How Danielewski's 'House of Leaves' Destabilizes the Reader

[@hassankassim8078]

I know this channel is just beginning, but this is one of the best and most unique book channel.

[@SherdsTube]

It means a lot to hear that. Thanks so much!

[@TheSalMaris]

Form and story telling in intriguing ways recommendations: Kenneth Patchen's The Journal of Albion Moonlight, and Peter Matthiessen's Far Tortuga.

[@SherdsTube]

Great! Both of these are new to me. They look very intriguing, thank you.

[@amy_grace]

The thing I love about House of Leaves is that MZD literally spent a decade writing and organizing it. No matter how much time you or I spend trying to map the labyrinth, the author spent more time laying it out, and it makes the book - as a piece of literature to play with and analyze - feel practically bottomless.

[@stargazerbird]

On finishing the book I searched online for an analysis that would explain the way it weaves its magic. At last I found it. I found much of it delightfully playful and funny which makes for another destabilising contrast with the horrors of the house.

[@JohnVKaravitis]

I wish I had time to dive into literature this deeply.

[@novelsandcrumbs3558]

Some thing's in writing as in life are like a rock, and some things are like a clock. You get to choose what is more reliable to wake you, as others find a good place to lay their heads.

[@Nuance88]

Incredibly well-done.

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks ever so much!

[@strawberryfeels6479]

This channel is so good! Please keep up the amazing work.

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks so much for saying so. Will try to keep the uploads a little more regular.

[@cassiel28]

@@SherdsTube it is not necessary to upload your work under datelines. The net is full of KZbin's creators (some better that others) that keep feeding our emptiness every week. High standard literary appreciation takes time, effort and thinking. I like your analysis and recommendations, if it takes you weeeks to upload, I will be waiting

[@SherdsTube]

I really appreciate these kind words. It's very comforting to hear that. You're right, I shouldn't fall into the trap of rushing to meet imaginary deadlines. Still, I've got lots of ideas, so there'll be more soon. Thanks again.

[@JoseLNieto-yk2rg]

This is another way of acknowledging that experiences are distorted when organized and put into words. It’s very difficult (perhaps impossible) for the writer to share an experience with the reader using only conventional, sequential text.

[@LiminalVegas]

Just started reading this. While there's some eye rolling Gen-X "literary masculinity" that permeates the book, it's enjoyable. Reminds me of the interactive books I had growing up. Realized there was definitely nods to concrete poetry, and had wondered if anyone had made this connection. Liked the review.

[@kieran_forster_artist]

And that most famous hpl quote so appropriate

[@kieran_forster_artist]

I’m enjoying how although I can hear hol and hpl, you’re bringing something else to this. I’m in the middle of H of L….trying to extend it. It does have an ambient pressure and no doubt an echoing structure. I agree this at the source of its and the readers psychodynamic . Alludes not only to the realistic aspects of psychodynamic psychotherapy, but to the early proto existentialist phenomenologists…..human experience as primarily chaotic in desperate need of what u have called the reification

[@dre_mellalieu]

Oh I really could have used this video in 2000! 😂 Reading it was an unforgettable experience, and I loved it (though much of what you discuss was lost on me at the time). When I was young, I was obsessed w the Griffin and Sabine notebooks - the hidden messages, notes tucked into notes, interaction between reader and book. I also love Dali, Apollinaire, and Cummings- so this all fits. You might like Pure Colour by Sheila Heti…I don’t remember too much of form (maybe a bit) but it’s good and weird. The narrator joins her father in another dimension, I’ll leave it at that (another Canadian female author! She too won an award - I mentioned Sarah Bernstein in another comment - I feel more certain after each video that you’ll like Study for Obedience! Admittedly, I know no one who liked it so it is possible that I’m way off! 😅)

[@Karzahani742]

This video was a masterpiece: You deserve 1 million subscriptions.

[@SherdsTube]

Ha! Thanks. That would be nice, but I don't see it happening somehow. :)

[@zpkspiano]

Awesome video! Excited to see more stuff

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks a lot! The next video will be out fairly soon.

[@Markomacoma]

I enjoyed this video essay. It's stylish and informative. I wasn't aware of House of Leaves, and will now search it out. May I suggest Calvino's If on a Winter's Night ...?

[@JohnHopeART]

Another excellent episode! Thanks for the great work! I haven't read the book yet, but there was an excellent BBC Radio 4 drama based on the story, have you heard this? It's called ''Recordings Recovered from the House of Leaves''.

[@SherdsTube]

Thank you! My pleasure. No, I haven't come across that radio drama, so I'll try to seek it out. I've often wondered how this book would translate to another medium.

[@Rxe08]

Does anyone know the music that begins at 18:16 ?

[@BibberCore]

The Lost Scrapbook by Evan Dara does a lot of formally interesting things. Sometimes the scene changes midsentence..

[@SherdsTube]

Thank you. This is new to me. I looked it up and I'm curious to try it.

[@nullset560]

I think it was Portis that said when in foreign countries everything you see becomes a portent!

[@SherdsTube]

Ha! I really like that.

[@lucaslopesteacherandtraine3634]

I really would like to watch you commenting on Ligotti's work (if you haven't done that yet).

[@SherdsTube]

Have a look at my page. There's a video there on Ligotti & The Polish Avant-Garde.

[@AleksandarBloom]

William Gass did some of that, but you already know about it.

[@rickharsch8797]

America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: a Diagnostic, by Phillip Freedenberg

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks! Very much on my radar. Will have to pick up a copy soon.

[@timkjazz]

The Ash Tree by M.R. James.

[@mabeylane7163]

This video sounds like the pretentious scholarly articles this book is satirizing.

[@SherdsTube]

Ha! Yeah, it does a bit. Interestingly, though, that's one of the book's challenges - as I tried to suggest towards the end. :)