House of Stairs (original 1974; edition 1975)

this book is about pavlovian experimentation on teenagers. it's got that great pre-internet dystopian future feel about it - the one where there are a lot of isolated video screens and buttons, but no real idea that the world would be connected the way it has become.

there are a lot of stairs in this book, and a couple of proto-gay characters, and a toilet that flushes constantly. and meat pellets.

i'm a fan of william sleator, though i wish i'd come across this book when i was younger. this book genuinely fucked up my brother when he was in about the fifth grade. ( )

this book is about pavlovian experimentation on teenagers. it's got that great pre-internet dystopian future feel about it - the one where there are a lot of isolated video screens and buttons, but no real idea that the world would be connected the way it has become.

there are a lot of stairs in this book, and a couple of proto-gay characters, and a toilet that flushes constantly. and meat pellets.

i'm a fan of william sleator, though i wish i'd come across this book when i was younger. this book genuinely fucked up my brother when he was in about the fifth grade. ( )

I read this creepy book (about evil adults experimenting on orphans) over and over. Make of that what you will. ( )

I received the sad news today that Bill Sleator died. Bill was a wonderful man and a great author. I loved turning kids on to his books. House of Stairs is one my favorites. I've read it several times and booktalked it often. ( )

I was probably about 10 the first time I picked this up. Then I read it a squillion times. Now I just read it again, as an adult, and I'm pleasantly surprised how well it holds up. 5 teens thrown into a room with nothing but stairs, as far as they can climb in any direction, plus one landing with a little machine on it. The machine will dispense food occasionally, if the teens do exactly what they're supposed to--a series of coordinated movements, from a complicated dance to assaulting each other. But maybe there's a way to beat the machine. Maybe there's a point to all of it. Or maybe there's not.

This isn't quite as gripping or fast-paced as I remember it being, possibly because I've read an awful lot more psychological thrillers since being 10 years old, but the ideas are still pretty sharp. And it was still compelling. And, let's face it--it's stuck in my head well enough over these past 20 years that I can recite the final creepy line from memory, and that's not something you can do with a forgettable book. ( )