House of Leaves, by Mark Z Danielewski

• Title:  House of Leaves
• Author:  Mark Z Danielewski
• Borrowed from DC Public Library
• Started:  9/17/2010
• Finished:  9/21/2010

 
I haven't posted anything in a while, not b/c I'm not reading, but b/c I've been trying to read/study my latest purchase:  The New Annotated Dracula, edited by my favorite footnoter, Leslie Klinger.  I've been working my way through this book for a long time now, since the start of September, and I've barely scratched the surface.
 
But this update isn't about that book.  I was headed out to the beach with my wife for another long weekend at our Ocean City condo.  I didn't want to lug Dracula (a beast of a book) out to the sandy beach with me, so instead I opted for a book I've been wanting to read for quite some time:  House of Leaves.
 
Holy crap, this book was fantastic.  First on the most basic level as a haunted house (type) story, it scared me and I was afraid to walk around my house alone at night.  It invaded more than one dream and had me holding my bladder at night rather than go to the bathroom alone at 4 am.  But more than that it was a great read all around, getting past the main haunted house story, into the various annotations (you know how I love those), numerous authors voices, side stories, etc.  I mean this whole novel is just a work I hated to put down, I'd have taken days off to read it if that were an option.
 
So this was a great book to take to the beach, but now I'm back to Dracula.  I'm taking the train to NYC this weekend and can't decide if I want to bring Dracula (heavy as hell) since I'll have 3.5 hours each way to read.  Tough call.