Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

8 reviews

monroebays's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

This book demands much more of you than most, but it is so worth it. I’m sure every review says it but I’m gonna say it again: I can’t describe it, really. Just give it a try.

This is a book about a man piecing together an unfinished academic book about a documentary about a very strange house. The story of the man working on the book and the book itself make up the majority of the text. As you can imagine, it’s confusing and very layered. At some point, it starts to try to loop you into the story.

Danielewski is obsessed with the mechanics of words, paper, and knowledge. This book presents you with a tangled mess, carefully curated to confuse you, move you, scare you. And because danielewski’s deep knowledge of words is on display, you’re left wondering how fully that mess can be cleaned up into a full narrative if only you read it properly. I finished the book with many mysteries unsolved, but find myself drawn back to the book again to investigate further. If you’ve read the book already, you understand why this effect is probably why the book’s horror is so effective. 

At the end of the day, the story is kind of secondary to the reading experience. It’s crazy. It’s fun. It’s dark and sad and weird. Just give it a few chapters and see if it’s for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Vomit, Infidelity, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, and War

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

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

cmuise's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Forced institutionalization

somesapphicsnake's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Child abuse, Drug use, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

random19379's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Mental illness, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Addiction, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

antares's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

after exactly a month, i’ve finished my journey/experience/fever-dream of House of Leaves. 

and holy shit, did i love it. i have way too many thoughts and notes to even summarize my adoration and analysis  here but it was right up my alley.

of course, this is not a book for everyone—This is not for you. but if you’re a fan of ergodic literature, academic criticism, and long-winded hedonistic stream-of-consciousnesses, and if you know what you’re in for, then i would recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, Sexism, and War

pourrir's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I really loved this book, and for a couple of reasons.
First, Danielewski really pokes fun at dense, useless academic writing by presenting the neverending footnotes, side-subjects, and haughty language as the ramblings of Zampano. It made reading the text fun, to gleefully skip past lists of fake names, books, magazine articles, and interviews that have never existed and are used only to frame the story.
Also, the formatting was used to further the suspense or the theme of each chapter perfectly, making it an engaging read. I could understand why some may not like this book, as it was challenging to follow at times (jumping back and forth through the text) but was so worth it. 
Without getting into what actually happens, I really enjoyed that there was a satisfying ending (imo) to both the Navidson story and Johnny's story. At any moment I honestly expected Zampano's transcript to just end, leaving the ending even more ambiguous than it already is. 

Also, filling out the content warning section of this review made me realize how messed up this book is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and War