Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

83 reviews

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

0 ⭐
This book just wasn't for me (to quote the beginning)
I wanted to be scared and I was looking forward to all the riddles. But the more I read the less I cared. I just wanted it to be over. It wasn't even the academic style of writing or Johnny (although I sometimes felt that Johnny was only written for a shock factor and to be "edgy", which made me lose interest a bit)
The author is undoubtedly very talented and a lot of work went into this. The weird thing is, that I actually enjoyed some of the discussions about the book on Reddit. Maybe I'll pick this book back up in a year or so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Panic attacks/disorders

ana____g____'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault

my_corner_of_the_library's review against another edition

dark 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

My feelings on The House of Leaves are so complicated... By the end of this book I felt that I could give it any rating between 1 and 5 and make a convincing argument for why it fits there. After a day to let it sit I ultimately decided to give it 4 stars...

The Writing

How do I even talk about this...I feel like I could both boast and rant about the writing of this book. I feel like I need to break this down into a few different parts.

John's POV

I would have loved getting John's POV if I wasn't so annoyed by it. The decision to incorporate the POV of someone experiencing the story with us was such a unique and amazing thing to read, however...It felt like it didn't come a satisfying conclusion and ultimately was unreliable and useless given the fact that

it quickly become clear that John had inherited his mother's schizophrenia and was experiencing the onset through paranoia and hallucinations triggered by the House of Leaves

. At the same time getting John's POV as he worked to bring the book to life and make sense of it all and give his commentary really added an extra layer to the story.

Zampano's POV/The Meta Analysis

This was...interesting. I absolutely loved when the formatting would change and become obscure. It felt as though it added an extra level of immersion to the story. Spirling down the staircase with the characters, and having the lines draw out into a tight three lines while crawling through a tight space gave a unique experience that I will be longing to find in other books.

Now, I'm not sure if the analytic writing style added or took from the story. It often felt like we were going on random rants that were meant to show just how smart Zampano thought he was, but at the same time it all eventually felt necessary and useful, like the analysis of the meaning of echo's that ultimately

taught us just how massive the house and hallways were.

The Plot

I adored the actual story of this book. It felt real and at the same time insane and supernatural. It didn't feel like any characters were safe and I felt as though I never knew what would happen or how it would end. I found myself physically gasping on several occasions. I kept feeling like I understood what was happening and how things would go, only for the exact opposite to happen.

It was interesting and captivating.

Conclusion

There are many many many other aspects of this book I could touch on, but I feel like I'll need several re-reads before I am actually in a place to give a critical analysis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse

13octopus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Incest

emmasbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

Very experimental in the storytelling and formatting...it's a dense read but I enjoyed the challenge. Definitely a book you get more out of every time you read. For sure I missed a lot of things happening here, but there's tons of online forums about this story for those who are really into it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape

aubreyhi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

House of Leaves remains one of my favorite novels. The playfulness with which the author looks at cinema, academia, Hollywood, masculinity, photography ... literature. It's a gorgeous piece of art, doesn't seem like it would be as much fun without the physicality of the book. Like a film, the author uses font and typsetting to engage the reader in time and space. You sit with the novel, it sits with you.

I won't tell you what it's about ... plenty of other reviews do that. Instead, I will say if you are interested in language or film or space or placemaking or grief or mental illness or explorations within this is the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Grief

bumpyjazz's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

antares's review

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

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

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

5am's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, and War