Rating: 
Summary: Half-Star is Actually a Little High
Review: Wish I had read the customer reviews before I bought the book; the story of a man's psychological reaction (a story in itself) to an analysis of various other analyses of a non-existent home video. So filled with analyses of psychological reactions, philosophy, mythology and filmmaking, along with unnecessary scientific data and annoying literary visual effects that it is difficult to hold the thread of the main story. Since the author doesn't believe in using a small word where a large one will do, unless you have a greater than average vocabulary or enjoy reading with a dictionary handy, I wouldn't recommend it. If you do attempt it, I would suggest reading the main story (if you can find it) to the end, then returning to read the footnoted story. Not for straight horror buffs, but not bad for big fans of Umberto Eco.
Rating:
Summary: Three Things About House of Leaves
Review: 1. It carries a rave blurb from Bret Easton Ellis. 2. It has been compared to The Blair Witch Project. 3. I will return my wallet to my pocket and back away very slowly.
Rating: 
Summary: A Brave Book, A Disturbing Read
Review: The novel plays on our most primitive fears; darkness, isolation and the idea that a coherent "center" (spiritual, psychological) does not exist. As Derrida would have it, "authentic" meaning is always an illusion, a product of a maze-like play of differences at the margins. Well, that idea alone is not enough to commend the book; but for me, Danielewski invests the various narratives with enough wit, drive and strangeness to make it worthwhile. The ghosts of "Pale Fire", "Tristram Shandy" and "Gravity's Rainbow" haunt Danielewski's pages and although "House of Leaves" falls short of such exalted standards, I cannot accept that it's a merely an overhyped piece of fluff. I found the actual experience of reading the book to be utterly disconcerting, the real stuff of nightmares.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the NEGATIVE hype
Review: I accept that not all people are going to likethis book, but it does have a lot to offer. Sure, it is derivative ofall sorts of books, but honestly, I've never seen the gimicks used soeffectively as in House of Leaves....I Loved Infinite Jest, but House of Leaves uses footnotes in an eniterly different way. The gimmicks of this book fit within the context of the story, and don't seem arbitrary to me...and although the meat of the story about the house is entertaining, I felt that the footnotes were actually more interesting, giving a very good overhaul of Critisism in general, film critisim in particular. The many many "fictional" papers and books Zampano refers to contain a great many insights into the nature of criticism and it's relationship to art. If you're just looking for a good horror novel, don't read this. If your looking for a very serious book that also happens to have a very entertaining back-bone, don't miss this book. Incedently, this book emptied me out, really. I read it in a period of two days, non-stop, and was blown away. Few novels have done that for me. Bravo to this work....it is about as far away from a "GAP" book as I can think. END
Rating:
Summary: House of Pretentious
Review: The Newsweek review sold me, until I picked the novel up in a bookstore and, upon inspection, quickly put it down. Two days later I was back in the store purchasing the book simply because curiosity got the best of me. And I wish it hadn't. You can say that my actions reflect those of the protagonist in the book's documentary, lured into the house's labyrinths by his sense of adventure. And man, did I live to regret it - what I thought would be a good time turned out to be torture.Let's discuss how incredibly ambitious this book is, even if the author's only goal appears to be having his readers flip pages back and forth, turn it upside-down, inside out, any which way you physically can and can't, and at the heart of it all find nothing truly substantial. Filled with all these fictitious, yet posing as authentic, footnotes, this book seems like a personal project for Danielewski to try and prove how clever he can be. I understand his intention was to demonstrate the disconcerting, funhouse effect the house had on its explorers, and on some levels it really works. However, a great writer wouldn't need the gimmicks. Nice try, but thumbs down, Dude. This book took a lot of patience.
Rating:
Summary: Accept it for what it is
Review: It's unfortunate that this book is being slandered for failing to provide Joycean epiphanies. The reality of the situation is that, for all the elaborate fonts, footnotes, and appendices, House of Leaves is a thoroughly entertaining story. It has flaws, yes, but is overall both engaging and, to a certain extent, genuinly scarry. There seems to be a general current in criticism that says if a book has pretenses towards experimentation, it better be fully successful or it's just lousy. House of Leaves is, at times, pedantic and overwritten. Not all its experiments are successful. But it is also brilliantly Borgesian and a lot of fun. Save your criticism for the real pretentious failures of modern literature. Aim your cannons away from books that do something interesting to a genre that's stale with rehashed plots and conventional approaches. Step off the high hores, read house of leaves, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: house of leaves
Review: I heard the author interviewed on a radio talk show. I was facinated by the thought of a house being bigger on the inside then on the outside. On the srtength of the interview I bought the book. I am 100 pages into it and as much as i hate to, I am going to give up.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I have to agree with the other readers' comments. I too wanted to like this book. I notice it gets compared with Blair Witch Project and it suffers from that movie's defects as well: there's a suspenseful, creepy buildup but it just doesn't go anywhere. It tries to hard to be a "future cult classic," and while the core story of the house is somewhat interesting (the hokey footnotes don't help though) the framing device of Johnny Truant is just weak. I can't believe this book took ten years to write, seeing as how its style is almost completely derived from Infinite Jest published just four years ago...now that we've all gotten it out of our system, can we put a moratorium on cheeky footnote novels?
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Want to Jump on the Bandwagon...
Review: ...but I really wanted to like this book. For the first hundred pages, the story was truly frightening and interesting, but the shifts between Zampano's and Truant's accounts, and the endless footnotes, were way too much for me. The story of the house probably would have been much better if written in a more traditional manner, as would the story of both Truant and Zampano if written on their own. I think this book is a good case of an author trying too hard, and would like to see the author try again. Next time the attempt should be a little less "trendy" and should just try to relate a strong, interesting story.
Rating:
Summary: actually 1/2 star
Review: Don't waste your time trying to decipher this supposed novel. Will make a good paper weight. Fortunately I got a copy from the library and didn't waste my money. Don't let the good reviews fool you. Check it out at the library first....
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