House of Stairs Mass Market Paperback – April 1, 1991

Read this years ago. Can’t believe I missed so much stuff and forgot about some things!! Glad I read it again.

I see that I'm not the only adult here with strong memories of reading this novel when they were young. In my case, it must have been 30 years ago, but somehow I never forgot the book. I've been keeping my eyes open for a copy for years now, and it's truly fascinating rereading this book I loved as a child with my 40-year-old eyes.The novel opens with Peter. Peter has no idea where he is. He finds himself blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination. Removing the blindfold, he finds himself all alone in a truly bizarre environment. Everywhere he looks, as far as the eye can see, he's in a cavernous space filled with stairs. Stairs going up, going down, some with small landings, some connected by bridges. There are no walls, no floor, no railings, no place to feel safe. As he fights vertigo, Peter finally spies someone below him and calls out.Unfortunately, Lola doesn't know any more about where they are or why than Peter does. Their stories of being blindfolded are the same, but they quickly discover other commonalities as well. They are both orphans from state homes, and both 16 years old. They discover this is true of the other three kids they meet in the "house of stairs."Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail, and Oliver all find themselves in an utterly inexplicable situation, and they all deal with it differently. They are very different personalities. Survival becomes their first priority. What at first seems to be an entity merely trying to control their actions, quickly becomes far more sinister.Viewing the reactions of these young people to their circumstances, and finding out how the novel would end, had me turning pages just as fast now as it did when I was a kid. And I'm happy to report that I really enjoyed revisiting this story. I can see that it's a piece of fiction very much of its time, and as an adult I better understand the context of the novel. (Like another reviewer, I, too, thought of the infamous Zimbardo and Milgram experiments.) All that aside, House of Stairs is still a compelling story and a relevant warning to be heeded today.

I’ve thought about this book for forty years. I read it when I was in high school, and it blew my mind. I’m curious about how I’ll like it as an adult. In any case, I highly recommend it to teens who like suspense and fascination, with an ending that will freak you out.

I remember reading this book when I was a kid. Thirty-five years later, I was thinking about it and decided to read it again. It still had the same impact on me as an adult. The idea of a house of freestanding stairs and the starvation and the physical and mental suffering are all as effective as they were when I was 10. But nothing haunts me more than the last paragraph and the finality of represents. Highly recommend.

In the future 5 orphaned 16-year-olds find themselves stranded in a nightmarish building. It consists of nothing but stairs and more stairs. There's no way out. Then they come across a machine. The machine gives them food when they dance for it. Not all the time, but since it's their only source of food they dance whenever it flashes. Then the dance stops working. Now the machine turns them against one another. How far are they willing to go?This is a very exciting idea and a book I very appreciated. The ending was chilling.The only thing I missed was a bit more depth to the characters. We didn't get to know anything really about three of them (Oliver, Lola and Abigail). And Peter's relationship with Jasper could have been explored in greater depth as well. It seemed odd how he was mentioned yet so little was told about him. The reason for Blossom's hostility and antisocial behavior could also be explained more. Did she have APD?Other than feeling there was still more I wanted to know about them, I really enjoyed this one.

I am glad I found this book. I remembered bits and pieces from reading it in grade school over 40 years ago, so it definitely left an impression. Really enjoyed reading it again.

Before a certain Stephen K.,(himself a very talented fellow! I've been a fan of his since Grade 9)there was William S. William Sleator is a virtuoso at creating fiction to tingle the spine. HOUSE OF STAIRS is a chilling tale of five orphan teens -- 3 girls, 2 guys -- in the near future brought to a mysterious structure made of endless stairways. In the middle is a red machine that dispenses food pellets if the teens do certain things, like dance, stick their tongues out . . . hurt their housemates. Soon, it is clear that our five young heroes (and she-roes) have a choice -- they can lose their lives or they can lose their souls. Watch for the twist at the end. This book may be marketed for teens, but I tell you, in a manner, it makes anything good ol' "Stephano" from Bangor, Maine wrote look like nursery tales. I took one star off because it was so short!

The setup is definitely a grabber...and much of the book maintains a sense of dread. My own sense of frustration with the book comes from wanting the elements of the plot to gather speed and become overwhelming, as they would be for the characters, instead of always keeping the same pace...the final reveal is cool, and definitely shows the book to be of a particular time (70's and a hard core of antigovernment feeling beginning to permeate America), though its "message" is one discussed for well over a century...

I read two books by this author while growing up and loved them, so I bought one I'd never heard of for my adult years. I would say this is a YA category book because of the age of the characters- also it definitly would have been in the teen section back in the mid 90's- and also because of the events too. Nothing really awful happens, there isn't any blood or gore, however it still sent a shiver down my spine. The book is really well written- I think my YA nephew could read it and not feel preached at or lost- and it stands up well in todays more modern world. Give it a go. Hmmm, now I wonder if I can find a paperback of The Spirit House?

It makes me think of some of the so called 'reality' shows of now and how they manage to pull a small group of strangers together and force them to do things, punish them, humiliate them. I think that some children reading this book could be manipulated by it.It also makes me think of sites like Facebook, if you perform for it, it keeps you addicted, give it what it asks of you and it rewards in a way that keeps you hungry, never satisfied. People turn against each other on 'reality' shows, they do the same on social networking sites. It's free to take part, but if you aren't paying to take part in something, in a product, then 'you are the product.'The print quality is poor on some of the pages, a brand new copy.If you ever see any articles or blog posts suggesting to read this while at the same time mentioning The Hunger Games, ignore House of Stairs and read The Hunger Games if you haven't already. They should never be compared, THG is in a whole different league.

I spent some time searching for this book, from childhood memories. A quick read but meaningful.

Vero e proprio libro ben fatto

Le piace davvero tanto e non ha difficoltà a leggere perché è scritto con caratteri un po' più grandi. Consiglio