Ways to prepare yourself to read House of Leaves

Console yourself by reflecting that Johnny also gets a lot more action than Mark Danielewski, or indeed than nearly any other non-fictional person.

As for the OP's worries, most of the book's allusions aren't beyond anyone who's read a bit, and even the ones you might pass over are simply a bonus—not essential to understanding the book. In fact, anyone who reads enough to pick up all the references can get bored of them quickly: pointless goofing on chestnuts like non sum qualis eram have a strictly limited return on investment.

I assumed that Johnny's sexual encounters were mostly or completely hallucinated, showing his descent into madness.

Considering that the California birthrate didn't spike around the time of the book's events, I'm inclined to agree with you.

the easiest way to prepare is simply to remember: While the house is important, (its the face of the book), it's not the center of the story. Its actually the stage. The real center of the book is the interpersonal drama. If you focus too much on the house the stories nuances will speed past you faster than you can say "Nonstandard formatting"

PS:I wish I knew how to use font colors by the way. Seeing "house" in any color other than grey or blue in this context is somehow disturbing.

edited 26th Feb '13 9:47:02 AM by SalmonPunch

Eee, I love this book! My house growing up has a circular staircase. Since I lived on the third floor, at night with the lights off it would look like the stairs were vanishing into the dark. I always got a creepy-delicious thrill looking at them after I read House of Leaves.

I love how the author will stick random things in that are pointless but make you stop and look closer. Like that check mark.

I just acquired my copy of the Remastered Full Color Edition in print.

I am hoping to enjoy myself very much. Read the entire thread here. Acquired Slacker and Blair Witch. Any more recommendations?