Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

House of Leaves: The Remastered, Full-Color Edition by Mark Z. Danielewski

84 reviews

bi_n_large's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Violence, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Gore, Sexual content, and Drug use

Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Suicide

Minor: Rape and Cancer

kkalicky94's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

booitsnathalie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I can't stop thinking about what a nightmare this book must have been to design and print. I'm not sure any book will ever give me the sort of awe and revulsion I felt seeing a sentence span across the spine over two pages. It's obscene.

I didn't know much about House of Leaves beyond it's infamous typography, so it was surprising to learn it's functionally a book equivalent to found footage horror. It trades documentary "authenticity" for dense citations and pervert French, but conceptually I find a lot of similarities (both are primarily interested in the mechanics of their medium and how our trust in those forms can be exploited). How successful HoL is depends mostly on your willingness to indulge its most excessive elements, following footnotes to smaller footnotes and spinning the book around like it's the world thickest centerfold.

HoL slots into a weird segment of media that I conceptually appreciate but dread existing because it inevitably gets attached to the worst sort of gross art bro. It is a playful, surprisingly warm, darkly funny book, but also one that revels in masculine violence and the deification of male ambition. It is proud of its swamp, fascinated by the algae and mutated fish, but if you want to study the tadpoles you're forced to wade past crocodiles and a CW list longer than the terms you didn't read.

My metaphors are mixing and my mind is wandering, but this is all to say HoL is a challenging recommendation in 2022. A rewarding one if you can stomach the grime, but I wouldn't shame anyone for keeping it on the shelf a while longer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Confinement, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Child death and Bullying

laneport's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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: Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Addiction, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Medical content

addyruth17's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Animal death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Infidelity

nozoh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

I still can't fully wrap my head around it, but it has been the most interesting reading experience I've had. It wasn't scary to me but definitely unsettling. Unexpectedly I was moved to tears at some points too! Even after finishing it I spent an hour or so going back to certain pages and appendixes to confirm things and coming to new realizations, and that's pretty special. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Addiction, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Sexism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Cursing, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Ableism, and Child death

woweewhoa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Ableism, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Suicide, Vomit, Physical abuse, Rape, Car accident, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Homophobia and Cancer

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

sonnygrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Animal death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexism, Child abuse, Addiction, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Infidelity, Rape, War, and Child death

maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Gosh. This book was a trip. I LOVED parts and I HATED parts. I did really enjoy the style and the letters either Johnny’s mother was probably one of the most interesting/heartbreaking parts. Honestly I’ll probably read it again one day and maybe I’ll get more out of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts