Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

65 reviews

cowboynixan's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Debating between a 3.5 and 4 star, so it might change overtime

I truly think both the praise and criticism is super valid on both sides, its a VERY ambitious concept that you can either process as really cool and amazing or unnecessarily complecated, which in my opinion almost fits the book.

I also have talked to friends about this and everyone i know finds it overwhelming to think about starting it, but after about 40-70 pages you really get to know the flow easier and it feels less intimidating.

There was alot of aspects to this book, and it seems very overwhelming if you are looking for reviews to see if you should read this; here is my list of what i enjoyed and didnt about this book

Liked: the storyline of navidson and the house is really beautiful. If you like liminal space stuff like the backrooms this book feels like a must. The story is slow but you also want to absorb everything in the best way, so its worth it.

Disliked: very obviously, its extremely difficult to read as a normal book. All the layouts are odd, sometimes theres up to 5 overlapping concepts, and you dont have to actually read all of it. I also disliked

truants constant talk about him sleeping with every woman he meets because all of them want to have sex with him, which adds to the positive of him being an unreliable narrator

 

Neutral: this book is written mostly like an academic article. It didnt bug me at all and wasnt difficult to read but im currently a liberal arts major so this is easier and palatable for me to read this kind of writing. 

Tips for reading this:
Before reading it i seperated parts into tabbed sections - the more empty pages having larger chunks, the intertwining writing being smaller chunks. It makes it alot more digestible. Also during the intertwining stories, finish the chapter and then go back a few pages and read the other seperately.

Good luck!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicide, Rape, Alcoholism, Confinement, Eating disorder, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

minzzi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

  This is the first book I have ever read that really scared me. 
  I loved the Navidson Records, characters, the narrative and the way it was written and formatted. Truly genius. No complaints.
   However, the parts about Johnny kinda irritated me, specially in the middle section of the book. All Johnny's storys about his childhood, or the story about the dead dog were great, fitted the theme of the book perfectly, but just how convenient is it that every person who knows something about Zampanò is an attractive young woman who wants to have sex with him?
   I was having a great time learning about the terrifying maze in Navidson's house and Johnny would cut in with a random story about how he fucked a woman. It got boring quick.
   Taking that out, as I said before, everything else was amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

wizardhugs's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i loved the experience of reading this book. not just the infamous bizarre page layouts, but the psuedo-academic analysis of this nonexistant house is a blast. this book is not for everyone, however i cannot help but use this book as a litmus test for who i can and cannot truly vibe with.

as for the actual plot and content, i thoroughly enjoyed what was going on, and watching the personal struggles of these characters unfold, reflected in their work. i have a lot of analysis and digging to do aftet reading, but i highly recommend house of leaves -- there is no wrong way to read it. i cannot stop talking about it either.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Rape

innae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This may be the oddest book I have ever read.  I can’t really even coalesce my thoughts right now in the monuments since finishing it.  At the base it is a haunted house tale, and yet that is not all.  It has left me with a feeling of…unease.   I shall be keeping this book to revisit in the future.   At least for now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Child death

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The amount of effort and work that went into House of Leaves is something that I can really appreciate. There were certain sections where the creepiness of the darkness inside the house was truly palpable but anytime that I was close to diving deep into that horror, the academic style of writing took me away from it. At times I was also really interested in the academic discussions regarding subjects ranging from physics to history and linguistics, but it was truly difficult to call it an enjoyable experience. 
There are many interpretations about this book, ranging from who is narrating, the true meaning of the house, and even the timeline of events. 
I don't think I can recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun book to read, but if you're into deep dives into linguistics, philosophy, poetry, physics, with two side stories that tell the stories of deeply troubled characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Death

quixie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Gun violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Suicide, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

izzydelaya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Addiction, Bullying, Animal death, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexism, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

abandonedmegastructure's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

House of Leaves explores the very limits of what can be done with ink on paper.

A suspenseful tale of exploration into the unknown is enhanced with layers of symbolism, discussion, meta-discussion, and mythological allusions. The result is an enthralling novel, fundamentally mysterious yet deeply compelling, which invites its reader to join in the analytical discussions that take center stage from time to time. The book plays with page structure, footnotes, the fourth wall, text markup, and anything else you could imagine. It goes beyond having an unreliable narrator and straight-up invites us to question the narrator's existence; just another part of the fun it's having exploring the concept of writing (not writing - chronicling? depicting? recording? knowing?) itself. It touches on themes of cosmic horror, religion, mental illness, and the human subconscious, though if I had to pin down a single theme I'd say this is a book about absences first and foremost.

I realize I might be making this book sound like a pretentious tome that's more concerned with being clever than being readable. And to be fair, there are some pseudo-academic bits that go on for too long, and they're the reason I'm not giving this a 5/5. But the various narratives interwoven through the book are insanely well-written and evocative (not to mention disturbing), the main characters slowly reveal more of their fascinating yet flawed selves, and the references and metatextual elements add to their stories, rather than distracting from them. Even when viewed purely as a story, House of Leaves holds up extremely well; everything else is just a bonus.

A final thought: I've seen a lot of people call this a horror novel, and I get where they're coming from, but I found the text intriguing more than scary even at the most uncanny points. If you've been put off by the horror label, and would otherwise have considered reading the book, I encourage you to try it out anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Child death, Sexual violence, Body horror, Rape, Infidelity, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Suicide

venusmage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A brilliant work of narrative meta analysis, looking childhood/family trauma and the failures of parents (and the children left behind), and as the author put it, a love story. Wrapped up in delightfully twisted imagery. Pokes fun at the way academics can almost over-discuss art to the point it starts becoming dehumanizing, while acknowledging that every analyst inherently brings their own biases to the table. You’re forced to be included in that. 

Less “overt” horror and more conceptual, based on metaphors. If reality-breaking narratives wig you out then maybe skip it, otherwise I’d highly recommend. I hate to say it’s an “you get it, or you don’t” sort of book, but I believe that is indeed the case. It’s a modern classic for a reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Pedophilia

at806's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit