of this!
i'm reading this now and it's taking me forever (despite loving it!) will definitely be trying ur tips to get through it quicker
Amazing review. This will be my 5th attempt at this book and I am so ready.
Great video! I might actually attempt to tackle this book now.
I've owned this book for 6 years and I am literally scared to read it because it's so daunting, haha. Your review and tips were super helpful, thanks!!
Well you did it, you convinced me to dive back in. I just found your channel and good god are you a great reviewer. I have tried to pick up this book about 3 times, and it ended just the same as your experience. I was loving the house story, but dying when it went back to Johnny and the pages of footnotes. But damnit when it was good it was so good. So I'm going to take your wonderful tips and dive back in! Also, your review was so stunningly well put and with no spoilers. Loved it! I'm an official subscriber now :) Wish me luck on this read through haha
Well done for getting through House of Leaves, it's a total beast of a book! I found it hard to get through the more academic sections, but the Navidson records and Johnny Truant sections were so fascinating, and the weird typography actually has MEANING which was so refreshing to find out! I don't think I'd ever read it again though :') No idea how I ever even reviewed it in a first place!
I think it's worth a reread to try and pick up on the small things missed the first time around but I won't be doing it any time soon 😂
More likely the most recommended book ever 📚!
I needed this! Thank you.
You're welcome, I hope you find it helpful!
This has been on my bookshelf for the longest time but I haven't felt ready to tackle it yet...maybe now is the time!
Maybe it is! Just know it's not as intimidating as it looks
It does sound like a challenging book but I'm sooo curious about it and I want to have this experience, thank you so much for the tips!
I've had this book for a few years, I tried to read it at least a few times but then I put it back down. I do want to read it. Your video gave me courage to try again. :)
What a great review! I really want to read this now.
Glad you thought so, hope you like it 😊
What an awesome review. Thank you I am on page 55 of this book currently
This was really great! Super helpful!
Brilliant, I'm happy you think so 😊
I've been eyeballing this book on my shelf since I finally was able to get it a couple months ago and your review was so well done and so helpful!! Now I feel like I know what I'll be getting into when I read it. I think I will be tackling it in September :)
Thank you so much hun! There's a lot more to the story than I mentioned but I didn't want to blurt out all the spoilers. There's a good few twists and turns. I hope you really enjoy it when you get to it.
This review is inspiring me to reread House of Leaves. I read it in just a few days the first time because it has been loaned to me. I've since picked up my own copy because I loved it so much but I have yet to revisit it.
Excellent review on a very difficult book to read. I will try to read it again after listening to your take on it.
Thank you, I hope you can get through it the next time you read it.
I loved your review and like you I have failed to finish it more than once. You've made me comfortable to take another shot and be mindful of the 100 and 200 page targets. Thank you.
Best of luck with it!
This was exactly what I was looking for before starting to read. Thank you! The author's sister, Poe, made an album that very much ties into this book. The album is called Haunted and it was released in 2004. I had no idea the two works were related until last week, although I have enjoyed the album for many years. My copy of the book arrived yesterday. I am so excited to delve into this!
Beautiful book. Truly deserving of its status as a postmodern masterpiece.
Particularly like the scene where Navidson sets fire to the book itself as he languishes in the darkness
of the house.
Great review, thank you! I read it shortly after it came out, based on the cover alone and flicking through it at a book shop. Was totally engrossed for about 4 or 5 days. Have just rebought and am re reading it now and it's just as good all these years later. A very singular incredible experience.
I have this book somewhere. I got it when I was much younger, and was never able to fully finish it, but now I have been thinking about it a lot, and I think I might try again from the beginning.
Very helpful review! Thank you.
I took this book out of the Library twice. And never began it, just thumbed through it, felt confused and intimidated, and returned it. This review motivated me to just buy and read it.
I feel like your reaction to flipping through it is totally normal! I'm a big believer of right place, right time and sometimes you just have to be patient with yourself and go at your own pace, especially with a book like this. All the best with your future reading of it!
I saw you recommend this book on your 10 ten horror. Had never heard of it. I bought it, 100 pages in. It’s really, really good so far
Such a great review well done, this book is a tomb accessed via a spider web of the darkest corridors!! So for you to navigate them with such poise, is a testament to you and you channel!! I loved this book and not many people I know have read it so it was nice to hear a intelligent review that capture the same enthusiasm I have for the novel!!
Have you read and of the familiar?
So this is like Ship of Theseus? Now I’m really interested, thanks for the recommendation!!
You can certainly apply that theory to it. Hope you like it when you get to it
Just ordered this from Amazon today thanks! And Rachel Maddows new book too
It's how I read it.. stops and starts.. follow the foot notes.. follow the sudden transitions into Truant's narrative.. It's layered, and I followed it the way you did. And I also didn't really follow the footnote's until about the 100pg mark.. but once you do, it's another layer.. Still not sure if it's the best or worst book I've ever read.. but I know that it sits with me.. and the fact that I still think about it, makes it impactful. Great Review.
awesome review.
Thanks you, glad you enjoyed it
This video inspired me to finally read HoL after DNFing twice in the 10 years i've owned it! i just finished it today and currently on the forums reading up on the stuff that went over my head lol 😭 i would love it if you made a video review with spoilers!
one of my lifetime goals is too reading house of leaves
Regarding stuff like footnotes, on the first page of Zampano's part, the very first footnote references a chapter further in the book. As I'm reading the book for the first time, when I get to that footnote, should I then turn to that chapter, read that chapter, and then return back to where the initial footnote was and pick up with reading there?
I loved HoL and I'm currently reading We All Hear Stories in the Dark by Robert Shearman. Not cheap but if you enjoy the 'choose your own adventure' style you might like it. Some of the stories are really creepy so far.
“Don’t give yourself a limit”
Me, dyslexic af: don’t worry, I never do.
ETA: since I have such an awful reading disability, I plan in having my boyfriend read it aloud while I follow along. I’ve heard it’s something you really should read if you want to make indie horror media, I just suck at reading.
Thanks for this because I just started this book and I was like a bit startled lol 😆
Hope it helps, good luck!
Starting it today!!!!
Good luck with it!
I'm Actually going to pick up the house of leaves right now in my local barns and nobles. Hopefully enjoy this reading experience
Nice review, I never heard of this book, until I watched Jacksepticeye play a doom mod that’s loosely based on House of leaves, which was fun to watch.
Seeing that video sent me down rabbit hole of wanting to read the book.
Luckily my local book store had one copy left. I’m excited to give it a read once I’m finished with my current book.
Definitely subscribing to your channel. Reading books have helped me get through hard times.
I saw the doom mod come out right after I finished the book and got so hype that something about the book got popular with the perfect timing. That mod was such a masterpiece as well
Great review. If you didn't read yet, maybe Infinite Jest is compared to House Of Leaves in a way.
The Familiar the other series of novels by Danielewski is a challenge too.
I do want to read Infinite Jest one day but I feel a bit funny about it after finding out David Foster Wallace was really abusive and stalked Mary Karr
I think I might've spent too much time on this book, because at a certain point I just totally forgot about Johnny and I didn't really understand what the footnotes were talking about anymore. I also did not understand what the 'Appendix' thing was, so I just ignored them until I got to 'Appendix C' and I realised that I had to go to the back of the book to see what the Appendix was.
Watching some reviews afterwards really helps putting the story together and I'm glad that I've read it. I liked the found footage-ish idea that the book presented flawlessly and it was really immersive and cool.
It’s a beautiful and I mean beautiful use of type design
I just watched your video again because Booksandlala chose this for her book club for March. I have tried to read it once before but this time it will be my proper chance to!
Very good video ☺ You should maybe consider participating in her live show in April now that you have read it. Could be fun.
Ah brilliant, hope it goes well for you! Usually when people in Canada/American stream it's really late here but if I'm awake I'll try to pop into the chat
@@RGsDevilship Yeah that's true, I'm from Denmark so it gets super late here!
Just starting. Wish me luck!! Lol xx
Best of luck, you can do it!
Same here.
@RG's Devilship I love Lovecraft and that style of horror--however, I have heard from other reviewers here too on YT that it is by far the scariest book ever written--and ah...I suffer from chronic depression and anxiety...so would you advise a pass? I am so tempted to read it though!
I didn't dive SUPER deep into this book, as in I didn't thoroughly read the poems at the end, but... there is some super spooky stuff in the graphics- look at the text on the very first/last page before the cover.
Also Johnny's story is really underrated. At the end of his story the narrative seems schizophrenic.
😍😍❤
The only comment I'd make here is that you've overlooked a couple rather serious plot-points: first, Johnny was clear that he wasn't able to substantiate The Navidson Record film (thus calling into question the reality of Zampano's work), and second was the letters from his mother, which themselves cast serious questions about Johnny's mental state.
Thank you for the review. I think I now understand how to approach this already-frightening book.
If this was a discussion video I would have talked about those two points in-depth and a few others as well. However, when making a review I purposely don't summarise a book in full as I like to let people discover certain things for themselves. And I'd personally view those points as spoilers for someone who hasn't read it since they occur later in the novel.
Can you review Chuck Palahniuks The Invention of Sound
Do you recommend using sticky notes and maybe keeping a small journal as you read it. I just bought this book I am very excited to read it during my two week winter break.
Absolutely, a lot of people annotate their copies to help them keep track of the story and their general theory of the events. At a certain point there's a little bit of decoding to be done so you will need a pen and paper, unless you just want to google the answers 😂
I pretty much just started reading House if Leaves; I am currently at the part where Will and Karen have discovered the first changes of the house and called Reston and Tom over to figure out what’s happening. One thing that bothers me about the book is that sometimes there are pages of info on topics that (seemingly) barely relate to the actual story, they’re also very academic which makes it hard to read them because i start to have a hard time understanding long sentences with big words. (Example would be that one about echo and narcissus). Do you have suggestions on what to do with situations like this? Ty lmao
I completely agree, the academic essay portions make me completely exhausted. Maybe that's the point?
@@meagan4605 I ended up skipping them and I enjoyed the book still
Great review, it’s been so long, your review almost made me want to reread it...except I didn’t like it the first time 😂
I think there would be a lot of value in rereading it. But maybe in a few years time 😅
You can do that, let me know how it goes 😜
Just recently got back into reading ( too many video games) and House of Leaves is on my short list. I hear that people that get it are told “Oh you’re gonna try this one, good luck.” Lol try a book.
Been on my shelf since last year and I'm just now starting it.
Best of luck with it!
As always great review. The house of leaves is a book that I've seen a lot But the reason I haven't read it is because 1. It's Pricey 2. It's look intimidating. But thanks to your video I'll give it a try Hopefully i read it before they call me back to work. Once Again Thank You. The Color Purple Make You Look Pretty. Well you are pretty. Oh By the Way I Read The Book The Shining By Stephen King and I thought that you were the only one that didn't like it? Well make that 2 I didn't like it Either it repeats the same thing over and over I understand what king is trying to do but for me it doesn't work. The last 50 pages aren't bad though
Thank you. You can always get it from a library if you have on near you. Sorry to hear you weren't a fan of The Shining either
I just started it.
Best of luck!
Great review. This novel seems to have predicted the net's current obsession with liminal spaces
Glad that someone else read it as if it were an academic paper, as doing so made it even more immersive and scarier
Ohh I also really spoiled myself reading this, but just because I was flipping between footnotes. I was so mad 😂
Oh no, sorry to hear that. It's so easy to spoil yourself flipping through it
Page 26 really got to me
House of Leaves is not a read, it's an EXPERIENCE. Holy. It's a never-ending sort of puzzle. One of the biggest, like, biggest achievement of what written literature can do as a fictional medium.
I'm reading house of leaves. I'm on the first pages and it reminds me the movie paranormal activity. Or am I'm just feeling that vibe
Do you do book reviews for authors?!
I just review books that I read, I don't work with specific authors or do promotion for them
7:22 Well, if not for humankind, who else is there to make sense of anything? There doesn't need to be a preexisting, grand meaning of this whole universe, a product of an all-encompassing being, that we merely gradually become aware of (no offense to the religious), because as far as we actually know at this point in time, we are the only carriers of consciousness, capable of assigning meaning and making sense of things. I mean, the difference between chaos and cosmos is defined by the level of consciousness that perceives it. .. Oh, and I like your shirt - it compliments your hair very nicely. :)
Starting today
Best of luck and hope you enjoy it!
@@RGsDevilship Just completed it. Started college and got a bunch of other books so I had to finish it finally haha
I don't know whether you reply to comments anymore but was your edition in colour? as in certain words were in colour? xx
Yes my edition had certain words in different colours. That aspect kinda creeped me out 😅
@@RGsDevilship perfect thank you- you've got to get the full experience! Do you know the publisher? just aware that some are black and white only
@@Zoe-ke9ez I think it's the European version that's all in black font from what I can tell.
@@RGsDevilship thank you! have ordered the book and subscribed!
Nice review! Loved it. But.... How cool would it be if it was fucking choose your own adventure?!?! I use to love those! I've always wanted a deep psychological cosmic Horror type emersive CYOA type book.
Can I read this on kindle?
NO.
It doesn't exist.
It would not be HOL.
Read it.
Read the book.
Paper.
The right way.
The book is doing strange things from a very early point. I think it's Johnny's second lengthy intrusion, where Zampano's writing resumes in the middle of a sentence when it definitely wasn't before.
The foreword warns that the book has some seemingly supernatural mind-altering effects, and the early oddities are so subtle that you can't help but second guess yourself
See also; The Navidson Record being treated as so obscure that many think it's a hoax...for all of a chapter, then going forward it's apparently one of the most written about pieces of media ever
review of The Count of Monte Cristo pleasee
It's coming 😊
Loved that book.
I just have a copy of this to a friend a week ago. Awesome timing, especially since I was just talking to her about it tonight and that it's still a pretty well known book in certain circles.
You, are the shit.
Edit: After reading this first in 2002 or so, I just realized what the outline on the cover is... Yeah, that took almost twenty years.
Yes but how many puzzles did you solve?
Omg yes, I forgot to mention you need a pen and notebook next to you while reading it for everything you have to work out 😅
@@RGsDevilship I have a friend reading it right now, he had to buy his own copy so he could rip out pages and re align number patterns found across different pages. He actually found codes I haven't heard of anyone else finding. He made an origami sword before he even got to the red sword outline page.
I liked this book quite a lot but it does take a dedicated reader as the story doesn't emerge for some time.
Absolutely, you really have to put your head down and work through the first 200 pages
"Heya"? Bloody hell, I thought I felt a disturbance in the Force when Rachel Oates said "fuck" in one of her videos the other day, now there's no "yohoho" from Roya... what's happening to UA-cam?
I've not read the book but I knew about the formatting and typeface tomfoolery and yes, "gimmick" was the first thing that came to mind when I first heard about it.
I just don't want to say it in review videos anymore because they usually attract drive by viewers that tend to troll me about it.
100 pages is when the Illuminatus Trilogy grips you and then alters reality. It's funnier than house of leaves.
Everybody hates the Johnny sections. I really don't want to spoil anything, but it's probably because you drew a conclusion on how to look at things early on. There's some pretty great theories out there on the unreliable narrator.
Uggg… I was so excited about this book and I’m on page 34 and I don’t like it at all. I was relieved to know you’d started it 3 previous times. I’m so bored by the seemingly needless detail and nothing thrilling taking place.
You have to really push past the first 60 to 100 pages, it's a book that makes you really work for it. Honestly, if you don't have the patience at the moment, put it down and try it again another time. That's what I did anyway 😅
@@RGsDevilship thanks, I think I’ll wait because right now I’m so disappointed. I’ll come back to it later. 🙂
I read all the time when I got free time and I love POE since 95’ and I never knew this book existed... I feel like I lost my virginity to a prostitute.
I just started this as an ebook. Is it just me or is the quality of the writing quite bad. Is the narrator supposed to be instantly unlikeable? It seems the book uses different voices so maybe it gets better? Honestly, I think there could be something wrong with my version.
Gimmick
God I have been trying to read this book for years now and every single time I stall out and fail. It's just so frustrating. I can't stand it when Zampano goes on for pages and pages and PAGES with esoteric academic nonsense or Johnny starts going into yet another pages-long tangent about some kind of horrifying existential dread he's experiencing and can't explain. People say the footnotes are important but so many of them are just long dreary lists of names, titles, foreign languages or just nonsensical gibberish, a constant barrage of white noise information that doesn't seem to explain or add to anything at all. In particular I started getting really irritated at how more and more every single encounter Johnny has with an attractive woman leads to an increasingly out of place and completely unprovoked sex scene.
I mean, I guess I can see how on some level the book has this goal of trying to push the reader away but in my case it just keeps succeeding.
Im gonna be honest if you have to force yourself to read a book
Its does not convince me it’s a good book
It's about the sense of achievement you feel afterwards. In my eyes, it's no different from forcing yourself to get through a tough level on a video game. It's just that some chapters take a certain level of concentration, which is what most people tend to struggle with.
I men I’d say it’s pretty dismissive to say all media is meant to be fun. The parts that are hard to get through are done so intentionally to mess with you and make you start to lose your ability to think striaght
Why does everyone make excuses for the terrible writing? It’s a short story jammed with bad writing around it and cringe formatting that had been overdone even by that period of time. It’s NOT a good novel it’s just like Wes Anderson hipsters who will forgive bad anything.
Most messed up, trippy, awesome book Ever. Going back in next week.