I really liked House of Leaves. I remember when it came out a few of my friends were reading it and they all said they loved the start but that it went downhill and I think the two I'm thinking of specifically actually eventually gave up on it. So I embarked on it, loving it from the off, and, as I remember, finding it pretty bits of it pretty fucking creepy, and I kept waiting for it to go down hill.. waiting, waiting... and then I finished it and I had enjoyed every bit, so fuck 'em eh?
Ligotti, you all talk about him a lot and I really know nothing about the guy at all. I was gonna say something facile such as "Shall I read him?" or "Is he recommended?" and then I thought, that I already know the answers and I might as well just get some plan to start reading him. Cos I'm realising sadly that I do need to have a plan. In the past I could be reading dissensus or something similar and someone would mention a book or record or film that sounded cool and within ten seconds I would be on a website for the relevant medium, searching for that tip, and within a couple of minutes I would have ordered it and gone back to my reading, happy in the knowledge that the wheels were turning and the item in question would soon(er or later) be dropping through my door. This was also good cos such a short process barely interrupted my reading or left an impression on my memory, with the result that when such an order arrived it was almost always a total surprise to me.
Now I've become so disheartened about ordering stuff; about fifty percent of my orders go missing, or even if they don't go missing you often don't get the card, or you get it when the deadline is passed and there is almost nothing you can do to extricate it from customs hell where it will spend months gathering dust before, if you're very lucky, being returned to the sender who can, if they are so inclined, have another crack. What totally blows my mind though is the number of things that don't get returned and they just keep it forever.
So, yeah, I need to figure out a way to get my hands on one of his books... hmm.