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The Familiar (Mark Z. Danielewski) Book • Page 2

Discussion in 'Entertainment Forum' started by troyplaysbass, Mar 17, 2016.

  1. matthaber

    beautiful and chequered, the end

    so im sitting at around 200 pages left in VOL 1 of this and loving it so far. Not a single character i don't love reading, also the narcons stuff has my mind racing on what this story could become. Can't wait to see how this whole thing unfold's in the next volume.
     
    Vivatoto and troyplaysbass like this.
  2. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    It gets better and better, welcome aboard haha
     
    matthaber likes this.
  3. matthaber

    beautiful and chequered, the end

    I think the craziest thing about this book is even with characters like JINGJING, where I can't understand 70% of whats going on and what hes saying, im still sooooo engaged. Just hanging onto every word.
     
  4. matthaber

    beautiful and chequered, the end

    Finished book 2. i am falling more in love with this series every chapter I read.
     
    troyplaysbass likes this.
  5. matthaber

    beautiful and chequered, the end

    Almost finished Book 3. Not sure if 3 books is enough to say this is my favourite book series ever.... but its slowly becoming it. Love everything about it. All I need now is an entire book of ORB chapters and I'll be happy. Apparently book 5 will be coming Fall 2017 and will mark the end of "SEASON 1". I find it interesting that he's passing the books as if they were a TV show.
     
    Vivatoto likes this.
  6. matthaber

    beautiful and chequered, the end

    tomorrrowwwwwwwwww. i am so hyped right now
     
  7. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    oh shit I totally forgot, freaking out
     
    matthaber likes this.
  8. tucah

    not champ Prestigious

    cool, another one for me to buy, put on my shelf and continue to procrastinate to read

    ...I really gotta start these
     
    Joe4th and coleslawed like this.
  9. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    Got it pre ordered. Might be a few weeks before I get to it though.
     
  10. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    So has there been any word on how these are selling?
     
  11. matthaber

    beautiful and chequered, the end

    hopefully enough to justify 27 volumes lol .
     
  12. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    I honestly can't see it happening but I'll be a mess if it doesn't
     
  13. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    I wonder if he's reached the "what the fuck was I thinking starting this?" stage yet. Probably not since I'm pretty sure he's insane.
     
    coleslawed likes this.
  14. If these actually aren't selling well enough, I wonder if he would go the Kickstarter/Patreon/crowdfunded model for later volumes/seasons. It seems like he would be in the right place for it - a pretty loyal and devoted fanbase, enough clout with critics to get press and reviews, etc. I would just really hope the production quality of the physical books would stay consistent. Of course, I hope the series is selling well enough that it won't come to that at all.
     
  15. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    Page 450 in Hades...What the fuuuuuuuck. I wonder if pop culture references are going to move forward but only for Xanther, so in vol 27 she could be talking about a movie that's currently coming out years from now while it's still 2014 in the story...What would that mean?
     
    troyplaysbass likes this.
  16. Joe4th

    Memories are nice, but that's all they are. Prestigious

    I have volume 1 and I really need to start it. I still have to finish House of Leaves too. I'm the worst with books.
     
  17. nomemorial

    you're in a cult, call your dad

    I've had Vol. 1 sitting on my shelf since Christmas (thanks, mom lol) and thinking about picking it up and blazing through it one day soon. Between an immense backlog of books, TV, and video games, it's damn near overwhelming convincing myself to start something new, but I keep hearing great things and it all sounds right up my alley.
     
  18. tucah

    not champ Prestigious

    I'm going to do it, I'm going to start Vol. 1 today.
     
    coleslawed likes this.
  19. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    I love that more of the stories are starting to come together and characters are starting to meet.
     
  20. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    "Jazz with a date is fine because she makes sense. Jazz alone though is best because then jazz makes sense."

    I wonder if the narcons are purposefully hiding important information or just blacking out unimportant info. For example on 688-689 it looks like we're receiving the most important information.
     
  21. Vivatoto

    Royal Court of Princess Donut Prestigious

    "Then what else awaits failure?" "We shudder to know."
    Excellent book. Volume 5 is the season 1 finale! Shit's about to get real.
     
  22. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    My store finally got one lone copy of Hades in just as I was able to afford it, so excited to rip into this
     
  23. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    There is currently a Familiar reading group going on a Facebook page right now loosely organized by MZD for the record. While I've read the first three volumes twice already, I'm going to go back through again at the same pace along with everybody. Only 150 pages every few days so it should be a pretty breezy.

    Thought I'd let anybody know who wants some extra insight! Already a couple thoughtful conversations and it just started today.
     
  24. Joel

    Trusted Prestigious

    A Conversation With Mark Z. Danielewski | Rogue Media Inc.

    Great interview, and I think he touches on what makes HoL (and all his works, really) so unforgettable. The ability to scare via image is one thing, but knowing the subjective images each reader conjures in relation to their own specific fears really speaks to the power of reading. Reading in general, but reading his books more specifically. When my girlfriend was first curious about HoL, it was because I was up at like 3 in the morning reeling and spooked and she asked why and I told her "infinity". For some, it might be the minotaur lurking in the basement or for others it will be their idea of quantifiable space but regardless, we are all spooked by something different which if done correctly is more real than something that can be shown on screen because it is unique to the person wrestling with it.

    More on topic, I have been following the reading group on FB for The Familiar and it just shows how cursory of a reading I did. I could already call it my favorite work of fiction from my own experience with it, but the amount of allusions and things I didn't pick up on is outright staggering. There is so much to unpack here - I suspect people will be doing so long after I'm done with it. For the few on here really taken with the series, I highly recommend joining the group and reading the posts. They've opened up the story in ways I didn't think were possible, and yet, it's clearly a story of infinite possibilities.
    Hope the crew on here sticks with it as long as he is allowed to keep writing it.