The Books/Reading Thread

Einherjar86 said:
So, I've recently begun reading a book titled House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting and creative books I've ever read. The book has been called a "satire on academic criticism" by some scholars, and its narrative style is extremely intricate. The book itself is an "edition" of a book by a fictional young man named Johnny Truant, which in itself is an edition of a book written by a fictional enigmatic character named Zampano, which ultimately is an academic essay written about a videotape recorded by a fictional photojournalist named Will Navidson, called The Navidson Record. The book is littered with footnotes by Zampano, Truant, and the ambiguous editors who've reissued Truant's edition. Some footnotes reference works/essays or authors/scholars that don't exist. Some pages contain full text, while others contain only one line of text, the rest of the page being blank. Some pages offer upside down footnotes and footnotes within strange window-like boxes, in which the text appears backwards on the opposite page. Furthermore, there are two storylines in House of Leaves (ultimately the name of the book). The main story (or what seems to be the main story) involves the videotapes of The Navidson Record. An underlying story is detailed in Truant's footnotes, recording recent events in his life (mostly times when he got laid). However, Truant is a very unreliable narrator and readers have to question everything he tells them. Furthermore, his footnotes detail what clearly seems to be (almost immediately) a descent into insanity. I'm currently only a quarter way through the book or so, so I can't say for certain where it's going. I'm extremely excited though.

Also, lastly and regarding the videotapes of The Navidson Record. It is one of the creepiest plot lines I've ever read, and it has succeeded in freaking me out on more than one occassion. Basically, it is unknown within the story whether The Navidson Record is truly a documentary or a genius fraud. Either way, the story is horrifying. A family comes home one day to find that their house has changed. Its inner dimensions continue to grow while on the outside it remains the same; a phyiscal impossibility. The main horror comes when a doorway suddenly appears in their living room wall... which is located directly next to their backyard. However, while their backyard appears normal and untouched, the doorway itself leads down a dark corridor, about ten feet long; but there is no protrusion into their lawn. Somehow, the corridor leads into somewhere impossible. And it doesn't stop. It continues to grow. The Navidson Record is Will Navidson's photojournalistic portrayal of the exploration into the cause and nature of this strange corridor, and what lies beyond.

That's basically the outline for the book. Is anyone is in the mood for a challenging, intriguing, confusing, amusing, and at times terrifying book, I definitely recommend it.
Click to expand...

I have that book; haven't read it yet.
 
It's a bit slow at times, but the beginning is interesting enough to hook you in for the long haul. I'm about three-hundred pages in and I can hardly put it down.

@Val
 
House of Leaves is an amazing book... I literally couldn't put it down, it interfered with my schoolwork and I would ignore phone calls from my friends while I was reading it... but I don't really care :p

Other than HoL, I really like the books Watership Down (Richard Adams) and The Gift of Fear (a book on violence, by Gavin de Becker).

Pretty interesting stuff.
 
unknown said:
what are you waitin for, negro? get on it!
Click to expand...

Einherjar86 said:
It's a bit slow at times, but the beginning is interesting enough to hook you in for the long haul. I'm about three-hundred pages in and I can hardly put it down.

@Val
Click to expand...

Yeah, I started reading it after I bought it but stopped because I didn't have time. The only thing I remember is the guy's house being longer on the inside than it was on the outside.
 
About a month ago I finished The Mask of the Sorcerer by Darrell Schweitzer--really for a 'fantasy' or 'weird' fiction book I found it to be quite incredible and recommend it to anyone really--I have never read anything quite like it.

Before that I finished Olympos the second part of the Ilium duology. Good book, but the deneumont seemed overly rushed. Not only that, much of the interesting philosophical/literary musings that made Ilium so engaging were much less of a focus in the follow-up. As someone else compared this to the first two Hyperion books, I feel I should as well. Hyperion is better than Ilium/Olympos, but I would say that Ilium is better than the Hyperion follow-up, The Fall of Hyperion--which suffers from the same rushed feeling that plagues Olympos.

I am also currently reading House of Leaves--it is quite interesting. The form of the book is highly intriguing and, as you say Einherjar, the Navidson record storyline is quite terrifying.

In terms of an adaptation to film--I agree that it would quite difficult to do so in a quality manner. However, if I were to do it, the film medium would need to be manipulated in much the same way that Danielewski manipulates traditional novel form.

Both Johnny's and the Navidson Record could be easily adapted to film, but Zampano's critical work, reflecting on the Navidson record, would be very difficult to adapt into film (even though the majority of his writing simply recounts the Navidson Record) in a suitable, and nuanced matter. I also think things like the appendices, would need to transferred in some form (which would probably work extremely well as special features on a DVD release, for instance, but not so easily in the core of the film). Personally, I would be against just a straight adaptation of the Navidson Record as it would fracture the wholeness of the original work and be an easy way to get around the complexities of adapting such an experimental work into the filmic medium.
 
You do know that the Hyperion cycle continued, right? Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion, which are better than the first two.
 
ramses said:
You do know that the Hyperion cycle continued, right? Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion, which are better than the first two.
Click to expand...

I know, but I really don't have much interest in reading those. I also highly doubt that either of those two books are as good as the original Hyperion; the episodic structure of that book was brilliant and not something I see too often (if ever) in science fiction.
 
Death Aflame said:
I know, but I really don't have much interest in reading those. I also highly doubt that either of those two books are as good as the original Hyperion; the episodic structure of that book was brilliant and not something I see too often (if ever) in science fiction.
Click to expand...

Well, give them a try! I liked them better than the first 2. I know that doesn't mean you will too, but give Endymion 100 pages...see if I'm wrong. Most unknown books, or ones I'm skeptical of, I'll give them 100 pages, for some books are slow but steady, especially the books of the epic nature. The next 2 start a little faster than the previous 2, and also explain some things about certain characters that were left unanswered.
 
So, has anyone here read any of Don DeLillo's novels? I've read Libra, White Noise and I got about 80% of the way through Underworld before getting bored with it. Apparently that is touted as his best work, so I might pick it up again and start reading it again from the beginning. Libra is my favorite of his so far though
 
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