The Books/Reading Thread

It's well-realized for what it is, purposeful and thematically cohesive and all that. But it's all just an exercise, a showcase of literary acrobatics. At best I can admire the cleverness of it and that's it. I think of it as the literary equivalent of "Inception" although I suppose most people wouldn't interpret that as criticism. The experimental formatting is honestly not something I think has a place in literature, at least not the way it is utilized in HoL. The formatting is not supposed to draw attention to itself because it's not supposed to be part of the text because formatting is not something that is going to have any emotional impact on me as a reader. The fact that the book itself is implied to be a labyrinth is also an issue I have with it because it implies that it is something for the reader to literally lose oneself in. To break the fourth wall in such a way and imply that degree of reader involvement to me is a gimmick that kills all suspension of disbelief. I don't understand how someone could ever feel unnerved to the point of having to shut their closet door before sleeping by a book that constantly calls attention to itself being a book.

@unknown I actually started writing this before I saw your post and it's funny that we both should mention Inception.
 
unknown said:
The layout of House of Leaves is a big part of how the meaning in the novel is constructed. On the one hand, it's a synthesis of form and content., very much like the poetry of e.e. cummings or the cut-up method of William S. Burroughs. When Navidson is falling in the darkness, the text falls across the page. When the hallway is closing in on Navidson, the text closes in. As Ein mentions, it builds a "house" out of "leaves" (synonymous with "pages"). The other thing with the layout is it pokes fun at academia. A majority of the lists in the footnotes are totally made up bullshit. Some people with WAY more time than most actually found patterns within the footnote lists. Johnny Truant's paranoia of completing the project yet as it's consuming him is a metaphor for pretty much any writing/scholarly endeavor. It's kind of like how "Inception" is a metaphor for film-making. For what it's worth, I found House of Leaves to be MUCH more readable than Only Revolutions and The Fifty Year Sword. I might have to re-attempt those two this summer.
Click to expand...

The Fifty-Year Sword was a really difficult book, which is ironic considering how quickly it reads. I need to give that another go too...

Vegard Pompey said:
It's well-realized for what it is, purposeful and thematically cohesive and all that. But it's all just an exercise, a showcase of literary acrobatics. At best I can admire the cleverness of it and that's it. I think of it as the literary equivalent of "Inception" although I suppose most people wouldn't interpret that as criticism. The experimental formatting is honestly not something I think has a place in literature, at least not the way it is utilized in HoL. The formatting is not supposed to draw attention to itself because it's not supposed to be part of the text because formatting is not something that is going to have any emotional impact on me as a reader. The fact that the book itself is implied to be a labyrinth is also an issue I have with it because it implies that it is something for the reader to literally lose oneself in. To break the fourth wall in such a way and imply that degree of reader involvement to me is a gimmick that kills all suspension of disbelief. I don't understand how someone could ever feel unnerved to the point of having to shut their closet door before sleeping by a book that constantly calls attention to itself being a book.
Click to expand...

Part of it has to do with being able to appreciate different facets of the same text. On one hand, House of Leaves is a horror story, and a successful one; on the other hand, it's a self-reflexive commentary on literary form, participating in a tradition that goes back to Tristram Shandy.

But ultimately, my feeling is that when the distinction between text and world begins to dissolve, that generates its own sense of anxiety, of the uncanny. And I didn't lose sleep over House of Leaves, and I don't think it would have been debilitating had I decided to leave my closet door open. But it did occupy my thoughts so much after reading it that I felt more comfortable shutting the door. There's a certain jouissance to playing along with the magic show.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vegard Pompey
Well, I do like books you sort of "live in", that stay with you, that you think about when you're not reading them. And books that are self-contained, that are their own universa. Also, I appreciate the borgesian notion of footnootes in absurdum as well as made-up authors and books.
 
As unknown said, many of the footnotes are totally fictitious (in some cases, they're merely extensions of the primary narrator's fucked up story). But, there are also explicit references to Borges. So you should enjoy that... ;)
 
It's a great book, but I would read the Gay Science first, as it is a more direct text and will introduce you to Nietzsche's core concepts, including the eternal return, which is central to the text, and will orient you to the meaning of a number of the symbols he uses in TSZ.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Ozzman
I'll second what cf said. I spent an entire semester on Nietszche (also had dept honors for my paper on him for that class), and TSZ received very little coverage compared to his other texts, primarily because it contains very little new stuff compared to the other works, but it presents it all in a more opaque format.

The Gay Science and Beyond Good and Evil will cover most of what you need from Nietzsche.
 
Yeah that sounds about right. Damn I remembered correctly. I never picked it back up after the original guy died. By the time the new stuff started coming out I didn't care anymore.
 
The Ozzman said:
The prequel and Book 2 are on my list near the top. Dune is next..
Click to expand...

Dune is on a list to read eventually (already bought it). My little subheading is from it even though I haven't read the book, just because I have had a friend say I reminded him of those things in the book.
 
After Silmarillion the Dune series are probably my favorite books ever. Very ambigious works with almost fantasy feel in it's grandeur.

My title right now is also from Dune actually. :)
 
When I bought Thus Spoke Zarathustra and took it to my parents for a visit (because they live near the bookstore) my mother asked whether this book isn't forbidden in my country. Ah, Poles.
 
Vilden said:
After Silmarillion the Dune series are probably my favorite books ever. Very ambigious works with almost fantasy feel in it's grandeur.

My title right now is also from Dune actually. :)
Click to expand...

I just read the first Dune not too long ago. Aside from a few moments, I thought it was tedious to the point where I almost put it down. Glad I stuck with it though because the last hundred pages or so are absolutely fantastic.
 
Huh, they are? I'm actually reading Dune for the first time right now and I love it, but I lost motivation with around 150 pages to go because the book got all psychedelic and it seemed like there wasn't enough time for Paul to get off his ass and drive out the Harkonnens until the sequel.
 
The "psychedelic" aspect is what was ultimately appealing to me. I got bored with the talky political sections between the opposing houses, which seemed to last hundreds of pages after the good note that book one left me on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Julma Jurmu
books?
Replies
28
Views
2K
Children Of Bodom
Crimson Babe
C
Crack Hitler
Now reading thread
Replies
50
Views
2K
Antimatter
ricochet
R
bRaTpRiNcEsS
O/T: What are you reading? part 2
Replies
136
Views
3K
Anthrax
Arg_Hamster
A
Marlies
NR: Now Reading Thread:)
Replies
49
Views
2K
Morgana Lefay
Morgana
M
Freanan
Philosophical reading?
Replies
70
Views
4K
The Philosopher
speed
S
Top Bottom
Back