Hiding messages and codes inside your story

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underthecity

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I'm reading House of Leaves. I checked out the book's website, houseofleaves.com and found a forum of people discussing the book. One of the forums discusses the "codes" hidden in some of the book's footnotes. To get these codes, you apparently have to write down the first letter of each name in the long list of names in the footnote. After that, you search for the hidden words. Sometimes it's a line of poetry, another time it's the author's name.

And after I read that, I said, "What exactly is the point?"

If an author is going to go through so much trouble to "hide" a code in his work, shouldn't that code have some sort of meaning to the work, something that will add further insight? Maybe unlock a mystery related to the book?

Why would I make a reader go through hours unscrambling the messages I've hidden in my book only to find my name?

As authors, what do you think of this practice?

allen
 

willietheshakes

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Well, House of Leave is FAR from a typical book. It's at least as much about the hidden messages and codes as it is about the book itself...
 

Hillary

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Good lord, I don't have the time for that. I'm tempted to applaud those who do, but... Wow.

That said, if you read the fourth letter of all my OP posts, you will unlock the secrets of the universe.
 

The Scip

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I loved house of leaves, although I never heard about the codes before. I like it simply because it gives a different definition to what a novel could be.
 

loiterer

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And after I read that, I said, "What exactly is the point?"

My exact thought after reading your first paragraph.

I'm with you. No idea why one would bother.

Like the book, really. I'm sure it's very clever, but I'd really rather read a story. Reading that book is like randomly surfing the internet. Words pass by constantly but nothing sticks. (I only got up to page 100 or so.)

I know it's a very highly recommended book. And I am on the record on this site as having lost my ability to enjoy reading. So maybe it's just me.
 
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Soccer Mom

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It's a very unusual book and suspect that devoted fans of the book live for that sort of thing. In my younger days, I'd have enjoyed doing that sort of thing. Now I simply don't have the time or inclination to mess with that.

But lots of folks make a hobby of code breaking and such.
 

Old Hack

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I'm reading the HOL now, too, and after several weeks of dedicated reading am up to pp 92.

I'll consider the codes, but have to remind everyone that Atlanta Nights used a similar technique with the initials of its main characters. Crack of Death was never so complicated.
 

kristie911

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Too complicated for me. When I read, I generally want something a little more simple than all that nonsense! :)
 

geardrops

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What I like about House of Leaves is that it can be enjoyed with or without the codes.

It's not like, while reading it, I felt like there was something lacking. I definitely knew codes were hidden in there, I could most certainly feel it, but I never tried cracking them and was still able to enjoy the book on that level.

It's sort of like those DVD extras. You watch them, and they can enhance your movie experience, but the movie still stands on its own without them. Some people want to hear what the director thought. Some couldn't care less.

Different strokes.
 

swvaughn

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Good lord, I don't have the time for that. I'm tempted to applaud those who do, but... Wow.

That said, if you read the fourth letter of all my OP posts, you will unlock the secrets of the universe.

So the secret of the universe is . . . voinbeArkug sjHfbfdrkjf lokrinor.ng dfjkjn Jgweeeeokniln lknoBniikroindkmo oinhgonknh eodiEondkylkn apospoidn.owaw oonjnernenls mloisekidinC jgnbuskeeslaiw iubrEr irdkb,ru rkeeessaa.aakubg?

Hmm. Perhaps I'm putting the spaces in wrong. :D
 

megan_d

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Years after it has been published fans still hotly debate HoL. And that is in part becase of the codes and hidden messages.
 

Danger Jane

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I can see the attraction to some people, but I know if I was reading a book like that, I'd be torn between my desire simply to read the story and my obsessive-compulsive need to figure out the codes.

And I know my obsessive-compulsive need would win out, or else I'd have to put the book down and never look at it again.

I suck at codes and puzzles. But because I can't bear to leave them once I've started, even if there's no chance in hell I'll ever solve them, I just can't start in the first place.

Sorry, puzzle-books.
 

Riley

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Never seen work mentioned, and this is just a personal preference, but I hate it when authors put codes and other frilly bits into their work. I don't care if it's part of the story, even.

If an author is going to slip a code into their work, then that code does need to have meaning. But the author also needs to make sure that, by the time the reader finishes the book, there are enough hints for the reader to figure out just what that code is if they haven't figured it out already. Some people aren't very good with puzzles and tricks. I am one of those people. I'm not ashamed to say I'm not terribly bright (actually, I'm inattentive, but the two don't seem exclusive).

Also, like Jane, I'd have difficulty deciding whether to work at cracking the codes or read the story. The codes would win out. Every time. Ick.
 

benbradley

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If I understand what the OP is saying, this is steganography. OTOH, if the author is saying "There are secret codes hidden in this book" then it's no longer steganography.:)
 

underthecity

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I don't believe the book states whether or not there are codes hidden inside. I would guess that astute readers picked up on the superlong lists of names in the footnotes and wondered if there was anything hidden in them.

Or maybe the author told someone. I have no idea.

I could do the same thing with my own novel. I could make the first letter of the first word of each chapter ultimately spell out some kind of message. But a reader would have to know to look for that. I could put something profound there, but if readers don't pick up on that, then my effort was wasted. OTOH, I could make it spell out my name.

That's the thing. Why go through the effort unless there's a satisfying payoff?

Dempsey said:

It's sort of like those DVD extras. You watch them, and they can enhance your movie experience, but the movie still stands on its own without them. Some people want to hear what the director thought. Some couldn't care less.

I love DVD extras. If I enjoy the movie, I will watch the extras. In many cases, they offer insight to the film and might answer questions I asked while I watched.

But with House of Leaves, see the forums at houseofleaves.com for more, but the codes I'm seeing broken include:

* A long list of visionaries . . . she said memories mean all but they are all dead who you . . . I wait for only the wind.

*"Where Have I Moved? What Have I Muttered? Who Have I Met?"
All spell "WHIM."

*A FACE IN A CLOUD, NO TRACE IN A CROWD

Now, if I spent hours breaking these codes, my question would be: Why did I waste my time? These answer no questions raised by the book, nor do they offer any deep meaning. They are meaningless, IMHO.

allen
 

megan_d

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The book is one man's descent into insanity interwoven with a blind man's deep analysis of a film that does not exsist. If any book could pull off meaningless codes, it's House of Leaves.
 
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