House of Leaves

I got to page 13, after the forward and introduction, before quitting. The writing sucks.

Danielewski has managed to find a medium in which he can partially disguise the fact that he's telling rather than showing. Kudos to him, but it's painful to read.

For instance, after a brief scene in which Will Navidson is looking at his partner Karen's hairbrush, we get a whole paragraph of academic analysis about how Will removing a clump of her hair from the hairbrush indicates how much he loves her. Same with a scene in which Karen is anxious for Will to return home, but “has quite effectively masked all her eagerness to see him.” We are told explicitly, “What both these moments reveal is how much Will and Karen need each other and yet how difficult they find handling and communicating those feelings.”

Gee, thanks.

Readers of Ready Player One (also terrible in the same emotionally stunted way) will love this book.