A list of Useful Threads for Those New to This Site

[John B.]

In the spirit of Stencil's immensely useful thread of threads over at the HoL forum, I've gathered up a list of (Strongly-)Recommended Reading for those new to this forum seeking information and commentary on MZD's 2nd novel.

This is a hasty, haphazardly-arranged gathering, so it's very possible that I may have overlooked a thread you feel is Useful. If so, please nominate it for inclusion in a reply. I'll also be rearranging the categories and adding thumbnail descriptions of the threads' contents.

UPDATE: I've added the threads ModiFIed recommends below, plus still another I'd overlooked. Still other threads are deserving of inclusion and I'll get to them in a day or two, but now I must go and earn a living.

UPDATE II: I've rearranged the categories so as to more closely approximate the order in which various issues/questions might arise.

UPDATE III: I've rearranged the categories (again) and added brief descriptions to accompany those threads whose contents aren't immediately evident from their titles.

UPDATE IV (11/21/2010; 11/30/2010): A long-overdue update here. I've just added two threads; if anyone has further recommendations, please mention them in comments or PM me.

UPDATE V (2/1/2011): I've added two threads and created a new category, "Characters."



READING AND REVIEWING:

How are you reading Only Revolutions?

Alternate methods of reading Only Revolutions.

Tracing (or is it plotting?) OR's ARC
In which some of the ARCers wonder just what our task is as early readers of and post-ers on the novel.

Summary
As of this writing, a work-in-progress, but one worth looking at for those wanting synopses of (early) "chapters" of the novel.

MZD Interviews
"Interviews" here being a noun, not a verb.

". . . academic math . . . "
MZD uses this phrase to describe the critical enterprise that, he says, OR exists beyond. What might he mean? Some of us get out our slide rules to work out a response.

Introduction
Speculation on the publication page and the epigraph "You were there."

Reviewing the reviewers

To help paint a picture of the story in my mind . . .
Visual artist Codename:Odessa solicits suggestions for images the represent thematic elements in the novel.


CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRUCTEDNESS:

Differences in the ARC and the full release

A Void
A discussion of "writing constraints" in the novel.

The Hidden Things

Color Speculation
Early (pre-ARC) speculation on the possible meanings of the colors.

Concordance

Mirror Writing on Inside Cover

Glitch
A discussion of "mirroring" in the narrative--and some important deviations from the narratives' parallelism.

Offset Letters

Circles/Dots
Just what are those things called, anyway? But. more important, what is/are their function(s) in the text?

The book as object
Some discussion of the idea that, with HoL and OR, MZD wants to force the reader to consider the book as a thing in and of itself and not as merely a passive delivery system for text, and why that might be.

Rhyme/Rhythm/Numbers

Animal/Plant
A charting of and search for correspondences and significance(s) among OR's many plants and animals.

Books, Threading, Stapling and Inside/Inside; a few things Derrida said
Is MZD really "so over" Derrida yet? Splendorr reads some passages from Positions, then himself takes a position via an intertextual reading of OR with HoL.

A story of Symmetry / the Concor-dance


CHARACTERS

The Perpetual Creep
Discussion of The CREEP's function(s) in the narrative.


THE HISTORY GUTTER:

Chronology/Sidebar

The -lines in the history margin
A (very) close look at the Gutter's references to the Kennedy assassination and its immediate aftermath.

Revolution: WWI/Vietnam/CREEP
A focus on the CREEP as symbolic of war, and a look at the corresponding moments in the Gutter.


THEMES:

Introduction

Leftwrist Twists
What the heck are these about? Some of us make some guesses.

Allso many "all" words
Speculation on the significance of the "all" words in OR.

Feer
Discussion of another oddly-spelled word.

The Sex Thread

The Names Thread

Names in Capitals

Revolution: WWI/Vietnam/CREEP

Oh you've got green eyes . . .
Discussion of the significance of eyes in the novel.

Man vs. Nature

"We are at once."
The entirety of OR is in present tense! Did you notice that? What might that fact mean?

Order and Chaos

Hibernian Saffron
A discussion of the function of honey (and, by extension, other excretions) as units of exchange.

A Rose by any Other Name . . .
Early speculation--pre-ARC, in fact--about the meaning of the title. Go and see how right/wrong we were!!

Pathetic Fallacy

The Mountain
A discussion of the meaning of the Mountain which marks the "beginning" and "end" of the novel.

Books, Threading, Stapling and Inside/Inside; a few things Derrida said


OR IN CONTEXT(S):

OR as Old School (Modernism)
A Modernist novel in the postmodern era? OR might in fact be that.

Another OR as old school (vinyl)
In which elmago and others play DJ for the idea that an alternate medium for OR would be 45rpm singles.

Intertextuality--*spoilers* (probably)

[g@rp]

Stick this one up, Nik, please !
Great John, job B......oops ! Sorry. Great job, John B !

[benedict]

bravo! this was much needed.

[modiFIed]

Ah, very good. Was this partly inspired by my little tirade this morning?

If (true) then
anger = good
else
if (false) then
thanks anyway, John!

I would vote to add Ramino's "Glitch" thread on the mirror effect "glitches" and your own "Tracing the ARC..." under the Reading heading, has some good stuff.

I put a lot of work into my The Mountain thread too...kind of begins the Judeo-Christian symbology discussion...I like to think...but then I may be wrong....heh..it didn't get much feedback going...


EDIT: sorry, I've been editing the hell out of this post.

[katatonic]

I had just sent nik a PM asking for such a thread in the future, since I thought it was too early now.
I was wrong.
Muchas gracias, John. And sorry that I'm including this next bit in a post of appreciation of you.


A note to the newbies/n00bs:
There is a list of useful threads for a reason.
Please use the search function at the top of the page, and/or read around before posting a new thread.
Welcome!!

[John B.]

::bowing in everyone's general direction:: I'm glad you indeed find this thread useful. The goal is to fine-tune the categories a bit and impose an order on the threads (as opposed to just throwing them in there any ol' whichway.

Ah, very good. Was this partly inspired by my little tirade this morning? !

In part. I mean, we have, what, 5 pages worth of threads in this forum. It's not like 500 years of Shakespeare scholarship, y'know. There's much-less-viable justification for duplication in this forum than in (even) the HoL forum.

But as I was going through the forum, I was struck not just by how much good work our members have done but also, alas, by how much of it I myself had forgotten. So, it turned into something of a penance, too.

Anyway: I want it to serve as a starting point for all of us, not just new arrivals to these shores.

[sutrix]

Ah, finally, someone with able hands holds the light.

[John B.]

bumpity-bump.

[heartbreak]

bumpity-bump.

up the stairs.

Great job, John.

[nikhsub1]

Stuck.

[heartbreak]

Stuck.

Thanks nik, hopefully this will help a little bit with keeping the thread count down. I have the feeling though that people's egos are going to get in the way. Which is kind of sad.

[fearful_syzygy]

Everyone loves the board till they kill it.

[modiFIed]

[bigm141414]

Thanks John B. I told y'all we needed one.

[John B.]

People appear to be making actual use of this thread--not merely clicking on it, but adding on to some of the threads listed here, as opposed to just adding threads onto the forum. So: Good. That's exactly what should happen

I don't want to be the sole arbiter of what constitutes a Useful Thread, so this post is just a reminder to readers to make suggestions of other/new threads for inclusion in the list. Post them below or PM a link to me, and I'll get 'em added.

[murasamune]

i dont know if anyone else thinks its worth putting with this; the animal/plant thread. i cant stand to think it was for nothing, to be forgotten. even if it hasnt produced very much speculation. please validate me

edit:::
the mzd interviews thread if it hasnt been put in there already under something different.

[John B.]

i dont know if anyone else thinks its worth putting with this; the animal/plant thread. i cant stand to think it was for nothing, to be forgotten. even if it hasnt produced very much speculation. please validate me

I'm all about validating when merited. Done.

[murasamune]

fuckin WOOOOOOOO

seriously thanks. means a lot to see it here

[xaxu]

Just a thank you to the creator of this collection. I left the HoL website for good because things got really nasty between certain members.. stopped being fun. Good start!

[mrmcpheezy]

As a new member, I'd just like to say that this thread is very helpful.

[benedict]

yes it is.

[Stencil]

As someone who is indeed new to this forum, I am finding this thread immenseley useful, and hopefully, once I've read through all the threads I'll have something of worth to add.

See y'all next year!

[John B.]

Howdy, all.

Just a quick note to say that I've added Splendorr's new OR-and-Derrida thread to the list up front, and to ask for nominations for newer threads for inclusion on that same list--either post them here by way of reply, or PM me.

[Splendorr]

What an honor to be canonized!

(Seriously, I feel great. Thanks, John B.! More bombs en route.)

[John B.]

I've just added Circles/Dots to the Useful Threads list.

Any other suggestions for threads that should be here? Post 'em here or IM me.

[Splendorr]

I think "The Perpetual Creep" should be on this list.

http://www.houseofleaves.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=4613

[Splendorr]

Oh, and of course "A story of Symmetry / the Concor-dance" is totally awesome and needs more attention.

http://www.houseofleaves.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=6440

[John B.]

A belated Thanks and Done, Splendorr.

For the CREEP thread, I've created a new category, "Characters." Let's give the CREEP some company there, shall we?

Aaaand: This is my 2000th post. For what that's worth.

[Norkhat]

Nice : it's worth a lot of perseverance & depth
And I'm happy to join the list^^

[heartbreak]

This is my 2000th post.

Although someday some new member will interpret this reply as we are exultant of high post counts and use that for the basis of why we don't reply to their posts, congrats John.