Lets read house of leaves! Go at your own pace, spoilers go under cuts. General discussion is also fine. :)
Oh gods I devoured this book and didn't understand half of it even though I devoured the tvtropes page before I got the book. I need to grab it when I'm at my parents' place next time and read it again. Been a while.
...well. It looks like maybe it's time for a reread... This is one of the few books that genuinely made me skittish enough to jump... and in broad daylight, too. I think at least 3 of my close friends have read it at this point... if they have time I think I will seek to spread it out to a few more. :)
I was actually pretty disappointed in it horror-wise, because I'd heard it talked up a lot and it was not as horror-y as people said. That being said, my view of it was probably influenced a lot by the fact that I've been dreaming infinite buildings for as long as I can remember, so I wasn't scared of that, only Spoiler: small spoiler maybe the beast, a little bit at first and then more as the book went on. But the majority of the book is about the house itself, and I found that comforting in a way, because I'm used to buildings working like that (again, in dreams, but still).
My god, I'd forgotten how pretentious this book was, but oddly, it works. Like, the bare bones of it are really just creepypasta fodder, but all of the work that's gone into linking what happened to different branches of science and philosophy and coming up with hundreds of fake, but authentic-looking sources (as well as so many real ones) is mindblowing. Edit: No wonder I couldn't get into it when I first bought it as a kid in search of easy scares, though.
I did wonder if the overelaborate language and digressions into partially-related scientific/mathematical stuff was intended as a parody of an academic essay- It reminds me very much of the type of stuff we were expected to churn out in Film Studies courses at university.
I love how the over elaborate pretentiousness is broken up by Johnny's footnotes that go on for pages. It's such a jarring contrast, but it keeps me from falling into Skim Mode the way I do when I read academic papers- I can read them word-for-word at first, but a couple pages in and my brain stops processing all of it and just skimming through. The footnotes reset the threshold, so I miss less. I wonder if that was intentional or just a very happy coincidence.
Me, I'm doing what someone suggested on here and reading Johnny's notes separately- it's too hard for to go from ultra-dry and verbose academic textbook to Standard Creepypasta and back again, but I agree, and think it was probably intentional.
Okay so I just re-read the whole thing on the way back home yesterday, so I have some things to say. Spoiler It really freaks me out that the cats all die/go missing, and that there's gouges on the floor. The rest of it I could chalk up to Johnny not being okay, but not that. With all the talk of the minotaur simply being a deformed human, it makes me wonder what that means for the 'beast' in the House. Also, who built the house? And why in Virginia? And what exactly happened to Tom? Spoiler: changing the subject a little It's vaguely fairytale-ish, how the House changes; it's like how time (perception?) changes in fairyland, except that it's space instead. That's not mentioned; only Greek mythical stuff is (plus a couple of times the bible is referred to). The signal being eaten by the house also fits; the two worlds are only allowed so much contact with one another. The animals not being able to go in is something else entirely, though. That makes more sense when taken in context with the Minotaur thing. Maybe. I'm not sure. I'm tired. Also, I'm considering annotating my copy. It seems like a thing I should do.
Spoiler: THEORIZING WITH BEL also house of leaves had a disappointing conclusion [8:01:36 PM] Bel: yeah, well [8:01:37 PM] locus: all this build up and it ends with [8:01:41 PM] locus: nothing [8:01:46 PM] Bel: idk i like it that way [8:01:56 PM] Bel: i can't articulate why it just [8:02:08 PM] locus: i mean [8:02:10 PM] locus: it's pretty good [8:02:15 PM] locus: it's amazing actually [8:02:18 PM] locus: but i feel like [8:02:29 PM] locus: i would have preferred it if there was a little more focus on zampano? [8:02:33 PM] locus: outside the appendixes [8:02:37 PM] Bel: no it's that everyone is still affected, but gets a little better with distance [8:02:50 PM] Bel: and i wish there was more zampano, yes [8:02:52 PM] locus: i'm going to reread the appendixes [8:02:54 PM] locus: i guess so? [8:02:55 PM] Bel: i wish that a lot [8:03:01 PM] locus: i mean [8:03:04 PM] locus: it's not that obvious [8:03:05 PM] locus: and i mean [8:03:08 PM] locus: here's the thing [8:03:15 PM] locus: johnny is crazy [8:03:19 PM] locus: he is his mother crazy [8:03:31 PM] Bel: yes, obviously [8:03:43 PM] Bel: but i don't think he wrote the book [8:03:54 PM] Bel: i think it just exacerbated his brainbad [8:04:01 PM] locus: no, of course not [8:04:08 PM] locus: zampano's writing is zampano's [8:04:10 PM] locus: it's just [8:04:19 PM] locus: well [8:04:30 PM] locus: either the minotaur is real, or johnny is insane, probably the second [8:05:08 PM] Bel: both [8:05:16 PM] Bel: i mean, not the minotaur exactly but [8:05:30 PM] Bel: some Presence that manifests as the house [8:05:40 PM] Bel: and goddamnit i swear the mother is involved somehow [8:05:46 PM] locus: oh of course [8:05:49 PM] locus: the mother is everything [8:05:57 PM] locus: i'm also CONVINCED zampano is actually Tom [8:06:01 PM] locus: I will HOLD BY THIS OPINION [8:06:04 PM] locus: UNTIL JUDGEMENT DAY [8:06:09 PM] locus: IT IS PROBABLY A TYPO [8:06:15 PM] Bel: OH [8:06:19 PM] Bel: OH WOW [8:06:26 PM] locus: but at some point, in the book "me" is used instead of "him" to describe Tom [8:06:33 PM] Bel: holy fucking wow [8:06:37 PM] Bel: i totally missed that omg [8:06:40 PM] Bel: wes i love you [8:06:45 PM] locus: :D [8:06:49 PM] locus: i saw it [8:06:52 PM] locus: then read it again [8:06:54 PM] locus: then reread it [8:07:02 PM] locus: originally i thought zampano was navidson [8:07:09 PM] locus: though of course that's too obvious [8:07:14 PM] locus: and navidson survives to make the documentary [8:07:19 PM] locus: but WE DON'T KNOW IF TOM DIED [8:07:26 PM] locus: WE SAW BOTH HOLLOWAY AND JED'S BODY [8:07:27 PM] Bel: i think tom did die, in a way [8:07:28 PM] locus: but not tom's [8:07:33 PM] locus: well yes [8:07:35 PM] locus: but physically i mean [8:07:38 PM] locus: there was no corpse [8:07:45 PM] Bel: whoever made it out of the house was not tom [8:07:46 PM] Bel: yes i know [8:07:47 PM] locus: and if the mother isn't from the world of the house [8:07:53 PM] locus: i will eat my hat [8:07:56 PM] Bel: what is the deal with the mother though [8:08:01 PM] Bel: exactly [8:08:02 PM] locus: she was fucking crazy [8:08:25 PM] Bel: well yes but [8:08:34 PM] Bel: how is she involved [8:08:36 PM] Bel: (other than through johnny) [8:08:49 PM] locus: hm [8:08:52 PM] locus: i'm thinking [8:08:57 PM] locus: who are women who were in the house? [8:09:02 PM] Bel: add this to the fucking thread wes [8:09:05 PM] Bel: omg [8:09:11 PM] Bel: uh [8:09:14 PM] locus: there's a house of leaves thread? [8:09:15 PM] Bel: karen, daisy, the one teacher [8:09:19 PM] Bel: yes, there is [8:09:29 PM] locus: could the mother be daisy? [8:09:33 PM] locus: i know the name is different but [8:09:56 PM] Bel: yeah but we already know zampano changed the names [8:10:09 PM] locus: there is one thing though [8:10:11 PM] locus: there's the note [8:10:17 PM] locus: where he talks about "changing the ending so the children die" [8:10:21 PM] locus: "drown daisy in blood?" [8:10:22 PM] locus: like [8:10:28 PM] locus: if we're going with the tom theory [8:10:34 PM] locus: what came out of the house was resentful [8:10:35 PM] locus: and mean [8:10:36 PM] locus: and angry [8:10:38 PM] locus: and frustrated [8:10:40 PM] locus: understandably [8:10:44 PM] Bel: yes [8:10:44 PM] locus: blind old man, stuck [8:10:50 PM] Bel: yes.... [8:10:58 PM] locus: because all those things in the appendix are zampano, even if the hands are different [8:11:04 PM] locus: because he had people write as well as read for him [8:11:22 PM] Bel: hands? [8:11:23 PM] Bel: oh [8:11:31 PM] Bel: yes, exactly [8:12:30 PM] locus: he was probably incredibly angry at daisy [8:12:37 PM] locus: (link for thread?) [8:12:44 PM] Bel: dude just search house of leaves [8:12:48 PM] Bel: yeah that makes sense [8:12:57 PM] Bel: i mean, not at first, obviously [8:13:06 PM] Bel: because he did save her and that's there [8:13:14 PM] Bel: but after a while? he'd start to think [8:13:26 PM] Bel: "what if i just left her? and then i'd be okay" [8:13:32 PM] Bel: hm [8:13:50 PM] Bel: how much time passes between the house's happenings and johnny's story? [8:14:11 PM] locus: zampano is an old, old man [8:14:20 PM] locus: but it happened in his world's eighties, right? [8:14:31 PM] locus: PARALLEL TO THE MOTHER'S INSANITY [8:14:53 PM] Bel: hmmmm [8:15:35 PM] Bel: what i'm not so sure about is the whole thing with the coded note [8:15:37 PM] locus: can i copy paste this into the chat? [8:15:42 PM] locus: i tried reading that [8:15:43 PM] Bel: hm? yes i think so [8:15:45 PM] locus: then gave up
You guys are all saying it wrong it's not House of Leaves it's House Of Leaves. Speaking of which I should go back and actually read it. It was pretty effective and I liked it, but it is like the book actively attacks my attempts to read it.
I'm so happy I finally found this book again, even if I forgot most of what I read at this point. I think I was just at the start of the house-weirds, but nothing in relation to what's happening in the narrator's life beyond him being a mess and freaking out over pouring over this novel. Is there a reading circle for Kintsugi? If so, maybe many of us can read it together, like a few chapter every week and share analysis?
I've read House of Leaves! Spoiler: General spoilers I ended up skipping a lot of the framing story because it bored me, but I loved the weirdness with the actual house-story. Spoiler: Irrelevant Personal Spoilers I've actually got a superhero OC (set in the Wormverse) with powerful space-warping abilities, but a severe fear of open spaces and new spaces and her power is subconsciously controlled and always on in her immediate area. She basically telecommutes to 'work', and her set of rooms has warped in order to have a russian-nesting-doll effect where her windows always lead to fucked up, branching versions of her room that get weirder the deeper you go. She's codenamed herself Minotaur as a HoL joke.
