ILB is too slow so let's have a thread about Mark Z. Danielewski's "House of Leaves"

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Amazing. SO amazing. You all know who really wrote the book, right?

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

It's all the same database. Why would ILB be worse?

I don't know who wrote it, but I noticed that he had a new one out last week. Is it any good?

― stet (stet), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:14 (nineteen years ago)

I think she means slow as in not many people participating.

― Sam rides the beat like a bicycle (Molly Jones), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:15 (nineteen years ago)

no, who wrote it? i read it a few years ago and loved it, not least for the effect it had on people in the same tube carriage/on the same bus as me as they tried to figure out what the hell i was doing with this book.

― emsk ( emsk), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:23 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, what Sam said. And I didn't mean who wrote the book literally. Highlight below for spoilers!! DO IT

I'm quite convinced it was Pelafina who wrote it. It would explain the coded message in her letter dated April 5, 1986 ("My dear Zampano, who did you lose?") as well as the reference to her practicing her smile in the mirror as a young girl, as Karen did. Either that, or Zampano was Johnny's dad.

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:29 (nineteen years ago)

OK that was supposed to be in a white font but I guess it didn't work out that way.

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:31 (nineteen years ago)

hmm, I should check this book out.

― Sam rides the beat like a bicycle (Molly Jones), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

Could one of the mods, like, re-whitify my spoiler? I really hate to ruin the book for people who haven't read it.

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Thursday, 26 October 2006 18:42 (nineteen years ago)

For reference: 'House of Leaves' by Mark Z. Danielewski

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 26 October 2006 19:00 (nineteen years ago)

the only spoilering that could happen would be to make more people read this crap amirite?

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 26 October 2006 22:04 (nineteen years ago)

Basically retarded Borges, right?

The Poe song that uses part of the book is pretty funny.

― milo z (mlp), Thursday, 26 October 2006 23:14 (nineteen years ago)

This book fucking sucks. Awful. Worse than Eggers, worse than DeLillo, worse than Foer.

― adam (adam), Friday, 27 October 2006 02:12 (nineteen years ago)

Worse than Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

― adam (adam), Friday, 27 October 2006 02:12 (nineteen years ago)

OMG what the fuck? What is with all this hating? And no, it is not just retarded Borges. Disregard the Poe song too. Adam what do you read for fun? For enjoyment?

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Friday, 27 October 2006 07:16 (nineteen years ago)

i don't think you're meant to think that hard about it - it's basically a creepy fun mystery, yes?

― emsk ( emsk), Friday, 27 October 2006 09:40 (nineteen years ago)

I keep meaning to write a blog post about how rubbish this book is, but I can't really be arsed.

(I have a sporadic series of blog posts called "Books I Haven't Read", about books I gave up on half way through)

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Friday, 27 October 2006 09:46 (nineteen years ago)

I liked it, admittedly it is so far up its own arse that I'm sure it looks like a Worm Ourouboros; but it's creepy and fun and intermittently clever.

Has anyone read Only Revolutions yet? I'm finding that one a real trial of my patience.

― Stone Monkey (Stone Monkey), Friday, 27 October 2006 09:52 (nineteen years ago)

actually i didn't really think the book was crap. i tried it twice and stopped at the same point both times (about 500 pages in). it was boring me.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 27 October 2006 11:13 (nineteen years ago)

it's basically a creepy fun mystery, yes?

yeah, and so it is if too verbose and a trying a little hard to be clever.

i always got the feeling that he was secretly hoping a little cult would spring up around this book - did that ever happen, or did everyone just read it, think "ah, neat idea" and forget about it?

― GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Friday, 27 October 2006 11:24 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.houseofleaves.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=7e4a079123e01a919a83975824c578e7

― ledge (ledge), Friday, 27 October 2006 11:52 (nineteen years ago)

... which I trawled around for a day or two, and decided that yes there probably are an awful lot of puzzles and cryptic references and things buried away in the book, and no I didn't care about them at all.

― ledge (ledge), Friday, 27 October 2006 11:53 (nineteen years ago)

e.g. "Four asses winnow the air - Connaught BNS Cape" = "For as we know there cannot be an escape". THANKS A BUNCH.

― ledge (ledge), Friday, 27 October 2006 11:54 (nineteen years ago)

I ended up just reading the haunted house bits and skimming /skipping the bits about that hipster bloke shagging junkies or whatever the hell that other bit was all about.

― Mark Co (Markco), Friday, 27 October 2006 12:19 (nineteen years ago)

yep, me too. and even that story wasn't terribly rewarding

― stet (stet), Friday, 27 October 2006 12:52 (nineteen years ago)

if only it had been Borges - then it would have been five pages long and actually good

― Mark Co (Markco), Friday, 27 October 2006 13:00 (nineteen years ago)

i would never read this book, but it IS cool to look at.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 27 October 2006 13:20 (nineteen years ago)

Adam what do you read for fun? For enjoyment?

I'm not sure how that fits in to the discussion of the world-destroying terribleness of House of Leaves but here's a book that achieves everything Poe's brother was going for with style and concision:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/sleator/www/billy/pig-low.jpg

― adam (adam), Friday, 27 October 2006 15:02 (nineteen years ago)

ahahahaha

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 27 October 2006 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not sure how that fits in to the discussion of the world-destroying terribleness of House of Leaves but here's a book that achieves everything Poe's brother was going for with style and concision:

: |

― less-than three's Christiane F. (drowned in milk), Friday, 27 October 2006 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

It confuses me when people call this book a "horror tale" or "mystery."

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 27 October 2006 16:35 (nineteen years ago)

four months pass...

This book is so fucking good. Anyone read it recently?

― Stevie D, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 09:06 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/house_of_pancakes.png

― (Rice Dream) (Stevie D), Thursday, 20 May 2010 18:19 (sixteen years ago)

lol

― Police Cool. (crüt), Thursday, 20 May 2010 21:15 (sixteen years ago)

one year passes...

should I read this or is it a pile of wank? i have a first edition (actually second edition). I think I should just sell it and enjoy the $50 instead.

― akm, Saturday, 18 June 2011 06:11 (fifteen years ago)

i have had this book on my shelf for srsly 8 years i think! i forgot about it!

― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Saturday, 18 June 2011 06:14 (fifteen years ago)

oh holy shit, intersteller pig! I read that when I was like, 12. It was really good. In fact I think about it a lot! I should get that again.

― akm, Saturday, 18 June 2011 06:15 (fifteen years ago)

seven years pass...

MZD's script for the pilot for a streaming version that never happened...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8ju058vnudefwz/HouseOfLeavesPilot_ByMarkZDanielewski.pdf?dl=0

His prior intro as to why it didn't come to be...

"Welcome! A short story to start us off: in late 2017, I was approached by a Big Streaming Company about developing a multiple-season version of HOUSE OF LEAVES. And, get this — yes, you heard it here first — I considered it.
Thanks to some good-hearted and very intelligent people — we're talking top-ten picks — negotiations actually moved forward. You can guess the basics: yours truly as a showrunner, money to keep the cats fed, and the promise of some real back-breaking work. And we got close. Real close. But then as December holidays approached, said Big Streaming Company made it clear that they wanted to own everything, in perpetuity, including sequels, prequels, character spin-offs, etc. Well, you can bet this: not gonna happen. Big Streaming Company bet and lost. But in walking away, I lost too.

Nonetheless, while muddling through all those lawyerly pet tricks, I decided to take a couple of weeks and write the pilot on my own. The result is really a sketch but limns out well enough a concept I've been mulling over for years about how such a televised experience might unfold."

― brain (krakow), Monday, 18 June 2018 19:30 (eight years ago)

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