A very lighthearted read. Imaginativly absurd and absurdly imaginative. It doesn't really follow a plot or purpose, which is very much the point.
User Profile
A German living in Manchester, trying to figure out what he likes to read.
Current Favorite Reads: The Pillowman, The Last House On Needless Street, Blutbuch
This link opens in a pop-up window
SuddenStop's books
Read (View all 23)
2025 Reading Goal
50% complete! SuddenStop has read 6 of 12 books.
User Activity
RSS feed Back
SuddenStop finished reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 1 by Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first of six books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy …
SuddenStop started reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 1 by Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first of six books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy …
SuddenStop started reading Gerda malaperis! by Claude Piron
SuddenStop reviewed House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Experimental and high-concept
4 stars
It's definitely not your everyday novel and that is probably for the best. Reading through House of Leaves feels like a "project" rather than a leisure experience, it's something that you commit to. Having finished the book a few hours ago, I still can't decide if it is really worth the commitment, but it was certainly an experience. By mixing different narrative layers and perspectives, it sort of also blurs the line between the reader and the book. The act of reading HoL sort of becomes an active part of the experience. I think it's probably fair to ask if HoL is even a novel and I can't quite answer that.
SuddenStop reviewed House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Experimental and high-concept
3 stars
It's definitely not your everyday novel and that is probably for the best. Reading through House of Leaves feels like a "project" rather than a leisure experience, it's something that you commit to. Having finished the book a few hours ago, I still can't decide if it is really worth the commitment, but it was certainly an experience. By mixing different narrative layers and perspectives, it sort of also blurs the line between the reader and the book. The act of reading HoL sort of becomes an active part of the experience. I think it's probably fair to ask if HoL is even a novel and I can't quite answer that.
SuddenStop finished reading House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
SuddenStop wants to read Gerda malaperis! by Claude Piron
SuddenStop wants to read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
SuddenStop finished reading The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lottery and Other Stories is a 1949 short story collection by American author Shirley Jackson. Published by Farrar, Straus, …
SuddenStop reviewed The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The bizarre rules of "normal"
3 stars
From what I gathered from this, Shirley Jackson is very much focussed on the perceived "normal" and it's concequences, often highlighting the oddity of social rules once they are challenged. The stories are a bit hit or miss for me, probably based on what I can relate to and what I can't. At the same time, the mundane nature of most of the stories did in places feel quite dull to me. As a collection of stories this work quite effectively creates a sense of hightend uneasyness, almost anxiety. With every new story I found myself more and more wary of the worlds they are set in. In that regard, having The Lottery be the final story of the whole is quite genius, spelling out directly what the other stories generally only hint at.
At the end I am torn, I don't know if I am bored or fascinated.