What do you think?
Rate this book
House of Stairs
Peter. Lola. Blossom. Abigail. Oliver. Five sixteen-year-olds. All orphans. All living in state institutions.
Until they were brought one by one to the place which was not a hospital and not a prison and not like anything any of them had ever seen. No walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but stairs—and the red machine.
Until they were brought one by one to the place which was not a hospital and not a prison and not like anything any of them had ever seen. No walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but stairs—and the red machine.
166 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
William Sleator
44 books306 followersWilliam Warner Sleator III was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on February 13, 1945, and moved to St. Louis, MO when he was three. He graduated from University City High School in 1963, from Harvard in 1967 with BAs in music and English.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 728 reviews
October 14, 2009
After googling different phrases for a while, I finally found the name of the book I read when I was around 12 that catapulted me into my interest into psychology and the human mind. The story of five teenagers locked in a place that consisted only of stairs and landings, the way they were trained like Pavlov's dogs to respond to the demands of a machine for food, demands that became ever more horrible. I remember reading this and being horrified by concepts I couldn't quite yet really grasp, but what stuck with me was the fact that not everyone acquiesced. The last scene of the book, with the traffic light, I think cemented my firm regard and defense of individuality, even before I could verbalize that notion. While I didn't understand it, really, as a kid, this book and the message in its story has remained with me my entire life. This would definitely be listed as one of the Impact Books in my life. I haven't re-read it as an adult yet, but I will be. It will be interesting to see how it speaks now.
December 3, 2008
A chilling and suspenseful tale that stick with the reader for years to come.
This book is recommended for 9-12 year olds, however, I think it might be a bit intense for the younger side of this group, and I, as an adult, thoroughly enjoyed Slater's treatment of this psychological horror.
Personal Note: I read this book as a tween, and it stuck with me all these years. I remember not being able to put it down, and upon revisiting it, it is still just as fascinating to me. I read many of the Amazon.com reviews, and so many of them were from adults that still remember the impact this book had on them.
My Review:
This is an incredibly creative and original science fiction tale that chronicles the events that take place when five teen-aged orphans are behaviorally trained to respond to a machine. Similarly to "Lord of the Flies," anarchy rules, and the reader is able to view the dark side of humanity when left to its own devices. This might be a new exploration for the tween, who, for the most part, has been exposed to more heartwarming tales. There is nothing warm and fuzzy in this book. It is sheer dark and cold, though we do see triumph of inner character from some of the players. The author draws the reader in immediately, and through crafty writing, is able to keep the reader right at the edge, unable to put the book down.
This book is a great introduction to science fiction and psychological thrillers. A unique and memorable tale, the terrifying tale is one that could be enjoyed by older tweens.
This book is recommended for 9-12 year olds, however, I think it might be a bit intense for the younger side of this group, and I, as an adult, thoroughly enjoyed Slater's treatment of this psychological horror.
Personal Note: I read this book as a tween, and it stuck with me all these years. I remember not being able to put it down, and upon revisiting it, it is still just as fascinating to me. I read many of the Amazon.com reviews, and so many of them were from adults that still remember the impact this book had on them.
My Review:
This is an incredibly creative and original science fiction tale that chronicles the events that take place when five teen-aged orphans are behaviorally trained to respond to a machine. Similarly to "Lord of the Flies," anarchy rules, and the reader is able to view the dark side of humanity when left to its own devices. This might be a new exploration for the tween, who, for the most part, has been exposed to more heartwarming tales. There is nothing warm and fuzzy in this book. It is sheer dark and cold, though we do see triumph of inner character from some of the players. The author draws the reader in immediately, and through crafty writing, is able to keep the reader right at the edge, unable to put the book down.
This book is a great introduction to science fiction and psychological thrillers. A unique and memorable tale, the terrifying tale is one that could be enjoyed by older tweens.
April 25, 2009
Young adult fiction must be a really tough genre to wrap your head around, for a writer. You have a story that you want to tell, and you have to tell it in such a way that it is simple enough for your target audience to read, yet engaging enough to keep them reading. The themes have to be familiar enough for them to understand and relate to, yet unusual enough to be interesting for them. Go too far in the wrong direction and you have a failure. So how does a YA writer do it, balancing all those issues, while still writing a good book?
Damned if I know. I've never managed to write a decent book for adults, much less young ones.
Fortunately, there are plenty of talented writers who can write for young people, and one of those is William Sleator.
A YA writer who specializes in science fiction, Sleator has written his fair share of strange, fantastic and sometimes disturbing books. Of all the ones I've read, this book is probably the one that creeped me out the most.
The setup for this story is simple. Five sixteen year-old orphans - two boys, three girls - are put into a giant room, with no visible walls, ceiling or floor. The only structures in this room are stairs and landings. Nothing else except for a small machine with flashing lights and odd sounds that dispenses food.
That's it.
The five characters are very different and very interesting. First we have Peter, a scared boy, uncertain of his surroundings in the best of times, and utterly overwhelmed by being dropped into this bizarre place. He's afraid of everything and everybody, and finds solace only his the strange trances he drops into, in which he is with an old orphanage roommate, Jasper, feeling safe and protected. As an interesting aside, it wasn't until I was much older that I figured out Peter's sexuality. It wasn't that thinly veiled, either. I really don't handle subtlety well, I think....
Lola is not a showgirl. Sorry, had to put that in. Lola is a tough, street-smart girl who has no tolerance for stupidity or cruelty. She's had to learn a lot in her time, and doesn't look to others to decide what she should or should not do.
Blossom is a fat little girl who is the first to figure out how to use the food dispenser (in a rage at it, she sticks out her tongue, and out pops a food pellet - but more on this later). She is cunning and devious, much sharper than people would give her credit for being. If anyone is truly dangerous in this crowd, it is her.
Abagail is a mousy girl, pretty in her own way, but with very little in the way of self-confidence. She tends to latch on to other people and question her own thoughts and actions. She does have compassion, however, though not the means to make her compassion a reality.
Finally, Oliver is the other boy of the group, and he is all that Peter is not. He is strong and confident and good-looking. For a while, Peter thinks that Oliver is his old friend, Jasper, and subsequently Peter is devoted to Oliver. A certain power stucture evolves when it is discovered that of all the people, only Oliver can bring Peter out of his trances. Oliver has power, and he is not afraid to use it.
These five kids are trapped in this house of stairs. None of them know why they're there, they only know that they are. They soon discover that the food-dispensing machine will only give them food under certain conditions. In the beginning , they are forced to repeat a series of actions and movements, that evolve into a kind of dance, hoping to get food from the machine.
From there it gets only worse. They soon discover that the dance isn't enough. The infighting that comes naturally becomes essential to their survival, for only when they are cruel or greedy will the machine start flashing its lights and entice them to dance. The question then becomes whether or not the kids will do as the machine wishes, and how long they can hold out against it. Or if they will.
This book is disturbing to say the least. It levels some pretty harsh accusations about human nature, not just regarding the kids in the house of stairs, but also regarding the people who put them there. The kids are there for a reason, and not a good one. The whole setup (which is thoroughly, if somewhat clunkily, explained at the end) is about conditioning, and changing people's personality through stimuli and reinforcement to make them behave as desired. Because it demonstrates people, young people in particular, behaving in a manner that displays the truth of their nature, this book has often been compared to Lord of the Flies, and rightly so.
In its way, it's even more disturbing than Lord of the Flies - at least the kids in that book had been left to their own devices, as terrible as they were. In this book, the horrors that these five teens go through are part of a deliberate state-sanctioned experiment in human conditioning - a kind of horrible, Pavlovian Breakfast Club. Such is the nature of that experiment that the two children who resisted the conditioning were actually regarded as failures. Upon reflection, the people pulling the strings are far more frightening and disturbing than these poor, manipulated children.
If nothing else, the lesson to be learned from this story is simple - be a human being. There are some things that are too important to sacrifice for something as simple and petty as food and acceptance. We must never allow ourselves to be beasts. We have to be human. This has relevance today, when we are debating the ethics of torture - is it a necessary evil that we must tolerate if our society is to survive, or is it an offense against our humanity? If we allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that an evil act is somehow the right thing to do, then we have lost a very important part of ourselves.
Of course, it's also about science, but the message here is less dire - we must not allow science to lose its humanity. In this book, a strange future with a monolithic state government, science is entirely utilitarian, with no moral qualms about putting minors through psychological torture. The good news is that, at least as of this writing, science errs on the side of ethics. Modern science certainly has its moral gray areas, but the majority of scientists out there would never consent to run an experiment such as this. I hope.
The last line in the book is one of the more frightening ones in literature, right up there with the last line in 1984. It's a blunt reminder of everything that has happened in the book, and a pointed summation of everything that Sleator has been trying to say - that humans have a base nature, that we can be manipulated, and we will, given the right circumstances, allow others to shape who we are. His message to his readers - teenagers like the ones in this book - is to refuse to submit to such control. Good advice for them, and for us.
Damned if I know. I've never managed to write a decent book for adults, much less young ones.
Fortunately, there are plenty of talented writers who can write for young people, and one of those is William Sleator.
A YA writer who specializes in science fiction, Sleator has written his fair share of strange, fantastic and sometimes disturbing books. Of all the ones I've read, this book is probably the one that creeped me out the most.
The setup for this story is simple. Five sixteen year-old orphans - two boys, three girls - are put into a giant room, with no visible walls, ceiling or floor. The only structures in this room are stairs and landings. Nothing else except for a small machine with flashing lights and odd sounds that dispenses food.
That's it.
The five characters are very different and very interesting. First we have Peter, a scared boy, uncertain of his surroundings in the best of times, and utterly overwhelmed by being dropped into this bizarre place. He's afraid of everything and everybody, and finds solace only his the strange trances he drops into, in which he is with an old orphanage roommate, Jasper, feeling safe and protected. As an interesting aside, it wasn't until I was much older that I figured out Peter's sexuality. It wasn't that thinly veiled, either. I really don't handle subtlety well, I think....
Lola is not a showgirl. Sorry, had to put that in. Lola is a tough, street-smart girl who has no tolerance for stupidity or cruelty. She's had to learn a lot in her time, and doesn't look to others to decide what she should or should not do.
Blossom is a fat little girl who is the first to figure out how to use the food dispenser (in a rage at it, she sticks out her tongue, and out pops a food pellet - but more on this later). She is cunning and devious, much sharper than people would give her credit for being. If anyone is truly dangerous in this crowd, it is her.
Abagail is a mousy girl, pretty in her own way, but with very little in the way of self-confidence. She tends to latch on to other people and question her own thoughts and actions. She does have compassion, however, though not the means to make her compassion a reality.
Finally, Oliver is the other boy of the group, and he is all that Peter is not. He is strong and confident and good-looking. For a while, Peter thinks that Oliver is his old friend, Jasper, and subsequently Peter is devoted to Oliver. A certain power stucture evolves when it is discovered that of all the people, only Oliver can bring Peter out of his trances. Oliver has power, and he is not afraid to use it.
These five kids are trapped in this house of stairs. None of them know why they're there, they only know that they are. They soon discover that the food-dispensing machine will only give them food under certain conditions. In the beginning , they are forced to repeat a series of actions and movements, that evolve into a kind of dance, hoping to get food from the machine.
From there it gets only worse. They soon discover that the dance isn't enough. The infighting that comes naturally becomes essential to their survival, for only when they are cruel or greedy will the machine start flashing its lights and entice them to dance. The question then becomes whether or not the kids will do as the machine wishes, and how long they can hold out against it. Or if they will.
This book is disturbing to say the least. It levels some pretty harsh accusations about human nature, not just regarding the kids in the house of stairs, but also regarding the people who put them there. The kids are there for a reason, and not a good one. The whole setup (which is thoroughly, if somewhat clunkily, explained at the end) is about conditioning, and changing people's personality through stimuli and reinforcement to make them behave as desired. Because it demonstrates people, young people in particular, behaving in a manner that displays the truth of their nature, this book has often been compared to Lord of the Flies, and rightly so.
In its way, it's even more disturbing than Lord of the Flies - at least the kids in that book had been left to their own devices, as terrible as they were. In this book, the horrors that these five teens go through are part of a deliberate state-sanctioned experiment in human conditioning - a kind of horrible, Pavlovian Breakfast Club. Such is the nature of that experiment that the two children who resisted the conditioning were actually regarded as failures. Upon reflection, the people pulling the strings are far more frightening and disturbing than these poor, manipulated children.
If nothing else, the lesson to be learned from this story is simple - be a human being. There are some things that are too important to sacrifice for something as simple and petty as food and acceptance. We must never allow ourselves to be beasts. We have to be human. This has relevance today, when we are debating the ethics of torture - is it a necessary evil that we must tolerate if our society is to survive, or is it an offense against our humanity? If we allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that an evil act is somehow the right thing to do, then we have lost a very important part of ourselves.
Of course, it's also about science, but the message here is less dire - we must not allow science to lose its humanity. In this book, a strange future with a monolithic state government, science is entirely utilitarian, with no moral qualms about putting minors through psychological torture. The good news is that, at least as of this writing, science errs on the side of ethics. Modern science certainly has its moral gray areas, but the majority of scientists out there would never consent to run an experiment such as this. I hope.
The last line in the book is one of the more frightening ones in literature, right up there with the last line in 1984. It's a blunt reminder of everything that has happened in the book, and a pointed summation of everything that Sleator has been trying to say - that humans have a base nature, that we can be manipulated, and we will, given the right circumstances, allow others to shape who we are. His message to his readers - teenagers like the ones in this book - is to refuse to submit to such control. Good advice for them, and for us.
November 5, 2019
۳.۵ از ۵
خانهی پلههای یک نمونهی کامل از اون کتابهاییه که جدا از اینکه داری از خوندن کتاب لذت میبری یا نه اعتیاد آوره و تا تمومش نکنی یا حداقل نفهمی چه اتفاقی داره میافته نمیتونی ببندیش. راسیتش برای نوشتن ریویوی این کتاب چندین بار نوشتم و پاک کردم چون نمیدونم از کجا باید شروع کنم و راجع به چیا حرف بزنم ( و این برای منی که همیشه حرف برای زدن دارم کمی عجیبه). کتاب برای من به شدت اعتیادآور و کِشنده بود ولی اجازه بدید قبل از اینکه از داستان و تجربهی خودم بگم چیزی رو راجع به خود کتاب بگم! در کمال ناباوری متوجه شدم این کتاب اثر یکی از نویسندگان معاصر علمی تخیلی ( که اصلا هم کم نیستن) نیست. خانهی پلهها در سال ۱۹۷۴ نوشته شده و یه جورایی جزو ادبیات کلاسیک ما به حساب میاد و این چیزیه که حتی بیشتر از خود داستان کتاب شکّهام کرد.
بذارید خودم رو تبرئه کنم! میدونم خیلیهاتون که این موضوع رو میدونستید ( یا سال دقیقش رو نمیدونستید ولی در کل جزو کتابهای قدیمی محسوبش میکردید) پیش خودتون میگید که خب معلومه که این کتاب قدیمی بود تو باید از فضای کتاب این موضوع رو میفهمیدی! بذارید در دفاع خودم و تمام کسایی که با فهمیدن این موضوع شکّه شدند بگم که من نمیدونم از کجا و چطور ولی کاملا و حقیقتا باور داشتم که این کتاب برای سال ۲۰۱۵ یا ۲۰۱۶ باشه و این چیزی بود که حتی قبل از اینکه بدون این کتاب چه موضوعی داره و توی چه ژانریه تصور میکردم پس توی ناخودآگاه ذهنم همه چیز رو با دنیای فعلی تطابق میدادم و تکنولوژیها رو کاملا مدرن و امروزی تصور میکردم. چیزی که میخوام بگم در واقع اینه: این کتاب زمان نداره! یعنی با گذر زمان کهنه یا قدیمی نشده و به نظر من این موضوع واقعا خارقالعاده و جذابه که کتابی که راجع به فطرت تغییر ناپذیر انسان بود درست مثل محتواش تغییر ناپذیر و سفت و سخت بوده. نمیدونم شاید زیادی دارم این موضوع رو بزرگ میکنم ولی بالاخره این برداشت من از کتاب بوده و قرار نیست همهی ما یک تجربهی یکسان از خوندن یه کتاب داشته باشیم و فکر میکنم این چیزیه که من رو عاشق کتابها کرده.
داستان خانهی پلهها یه داستان ترسناک، ناراحتکننده و بینهایت جالبه. ابدا نمیخوام بگم که موضوع نویی داره (هرچند احتمالا توی زمان خودش خیلی نو بوده) اما یه داستان خوب لزوما یه داستان جدید نیست… بعضی چیزا مثل سرکه هر چی بمونن غنی تر میشن!!! این کتاب برای منی که توی سال ۲۰۱۹ خوندمش قدری کلیشهای و قابل پیشبینی بود به گذشتهی شخصیتها اشارهای نشده بود و پایان جالبی هم نداشت ولی چند تا نکتهی مثبت داشت که بیانصافیه اگه بیاهمیت از کنارشون بگذریم اول اینکه نثر روون و خوبی داشت که به نظر من یکی از رکنهای اساسی برای انتخاب یه کتاب خوبه. دومیش مختصر و مفید بودن کتاب بود. هر جایی که حس میکردم روند کتاب کمی داره کند میشه و ممکنه خمیازهام بگیره سریع روند داستان عوض میشد و سرحال نگهام میداشت. سوم تعلیق معرکهی کتاب بود که انگار من خواننده رو توی یه حباب بزرگ ولی نازک نگه داشته هم همزمان که دارم کتاب رو میخونم ذهنم درگیر اینه که اگه این حباب بترکه چه اتفاقی میافته و یه جورایی استرسش رو دارم و در آخر هم باید بگم کتابی که بتونه حس ترس گرسنگی نگرانی خشم و بیچارگی رو اینقدر راحت به خواننده القا کنه کتاب خوبیه.
خانهی پلههای یک نمونهی کامل از اون کتابهاییه که جدا از اینکه داری از خوندن کتاب لذت میبری یا نه اعتیاد آوره و تا تمومش نکنی یا حداقل نفهمی چه اتفاقی داره میافته نمیتونی ببندیش. راسیتش برای نوشتن ریویوی این کتاب چندین بار نوشتم و پاک کردم چون نمیدونم از کجا باید شروع کنم و راجع به چیا حرف بزنم ( و این برای منی که همیشه حرف برای زدن دارم کمی عجیبه). کتاب برای من به شدت اعتیادآور و کِشنده بود ولی اجازه بدید قبل از اینکه از داستان و تجربهی خودم بگم چیزی رو راجع به خود کتاب بگم! در کمال ناباوری متوجه شدم این کتاب اثر یکی از نویسندگان معاصر علمی تخیلی ( که اصلا هم کم نیستن) نیست. خانهی پلهها در سال ۱۹۷۴ نوشته شده و یه جورایی جزو ادبیات کلاسیک ما به حساب میاد و این چیزیه که حتی بیشتر از خود داستان کتاب شکّهام کرد.
بذارید خودم رو تبرئه کنم! میدونم خیلیهاتون که این موضوع رو میدونستید ( یا سال دقیقش رو نمیدونستید ولی در کل جزو کتابهای قدیمی محسوبش میکردید) پیش خودتون میگید که خب معلومه که این کتاب قدیمی بود تو باید از فضای کتاب این موضوع رو میفهمیدی! بذارید در دفاع خودم و تمام کسایی که با فهمیدن این موضوع شکّه شدند بگم که من نمیدونم از کجا و چطور ولی کاملا و حقیقتا باور داشتم که این کتاب برای سال ۲۰۱۵ یا ۲۰۱۶ باشه و این چیزی بود که حتی قبل از اینکه بدون این کتاب چه موضوعی داره و توی چه ژانریه تصور میکردم پس توی ناخودآگاه ذهنم همه چیز رو با دنیای فعلی تطابق میدادم و تکنولوژیها رو کاملا مدرن و امروزی تصور میکردم. چیزی که میخوام بگم در واقع اینه: این کتاب زمان نداره! یعنی با گذر زمان کهنه یا قدیمی نشده و به نظر من این موضوع واقعا خارقالعاده و جذابه که کتابی که راجع به فطرت تغییر ناپذیر انسان بود درست مثل محتواش تغییر ناپذیر و سفت و سخت بوده. نمیدونم شاید زیادی دارم این موضوع رو بزرگ میکنم ولی بالاخره این برداشت من از کتاب بوده و قرار نیست همهی ما یک تجربهی یکسان از خوندن یه کتاب داشته باشیم و فکر میکنم این چیزیه که من رو عاشق کتابها کرده.
داستان خانهی پلهها یه داستان ترسناک، ناراحتکننده و بینهایت جالبه. ابدا نمیخوام بگم که موضوع نویی داره (هرچند احتمالا توی زمان خودش خیلی نو بوده) اما یه داستان خوب لزوما یه داستان جدید نیست… بعضی چیزا مثل سرکه هر چی بمونن غنی تر میشن!!! این کتاب برای منی که توی سال ۲۰۱۹ خوندمش قدری کلیشهای و قابل پیشبینی بود به گذشتهی شخصیتها اشارهای نشده بود و پایان جالبی هم نداشت ولی چند تا نکتهی مثبت داشت که بیانصافیه اگه بیاهمیت از کنارشون بگذریم اول اینکه نثر روون و خوبی داشت که به نظر من یکی از رکنهای اساسی برای انتخاب یه کتاب خوبه. دومیش مختصر و مفید بودن کتاب بود. هر جایی که حس میکردم روند کتاب کمی داره کند میشه و ممکنه خمیازهام بگیره سریع روند داستان عوض میشد و سرحال نگهام میداشت. سوم تعلیق معرکهی کتاب بود که انگار من خواننده رو توی یه حباب بزرگ ولی نازک نگه داشته هم همزمان که دارم کتاب رو میخونم ذهنم درگیر اینه که اگه این حباب بترکه چه اتفاقی میافته و یه جورایی استرسش رو دارم و در آخر هم باید بگم کتابی که بتونه حس ترس گرسنگی نگرانی خشم و بیچارگی رو اینقدر راحت به خواننده القا کنه کتاب خوبیه.
February 4, 2015
I read this because it is the #1 answer to "What the hell was that crazy book I read 20 years ago?" questions. House of Stairs has showed up on LibraryThing's Name That Book group three times in the past year. Half of the YA books in that group turn out to be William Sleator. We got a Contact Us question the other day that turned out to be 2 William Sleator books. So I figured it was high time I read something by this mysterious man.
Jesus. There's a reason people remember it. This book was crazy. I read it in about 2 hours and could not put it down.
In a sucky future America where everyone lives in huge run-down apartment buildings and subsists on synthetic food, 5 teenage orphans of various personality types find themselves the subject of a sinister psychological experiment. They are blindfolded, taken from their group homes and dumped in a huge, brightly-lit building filled with neverending stairs, bridges and landings. There is one toilet (which is also the only source of water) in the middle of a narrow, vertigo-inducing bridge. Most importantly, there is a machine with flashing lights and sounds that sometimes dispenses food contingent on certain behaviors from the teens.
Lola (the badass), Peter (the shrinking violet), Blossom (the spoiled, self-centered brat), Abigail (the pleaser), and Oliver (the alpha-male) have to figure out how to behave to get the machine to feed them. For a while, it feeds them if they all cooperate on an elaborate dance when the lights start flashing. But what happens when the machine begins to demand other kinds of behavior from them?
I was worried that this book would have an anticlimatic ending, that there would be no explanation of why this was happening to these people. But it has a very satisfying ending that will leave you thinking about it for a long time. It's like 1984 for a slightly younger set.
A fantastic book, but so disturbing I wouldn't recommend it to anyone younger than about 14.
Jesus. There's a reason people remember it. This book was crazy. I read it in about 2 hours and could not put it down.
In a sucky future America where everyone lives in huge run-down apartment buildings and subsists on synthetic food, 5 teenage orphans of various personality types find themselves the subject of a sinister psychological experiment. They are blindfolded, taken from their group homes and dumped in a huge, brightly-lit building filled with neverending stairs, bridges and landings. There is one toilet (which is also the only source of water) in the middle of a narrow, vertigo-inducing bridge. Most importantly, there is a machine with flashing lights and sounds that sometimes dispenses food contingent on certain behaviors from the teens.
Lola (the badass), Peter (the shrinking violet), Blossom (the spoiled, self-centered brat), Abigail (the pleaser), and Oliver (the alpha-male) have to figure out how to behave to get the machine to feed them. For a while, it feeds them if they all cooperate on an elaborate dance when the lights start flashing. But what happens when the machine begins to demand other kinds of behavior from them?
I was worried that this book would have an anticlimatic ending, that there would be no explanation of why this was happening to these people. But it has a very satisfying ending that will leave you thinking about it for a long time. It's like 1984 for a slightly younger set.
A fantastic book, but so disturbing I wouldn't recommend it to anyone younger than about 14.
May 3, 2022
تمام کتاب در پاراگراف آخرش به نتیجه میرسد. آزمایش طراحی شده برای ماشین کردن انسانها جواب داده و عقل و تفکر کنار رفته.
شروع رمان کسل کننده بود. چون الان بعد از سالها ایدهی قراردادن چند آدم در یک مکان بسته و آزمایش آنها کلیشهای بنظر میرسد(البته نسبت به زمان نگارش کتاب میتوان چشمپوشی کرد) اما هرچه جلوتر رفت و مخصوصا از جایی که به دو گروه با عقاید مختلف تبدیل شدند جذابتر شد. و مخاطب را آنقدر درگیر میکرد که نتوانی کتاب را ببندی. خوش گذشت
شروع رمان کسل کننده بود. چون الان بعد از سالها ایدهی قراردادن چند آدم در یک مکان بسته و آزمایش آنها کلیشهای بنظر میرسد(البته نسبت به زمان نگارش کتاب میتوان چشمپوشی کرد) اما هرچه جلوتر رفت و مخصوصا از جایی که به دو گروه با عقاید مختلف تبدیل شدند جذابتر شد. و مخاطب را آنقدر درگیر میکرد که نتوانی کتاب را ببندی. خوش گذشت
March 6, 2020
Rating: 3.5 🌟
Review: Five orphans, named Lola, Peter, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver, all aged 16, suddenly find themselves in a weird place where there are no walls, floor, rooms or anything normal. The only thing this place has is lots and lots of stairs defying gravity. All of them are scared to find themselves in such a place and want to get back to their lives. Slowly, they start discovering the place and knowing each other, when they notice a strange machine which gives them only a single pellet of food as they follow a particular pattern. More correct the pattern and it's repetitiveness, more the pellets of food they receive. As days go by, they realize that the food machine doesn't just want them to dance to a particular pattern but also go against each other to survive. Except for Lola and Peter who realise that it's not right to go against each other, the remaining three do anything and everything for their hunger. Will they be able to survive in this 'House of Stairs'? Who and why got them here? Answers to all these questions are explained masterfully in this captivating thriller by the writer. A must read for all sci-fi enthusiasts.
Review: Five orphans, named Lola, Peter, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver, all aged 16, suddenly find themselves in a weird place where there are no walls, floor, rooms or anything normal. The only thing this place has is lots and lots of stairs defying gravity. All of them are scared to find themselves in such a place and want to get back to their lives. Slowly, they start discovering the place and knowing each other, when they notice a strange machine which gives them only a single pellet of food as they follow a particular pattern. More correct the pattern and it's repetitiveness, more the pellets of food they receive. As days go by, they realize that the food machine doesn't just want them to dance to a particular pattern but also go against each other to survive. Except for Lola and Peter who realise that it's not right to go against each other, the remaining three do anything and everything for their hunger. Will they be able to survive in this 'House of Stairs'? Who and why got them here? Answers to all these questions are explained masterfully in this captivating thriller by the writer. A must read for all sci-fi enthusiasts.
June 6, 2011
I am insanely addicted attracted to stories about "the group in peril", when people are thrust into an alien setting absent of any social rules and obligations. Under such circumstances, it usually doesn't take long for humans to throw off the shackles of civilized conduct and resort to a more brutal "survival of the fittest" approach. That’s not just the pessimist in me coming out, but the realist.
What we become in extremis is both fascinating and frightening in the heroic heights we reach and the craven depths we sink to, and how quickly we revert to our most primal and baser urges. One hundred thousand years of evolution gone in the blink of an eye. William Golding shows us this in Lord of the Flies, as does Scott Smith in The Ruins, Jose Saramago in Blindness and Stephen King in his novella The Mist. These books teach us that there are even worse fates than losing your life – it's losing your humanity.
In House of Stairs, William Sleator proves just how quickly humans can be stripped of their humanity. First published in 1974, I imagine Sleator was influenced at least in part, by some of the more famous psych experiments of the first half of the 20th century including the Little Albert Experiment and the Milgram Obedience Experiment. Just a few years prior to its publication there was also the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment – a study designed to ostensibly observe the effects of becoming either a prisoner or prison guard. Twenty-four students were selected out of 75 to play the prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Roles were assigned randomly. This “experiment” degenerated so rapidly into violence and the dehumanization of its subjects that it had to be stopped after only six days. Good times.
The five 16-year-old protagonists here are subjected to much the same mindfuck (pardon my French), enclosed in a never-ending space of stairs – there are no walls, no floors, no doors, no ceiling, just stairs, going up, going down. That’s the set-up. What follows is pretty tame by today’s standards, and in my books does not hold a candle to Lord of the Flies; however, it still makes for pure, unadulterated compulsive reading. It doesn’t surprise me that in 2000, the American Library Association, with teen participation, chose it as one of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of the last 50 years. Recommended!!
What we become in extremis is both fascinating and frightening in the heroic heights we reach and the craven depths we sink to, and how quickly we revert to our most primal and baser urges. One hundred thousand years of evolution gone in the blink of an eye. William Golding shows us this in Lord of the Flies, as does Scott Smith in The Ruins, Jose Saramago in Blindness and Stephen King in his novella The Mist. These books teach us that there are even worse fates than losing your life – it's losing your humanity.
In House of Stairs, William Sleator proves just how quickly humans can be stripped of their humanity. First published in 1974, I imagine Sleator was influenced at least in part, by some of the more famous psych experiments of the first half of the 20th century including the Little Albert Experiment and the Milgram Obedience Experiment. Just a few years prior to its publication there was also the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment – a study designed to ostensibly observe the effects of becoming either a prisoner or prison guard. Twenty-four students were selected out of 75 to play the prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Roles were assigned randomly. This “experiment” degenerated so rapidly into violence and the dehumanization of its subjects that it had to be stopped after only six days. Good times.
The five 16-year-old protagonists here are subjected to much the same mindfuck (pardon my French), enclosed in a never-ending space of stairs – there are no walls, no floors, no doors, no ceiling, just stairs, going up, going down. That’s the set-up. What follows is pretty tame by today’s standards, and in my books does not hold a candle to Lord of the Flies; however, it still makes for pure, unadulterated compulsive reading. It doesn’t surprise me that in 2000, the American Library Association, with teen participation, chose it as one of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of the last 50 years. Recommended!!
April 30, 2024
شرطیشدن فعال
بیاف اسکینر یه روانشناس رفتارشناس بوده که یکی از مهمترین آزمایشهای زیستشناسی یعنی جعبهی اسکینر رو ابداع کرده. جعبهای رو در نظر بگیرید که اهرم متصل به محفظهی غذا داره. حالا ما یه موش یا کبوتر رو داخلش میندازیم. اون جونور یهبار شانسی یا از سر کنجکاوی دستش به اهرم میخوره و غذا گیرش میآد. اینطوری موش بهشکل فعال شرطی شده و میفهمه هر وقت اهرم رو فشار بده غذا میگیره. در واقع با عامل پاداش موش رو به انجام عمل خاصی سوق دادیم. حالا همین کار رو میشه با عامل تنبیه هم انجام داد؛ در عین حال هردوی این عوامل رو میشه در راستای عدم انجام دادن کار خاصی استفاده کرد. مثلاً دوراهی جلوی موش بذاریم و هربار موش سمت چپ نره بهش غذا بدیم. اینطوری موشه به عدم انجام کاری (سمت چپ رفتن) تشویق شده. مرحلهی بعدش ایجاد زمانبندی درون سوژهست. مثلاً یه لامپ براش بذاریم و شرطیش کنیم که هر وقت لامپ روشن شد اهرم رو فشار بده.
آشناست نه؟
واقعیت اینه اساس تربیت فعلی بشر هم همینه. ما رفتارهای درست و غلطی که جامعه مشخص کرده رو با همین ساختار شرطیشدن فعال بهبچهها آموزش میدیم. جدای از اون، تمام انسانها به شکل رندم و تصادفی توی اجتماع شرطی میشن. نکته اینجاست که شرطی شدن هرچند ریشه در غریزه داره اما عملیه که سوژه به شکل خودآگاه انجام میده. یهبار که علیه دولت راهپیمایی کنی نیروی ضد شورش دهنت رو سرویس میکنه به این شکل عامل تنبیه سوژه رو نسبت به عدم انجام کاری شرطی میکنه. نمونههای دیگهش هم زیاده. چیزی که رفتارشناسی بعد از آزمایشهای زیاد نمایان کرد طغیان سوژه علیه شرطی شدنه. هرچقدر سوژه شرطیشدنهای بیشتری طی زندگیش تجربه کرده باشه در برابر شرطیشدنهای بعدی مقاومت نشون میده و شرطی نمیشه. برای همینه که بهعنوان مثال دیکتاتورها روی قشر کودک و الگوهای آموزششون تاکید دارن. چرا که هرچی زودتر شرطی شدن رخ بده به ماهیتی پایهایتر برای سوژه تبدیل میشه و شکستن اون شرط در آینده هم کار سختتری میشه. در عین حال سوژه که بزرگتر باشه و شرطیشدنهای زیادی رو سپری کرده باشه با توجه به منافع خودش طغیان میکنه. برای همینه یکی میره اعتراض و کتک میخوره و میره زندان ولی وقتی آزاد میشه همچنان بر عقیدهش پایبنده. شرطی شدن روش اثر نمیکنه چون شخص به برتری عقیدهش آگاهه. در واقع وقتی به دریا آگاه باشی حتی با شرطی شدن هم نمیشه قطره رو پذیرفت. [نگاه معنادار نگارنده].
ربطش به خانهی پلهها چیه؟ جعبهی اسکینر رو که بالاتر گفتم یادتونه؟ این کتاب میاد اون آزمایش رو از دید موش/کبوتر/هر سوژهای روایت میکنه و در نشون میده سوژه چه دید و آگاهی جالبی نسبت به اون عامل ناپیدای شرطیکننده داره. در نهایت هم بخش جالبیش زمانیه که سوژه از دلایل پشت شرطی کردنش آگاه میشه.
نقاشی پلهها
احتمالاً خیلیها موریس اشر رو نشناسیم ولی شاید اسمش رو شنیده باشیم و حتی اگر نشنیدیم، چندتایی از آثارش رو دیدیم. اشر هنرمند گرافیک بوده و محاسبات ریاضی به آثارش تزریق کرده. خیلی کارهای جالب و نابی داره. از بین آثارش، یکی از پرتفسیرترینهاش نقاشی «خانهی پلهها»ست که مشخصاً این کتاب هم وامدارشه.
این نقاشی و جعبهی اسکینر به طریق جالبی به هم لینک میشن. آزمایش جعبهی اسکینر سوژه رو توی محیطی قرار میده که به شدت براش ناآشناست و اون غذایی که گیرش میآد نه تنها براش حیاتیه بلکه آشنا بودنش حس خوبی براش القا میکنه. حالا برای القا کردن حسی ناآشنا و عجیب به انسان چی بهتر از این که توی نقاشی خانهی پلههای اشر حبسش کنیم؟
در کل کتاب خانهی پلهها اثر مهم و تاثیرگذاریه. از بهترینها نیست مشخصاً و شما میتونید چندین و چند اثر دیستوپیایی بهتر پیدا کنید. اما از اولینهاست و همین محترم و مهمش میکنه. این نکته خیلی هم بارز میشه وقتی سال نگارشش رو ببینید. اگر کارهای دستوپیایی نسبتاً مدرن مثل دوندهی هزارتو رو دوست دارید خوندن این کتاب میتونه نشون بده ریشهی این ژانر و سبک کجاست.
May The Winds Rise
بیاف اسکینر یه روانشناس رفتارشناس بوده که یکی از مهمترین آزمایشهای زیستشناسی یعنی جعبهی اسکینر رو ابداع کرده. جعبهای رو در نظر بگیرید که اهرم متصل به محفظهی غذا داره. حالا ما یه موش یا کبوتر رو داخلش میندازیم. اون جونور یهبار شانسی یا از سر کنجکاوی دستش به اهرم میخوره و غذا گیرش میآد. اینطوری موش بهشکل فعال شرطی شده و میفهمه هر وقت اهرم رو فشار بده غذا میگیره. در واقع با عامل پاداش موش رو به انجام عمل خاصی سوق دادیم. حالا همین کار رو میشه با عامل تنبیه هم انجام داد؛ در عین حال هردوی این عوامل رو میشه در راستای عدم انجام دادن کار خاصی استفاده کرد. مثلاً دوراهی جلوی موش بذاریم و هربار موش سمت چپ نره بهش غذا بدیم. اینطوری موشه به عدم انجام کاری (سمت چپ رفتن) تشویق شده. مرحلهی بعدش ایجاد زمانبندی درون سوژهست. مثلاً یه لامپ براش بذاریم و شرطیش کنیم که هر وقت لامپ روشن شد اهرم رو فشار بده.
آشناست نه؟
واقعیت اینه اساس تربیت فعلی بشر هم همینه. ما رفتارهای درست و غلطی که جامعه مشخص کرده رو با همین ساختار شرطیشدن فعال بهبچهها آموزش میدیم. جدای از اون، تمام انسانها به شکل رندم و تصادفی توی اجتماع شرطی میشن. نکته اینجاست که شرطی شدن هرچند ریشه در غریزه داره اما عملیه که سوژه به شکل خودآگاه انجام میده. یهبار که علیه دولت راهپیمایی کنی نیروی ضد شورش دهنت رو سرویس میکنه به این شکل عامل تنبیه سوژه رو نسبت به عدم انجام کاری شرطی میکنه. نمونههای دیگهش هم زیاده. چیزی که رفتارشناسی بعد از آزمایشهای زیاد نمایان کرد طغیان سوژه علیه شرطی شدنه. هرچقدر سوژه شرطیشدنهای بیشتری طی زندگیش تجربه کرده باشه در برابر شرطیشدنهای بعدی مقاومت نشون میده و شرطی نمیشه. برای همینه که بهعنوان مثال دیکتاتورها روی قشر کودک و الگوهای آموزششون تاکید دارن. چرا که هرچی زودتر شرطی شدن رخ بده به ماهیتی پایهایتر برای سوژه تبدیل میشه و شکستن اون شرط در آینده هم کار سختتری میشه. در عین حال سوژه که بزرگتر باشه و شرطیشدنهای زیادی رو سپری کرده باشه با توجه به منافع خودش طغیان میکنه. برای همینه یکی میره اعتراض و کتک میخوره و میره زندان ولی وقتی آزاد میشه همچنان بر عقیدهش پایبنده. شرطی شدن روش اثر نمیکنه چون شخص به برتری عقیدهش آگاهه. در واقع وقتی به دریا آگاه باشی حتی با شرطی شدن هم نمیشه قطره رو پذیرفت. [نگاه معنادار نگارنده].
ربطش به خانهی پلهها چیه؟ جعبهی اسکینر رو که بالاتر گفتم یادتونه؟ این کتاب میاد اون آزمایش رو از دید موش/کبوتر/هر سوژهای روایت میکنه و در نشون میده سوژه چه دید و آگاهی جالبی نسبت به اون عامل ناپیدای شرطیکننده داره. در نهایت هم بخش جالبیش زمانیه که سوژه از دلایل پشت شرطی کردنش آگاه میشه.
نقاشی پلهها
احتمالاً خیلیها موریس اشر رو نشناسیم ولی شاید اسمش رو شنیده باشیم و حتی اگر نشنیدیم، چندتایی از آثارش رو دیدیم. اشر هنرمند گرافیک بوده و محاسبات ریاضی به آثارش تزریق کرده. خیلی کارهای جالب و نابی داره. از بین آثارش، یکی از پرتفسیرترینهاش نقاشی «خانهی پلهها»ست که مشخصاً این کتاب هم وامدارشه.
این نقاشی و جعبهی اسکینر به طریق جالبی به هم لینک میشن. آزمایش جعبهی اسکینر سوژه رو توی محیطی قرار میده که به شدت براش ناآشناست و اون غذایی که گیرش میآد نه تنها براش حیاتیه بلکه آشنا بودنش حس خوبی براش القا میکنه. حالا برای القا کردن حسی ناآشنا و عجیب به انسان چی بهتر از این که توی نقاشی خانهی پلههای اشر حبسش کنیم؟
در کل کتاب خانهی پلهها اثر مهم و تاثیرگذاریه. از بهترینها نیست مشخصاً و شما میتونید چندین و چند اثر دیستوپیایی بهتر پیدا کنید. اما از اولینهاست و همین محترم و مهمش میکنه. این نکته خیلی هم بارز میشه وقتی سال نگارشش رو ببینید. اگر کارهای دستوپیایی نسبتاً مدرن مثل دوندهی هزارتو رو دوست دارید خوندن این کتاب میتونه نشون بده ریشهی این ژانر و سبک کجاست.
May The Winds Rise
September 29, 2017
I first read the synopsis for this a few years ago and the concept immediately caught my attention. Set in an unknown but clearly dystopian future, we follow five kids in their early teens who are suddenly dumped alone on a never ending room of stairs. There is a machine that spits out food but only when the group perform certain actions which they have to determine by trial and error. When the machine starts rewarding violence of the physical and psychological types the kids are pushed to either follow directions of take a stand for what they believe in.
It’s pretty damn awesome. Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver are our protagonists and they all clearly differ from one another with the five of them presenting a nice range of reactions and interactions to each other and the situation around them. Peter is a follower and lacks confidence, Lola is a doer, confident and looks for a way out, Blossom is a fat spoiled girl who grew up with wealthy politicians and seems to have learnt to manipulate people by dividing them against each other. Abigail is used to being looked at but lacks any real sense of herself and her value as a person outside others thoughts and Oliver is used to being in charge, used to having power and resents any competition to this position.
The worldbuilding is nice with just enough tidbits thrown in to make me want to know more. We learn the boys and girls are separated until they are adults and in a relationship supposedly to prevent sexual mishaps. That some of the wealthy and members of the government live behind a wall in large houses whilst the rest of the population are denied such a luxury and in many cases not even aware the sort of lifestyle even exists. That the sitting President is a toady to his political advisors. It’s random stuff that often has no bearing on the story but it gives us a glimpse of what’s outside the room without ever actually letting us out.
The finale is done very well and provides a great deal of the horror as we do get to discover where the kids are, why they are there and who or what is pulling the strings.
Highly recommend picking this one up if you missed it during your childhood.
It’s pretty damn awesome. Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver are our protagonists and they all clearly differ from one another with the five of them presenting a nice range of reactions and interactions to each other and the situation around them. Peter is a follower and lacks confidence, Lola is a doer, confident and looks for a way out, Blossom is a fat spoiled girl who grew up with wealthy politicians and seems to have learnt to manipulate people by dividing them against each other. Abigail is used to being looked at but lacks any real sense of herself and her value as a person outside others thoughts and Oliver is used to being in charge, used to having power and resents any competition to this position.
The worldbuilding is nice with just enough tidbits thrown in to make me want to know more. We learn the boys and girls are separated until they are adults and in a relationship supposedly to prevent sexual mishaps. That some of the wealthy and members of the government live behind a wall in large houses whilst the rest of the population are denied such a luxury and in many cases not even aware the sort of lifestyle even exists. That the sitting President is a toady to his political advisors. It’s random stuff that often has no bearing on the story but it gives us a glimpse of what’s outside the room without ever actually letting us out.
The finale is done very well and provides a great deal of the horror as we do get to discover where the kids are, why they are there and who or what is pulling the strings.
Highly recommend picking this one up if you missed it during your childhood.
April 8, 2024
House of Stairs isn't just a book, it's an experience. I first encountered it way back in 6th grade, and let me tell you, it messed me up in the best way possible. The sheer claustrophobia of the endless stairs, the desperation of the characters, the chilling mystery of the experiment – it all burrowed into my brain and wouldn't let go.
Years later, in my 20s, I found myself drawn back to the story. This time, the terror was laced with a whole new layer of appreciation for Sleator's masterful world-building and social commentary. The questions the book raises about free will, manipulation, and the nature of sanity are even more profound as an adult.
House of Stairs is a timeless classic that transcends age groups- it is so hauntingly poignant and alienesque. This is a must-have for your bookshelf. 5 out of 5 stars!
August 6, 2018
اگه چند سال پیش این کتاب رو میخوندم احتمالا لذت بیشتری میبردم
چون با اینکه جذب کتاب شده بودم و تندتند خوندمش، ولی دلیل اتفاقاتِ توی کتاب برام قابل حدس بود و چند صفحه ی آخر کتاب، لذت باقی کتاب رو تا حدودی
ازم گرفت
یه نکته ی منفی برای نسخه ی فارسی
بنده طراح نیستم ولی با توجه به داستان، کاورهای خیلی بهتر و خلاقانه تری هم میشد برای این کتاب گذاشت :)
چون با اینکه جذب کتاب شده بودم و تندتند خوندمش، ولی دلیل اتفاقاتِ توی کتاب برام قابل حدس بود و چند صفحه ی آخر کتاب، لذت باقی کتاب رو تا حدودی
ازم گرفت
یه نکته ی منفی برای نسخه ی فارسی
بنده طراح نیستم ولی با توجه به داستان، کاورهای خیلی بهتر و خلاقانه تری هم میشد برای این کتاب گذاشت :)
May 23, 2015
A modern classic. I read House of Stairs frequently as a child, and was happy to see this speculative novel from 1974 stands the test of time.
That's because Sleator wisely keeps the "futuristic" science fiction touches to a minimum. There's a very '70s reference to air pollution, but it isn't pivotal. The rest of the book is about what doesn't change: human nature.
I'm handing this to my son to read now. I have the feeling he'll be as riveted by it as I was at his age.
That's because Sleator wisely keeps the "futuristic" science fiction touches to a minimum. There's a very '70s reference to air pollution, but it isn't pivotal. The rest of the book is about what doesn't change: human nature.
I'm handing this to my son to read now. I have the feeling he'll be as riveted by it as I was at his age.
November 15, 2020
این کتاب فضای جالب و عجیبی داره. اولین نکته اینه که این کتاب واقعا جذابه و من دوس داشتم با سرعت بخونمش تا پایانشو بفهمم. به نوعی میشه گفت میدونستم چنین پایانی داره اما بازم اشتباق داشتم و از خوندن پایانش لذت بردم. (و البته فک نمیکردم شخصیت ابیگل چنین پایانی داشته باشه.)
فضای کتاب خیلی جذابه. تصور اون همه پله بدون هیچ دیواری؛ بدون هیچ ستون یا در یا حفاظی خیلی برام جذاب بود. حس میکنم تمام داستان کتاب مثل یه خواب عجیب بود.
یکی از نکات خوب این کتاب، کوتاه، مختصر و مفید بودنشه و نویسنده سعی نکر��ه الکی داستان رو کش بده.
در کل به نظرم «خانهی پلهها» کتابیه که خوندنش خالی از لطف نیست.
چن تا موضوع هم هس که باعث شد نتونم امتیاز بالایی به این کتاب بدم.
آخر کتاب میتونست اطلاعات علمی بیشتری رو بیان کنه.
نویسنده باید اطلاعات بیشتری از شرایط دنیای خارج بیان میکرد. از طرفی به نظرم عجیب بود که هوا چنان آلوده و مسمومه که ماسک گاز لازمه و با این حال تو این شرایط درخت هم تک و توک وجود داره.
و فک میکنم کتاب یه ویراستاری بهتر لازم داشته باشه. جابه جایی اجزای جمله قواعد دستور زبان رو زیر پا گذاشته بود.
فضای کتاب خیلی جذابه. تصور اون همه پله بدون هیچ دیواری؛ بدون هیچ ستون یا در یا حفاظی خیلی برام جذاب بود. حس میکنم تمام داستان کتاب مثل یه خواب عجیب بود.
یکی از نکات خوب این کتاب، کوتاه، مختصر و مفید بودنشه و نویسنده سعی نکر��ه الکی داستان رو کش بده.
در کل به نظرم «خانهی پلهها» کتابیه که خوندنش خالی از لطف نیست.
چن تا موضوع هم هس که باعث شد نتونم امتیاز بالایی به این کتاب بدم.
آخر کتاب میتونست اطلاعات علمی بیشتری رو بیان کنه.
نویسنده باید اطلاعات بیشتری از شرایط دنیای خارج بیان میکرد. از طرفی به نظرم عجیب بود که هوا چنان آلوده و مسمومه که ماسک گاز لازمه و با این حال تو این شرایط درخت هم تک و توک وجود داره.
و فک میکنم کتاب یه ویراستاری بهتر لازم داشته باشه. جابه جایی اجزای جمله قواعد دستور زبان رو زیر پا گذاشته بود.
May 11, 2021
اول میخواستم بگم که کتاب چقدر الگوی کلیشهای داره، بعد دیدم اینو سال هزار و نهصد و هفتاد و چهار نوشته! نویسنده چه ذهن خلاقی داشته
با مفاهیم کتاب عموما توی آثار دیگهی معروفتر آشنا شدیم مثلا این مورد که چند نفر رو توی فضایی بسته گیر بندازن که رفتارهاشون رو بررسی کنن منو یاد دوندهی هزارتو انداخت. یا مثلا این که بشر چقدر راحت بینظم و وحشی میشه شبیه «سالار مگسها»ست... در کل با وجود پایان قابل پیشبینیش لذت بردم چون حجم کمی داشت و نمیذاشت تا تموم نکردی کنار بذاریش.
با مفاهیم کتاب عموما توی آثار دیگهی معروفتر آشنا شدیم مثلا این مورد که چند نفر رو توی فضایی بسته گیر بندازن که رفتارهاشون رو بررسی کنن منو یاد دوندهی هزارتو انداخت. یا مثلا این که بشر چقدر راحت بینظم و وحشی میشه شبیه «سالار مگسها»ست... در کل با وجود پایان قابل پیشبینیش لذت بردم چون حجم کمی داشت و نمیذاشت تا تموم نکردی کنار بذاریش.
April 1, 2012
My, my, my, what a chilling book.
Five strangers - all orphans, all sixteen years of age - are released, blindfolded, into a mammoth gleaming white room full of stairs. They find each other and congregate around a machine that dispenses food upon correct behavioural patterns. Soon they are slaves to this machine, searching for the correct patterns, doing whatever they have to do to be fed. What follows is your classic deterioration of human nature.
Reading it, I was reminded a lot of the Maze Runner - kids being manipulated by some unseen beings, forced into horrible situations, doing what needs to be done to survive, etc. Obviously, House of Stairs came first, and I actually feel that it is better than the aforementioned MZ (more so when summing up the series as a whole) because here we have this fantastic novel that is not even two hundred pages long, and yet it is a completely realised, satisfying read. The ending is very good also.
I was going to give this four stars, but after finishing it I realised that it is the kind of book I will probably read again (and again?) so I'll go all the way and give it five.
Five strangers - all orphans, all sixteen years of age - are released, blindfolded, into a mammoth gleaming white room full of stairs. They find each other and congregate around a machine that dispenses food upon correct behavioural patterns. Soon they are slaves to this machine, searching for the correct patterns, doing whatever they have to do to be fed. What follows is your classic deterioration of human nature.
Reading it, I was reminded a lot of the Maze Runner - kids being manipulated by some unseen beings, forced into horrible situations, doing what needs to be done to survive, etc. Obviously, House of Stairs came first, and I actually feel that it is better than the aforementioned MZ (more so when summing up the series as a whole) because here we have this fantastic novel that is not even two hundred pages long, and yet it is a completely realised, satisfying read. The ending is very good also.
I was going to give this four stars, but after finishing it I realised that it is the kind of book I will probably read again (and again?) so I'll go all the way and give it five.
November 19, 2013
Probably the first dystopian novel I ever read. Because of this book, near the beginning of season one of LOST I was already predicting the cages and fish-biscuits that would show up in season three.
UPDATE: Reread in 2013 after reading multiple times from ages 10-20. It has held up really well for a book written in the mid-1970s, besides some unfortunate stereotyping that was more common at the time.
UPDATE: Reread in 2013 after reading multiple times from ages 10-20. It has held up really well for a book written in the mid-1970s, besides some unfortunate stereotyping that was more common at the time.
May 9, 2011
I think this is the last entry in my YA Sci-Fi kick, but it's a high note to end on. I've spent more than half my life searching for this book. Really! I checked it out from the Lawrence Public Library when I was 9 or 10 and read the first 15 pages, and then it got away from me. I remember everything about it vividly--5 teenage orphans in a near-future distopia find themselves, without explanation, in a gigantic white room consisting only of endless staircases and a machine that irregularly dispenses sausage when one character sticks out her tongue--except for the title and author! And how could I go to a librarian and describe the convoluted plot of an obscure 70's kids book? For some reason, I thought I couldn't. So I would think about this book from time to time for the next 18 years, despairingly, and then I was reading a review of The Hunger Games in the New Yorker, and Laura Miller gave a quick summary of the genre of YA distopic sci-fi, and described this book with complete citations! So I retrieved it from the library, probably the exact same copy I read when I was 9, and I read it in a few hours, and it's great! Simple and scary, with both inspiring and disturbing implications about the human soul. Just what kids want. Now that I've settled this part of my childhood, I can continue reading the metafiction of my agegroup.
August 25, 2018
وحشتناک!
اولین چیزی که با خوندن کتاب یادش افتادم، نظام آموزشی بود. نظامی که سعی میکنه با تنبیه، دانشآموزان رو شرطیسازی کنه برای این که توی سیستم براشون کارگری کنن.
نکتهٔ منفیش از نظر من، پایانبندیش بود. انگار در فصل آخر، بجّهها چندین سال بزرگ میشن. چون اون حرفها از زبون یه بچّهٔ ۱۶ ساله در نمیآد.
یه پاراگراف آخر کتاب اما خوب بود.
اولین چیزی که با خوندن کتاب یادش افتادم، نظام آموزشی بود. نظامی که سعی میکنه با تنبیه، دانشآموزان رو شرطیسازی کنه برای این که توی سیستم براشون کارگری کنن.
نکتهٔ منفیش از نظر من، پایانبندیش بود. انگار در فصل آخر، بجّهها چندین سال بزرگ میشن. چون اون حرفها از زبون یه بچّهٔ ۱۶ ساله در نمیآد.
یه پاراگراف آخر کتاب اما خوب بود.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2018
جالب بود
داستان و ف��اى كلي كتاب به شدت منو ياد فيلم مكعب مينداخت ( هموني شبكه چهار هر روز پخش ميكنه)
خوشبختانه نويسنده الكى داستان رو كش نداده بود
اون يه ستاره رو هم فقط به خاطر پايان نسبتا قابل حدسش كم كردم
داستان و ف��اى كلي كتاب به شدت منو ياد فيلم مكعب مينداخت ( هموني شبكه چهار هر روز پخش ميكنه)
خوشبختانه نويسنده الكى داستان رو كش نداده بود
اون يه ستاره رو هم فقط به خاطر پايان نسبتا قابل حدسش كم كردم
January 28, 2015
This young adult novel (1974) reflects Cold War paranoia: apprehension that the government will brainwash unwilling subjects into perfectly controllable weapons of war. Five sixteen-year-old orphans find themselves in a sterile maze-like environment, consisting entirely of stairs and landings. (Wikipedia notes that the setting is based on Escher’s (1953) lithograph: Relativity: http://www.scottmcd.net/artanalysis/?...). Besides one pool of water (toilet, drinking water, and bath), a machine with flashing lights sporadically dispenses pellets of food in response to behaviors that, through trial and error, the children learn. At first, the machine ejects food when the children engage in a stylized dance. As time goes by, however, the machine will only produce food if, in addition to the dance, the children act aggressively toward one another. When it becomes clear that they will be fed only by escalating cruelty, the children divide into two groups. Remaining near the machine, Oliver, Abigail, and Blossom create for themselves a kind of Lord of the Flies hierarchy. These three continue to eat by finding ways to inflict pain on one another. Peter and Lola, in contrast, remove themselves to a distant part of the maze, supporting one another in the decision to starve rather than become monsters.
Lola and Peter are emotionally engaging characters. A tough nonconformist, Lola smokes and gleefully reminisces about tricks she played on the repressive keepers at her orphanage. She responds to an alien environment by exploring, seeking to learn the rules that govern it, and jogging to keep fit. Peter, a timid, insecure child, retreats into a dream “room”: a memory of an orphanage where his friend Jasper loved and cared for him. When Peter meets Oliver, he develops a crush on this handsome, narcissistic boy. Delicately, the book hints that Peter’s attraction to both boys is sexual. Peter and Lola, however, strengthen one another in resisting corruption.
A major weakness in HOUSE OF STAIRS, however, is its depiction of the villains, Oliver and Blossom. They do not change in any way because both are calculating, cruel, and self-absorbed from the beginning. Though the machine rewards their cruel actions, it does not corrupt them: Oliver and Blosson are already monstrous. The privileged daughter of government officials, obese Blossom seeks only to make the machine produce as much food as possible and spitefully to turn the other children against one another. At the beginning, Oliver sets out to shame and manipulate insecure, passive Abigail, alternately treating her seductively and indifferently. Because most of us justify evil actions with self-deceptions and rationalizations, I found Oliver and Blossom’s single-mindedness wooden and unbelievable.
Until the very end, the HOUSE OF STAIRS only hints obliquely at the dystopian world outside the environment in which the children are trapped. Only the most elite, like Blossom’s family, live in single-family houses. The other 99% struggle to subsist in an overpopulated world, where nourishing food is scarce. Because even children of rich parents end up in orphanages, the novel suggests human life has become so cheap that children are not cherished. HOUSE OF STAIRS reflects Cold War fears that the government was conducting dehumanizing experiments on human beings to advance the war effort.
Reading HOUSE OF STAIRS in 2015, I found it a period piece, reflecting old-fashioned preoccupations and literary tropes. (Of course, we DO face the problem of returning servicemen who, successfully conditioned to regard Arab opponents as non-human, do not undergo “unconditioning” before returning to civilian life.) I was glad to be introduced to William Sleator (1945-2011), but do not think I shall seek out other novels.
Lola and Peter are emotionally engaging characters. A tough nonconformist, Lola smokes and gleefully reminisces about tricks she played on the repressive keepers at her orphanage. She responds to an alien environment by exploring, seeking to learn the rules that govern it, and jogging to keep fit. Peter, a timid, insecure child, retreats into a dream “room”: a memory of an orphanage where his friend Jasper loved and cared for him. When Peter meets Oliver, he develops a crush on this handsome, narcissistic boy. Delicately, the book hints that Peter’s attraction to both boys is sexual. Peter and Lola, however, strengthen one another in resisting corruption.
A major weakness in HOUSE OF STAIRS, however, is its depiction of the villains, Oliver and Blossom. They do not change in any way because both are calculating, cruel, and self-absorbed from the beginning. Though the machine rewards their cruel actions, it does not corrupt them: Oliver and Blosson are already monstrous. The privileged daughter of government officials, obese Blossom seeks only to make the machine produce as much food as possible and spitefully to turn the other children against one another. At the beginning, Oliver sets out to shame and manipulate insecure, passive Abigail, alternately treating her seductively and indifferently. Because most of us justify evil actions with self-deceptions and rationalizations, I found Oliver and Blossom’s single-mindedness wooden and unbelievable.
Until the very end, the HOUSE OF STAIRS only hints obliquely at the dystopian world outside the environment in which the children are trapped. Only the most elite, like Blossom’s family, live in single-family houses. The other 99% struggle to subsist in an overpopulated world, where nourishing food is scarce. Because even children of rich parents end up in orphanages, the novel suggests human life has become so cheap that children are not cherished. HOUSE OF STAIRS reflects Cold War fears that the government was conducting dehumanizing experiments on human beings to advance the war effort.
Reading HOUSE OF STAIRS in 2015, I found it a period piece, reflecting old-fashioned preoccupations and literary tropes. (Of course, we DO face the problem of returning servicemen who, successfully conditioned to regard Arab opponents as non-human, do not undergo “unconditioning” before returning to civilian life.) I was glad to be introduced to William Sleator (1945-2011), but do not think I shall seek out other novels.
December 10, 2012
Several years ago, I saw a movie called The Cube. It's a sort of low-budget thriller/horror movie about a group of strangers who find themselves trapped in a maze of cube-like rooms full of traps. As I watched it, I found myself having a strong sense of deja-vu. Where had I seen this before? Why was the premise so familiar?
By the end of the movie, I was convinced that I had not seen it before, but had, instead, read something that was extremely similar. I was sure that The Cube was basically a film adaptation of a short story or novel, but, no matter who I talked to, nobody seemed to remember a short story like that. For years, I kept trying to figure out what I had read that was so similar to The Cube (spoiler: It was House of Stairs)
Finally, just last week, I was searching for it again, and there it was. Five teens, trapped, not in cubes, but in an infinte stairway.
I immediately sent away for a copy from my local library (Hi Minuteman!).
Having reread it, it's safe to say that my memory of the book wasn't quite accurate, but it's a story that seems to have held up over time, quite well.
Overall, a very cool sci-fi read. Very glad that I was able to figure out what it was called!
By the end of the movie, I was convinced that I had not seen it before, but had, instead, read something that was extremely similar. I was sure that The Cube was basically a film adaptation of a short story or novel, but, no matter who I talked to, nobody seemed to remember a short story like that. For years, I kept trying to figure out what I had read that was so similar to The Cube (spoiler: It was House of Stairs)
Finally, just last week, I was searching for it again, and there it was. Five teens, trapped, not in cubes, but in an infinte stairway.
I immediately sent away for a copy from my local library (Hi Minuteman!).
Having reread it, it's safe to say that my memory of the book wasn't quite accurate, but it's a story that seems to have held up over time, quite well.
Overall, a very cool sci-fi read. Very glad that I was able to figure out what it was called!
May 25, 2019
***Spoilers***
1. Things I wish: that I knew what happened to the fallout of the world, that I knew more about the characters’ previous lives, that I knew what happened to them after the stairs, we knew more of the characters’ inner thoughts.
2. Watch and readalikes: Labyrinth movie, stairs at Hogwarts, Maze Runner, Lord of the Flies.
3. I liked the symbolism of the stairs. The journey and survival of the kids.
4. I liked the dedication page: “This book is dedicated to all the rats and pigeons who have already been there.” Which I’m guessing is like the experimentation of the book.
5. The first pages of this book is very reminiscent of The Maze Runner. Or I guess it’s the other way around since this book was written way before.
6. Were Lola and Peter gay? Is that what they meant by different? Or that they have a good heart?
7. I felt like this book addressed the 7 deadly sins. Blossom- Gluttony, wrath, greed. Abigail-lust. Oliver-pride. Peter-sloth. Lola-wrath.
8. Okay I know Blossom was the worst, but they were so mean to her about her weight.
9. Interesting concept: “I mean a book is much less personal than a programmed screen that can respond to you according to your needs, and concentrate on what’s hard for you, and go fast on what’s easy. A book stays the same no matter who’s reading it. And anyway, I don’t see how anyone could read a whole long book, it must be so boring!”
10. This machine was so Pavlovian.
11. Omg when Oliver peed on the girls.
12. I want to know about reproduction and how people live outside of the orphanages.
13. I kind of wish there was more trial and error with their actions. More exploration of the stairs. More alliances built and destroyed. It could have been longer to fit all of my wishes in.
1. Things I wish: that I knew what happened to the fallout of the world, that I knew more about the characters’ previous lives, that I knew what happened to them after the stairs, we knew more of the characters’ inner thoughts.
2. Watch and readalikes: Labyrinth movie, stairs at Hogwarts, Maze Runner, Lord of the Flies.
3. I liked the symbolism of the stairs. The journey and survival of the kids.
4. I liked the dedication page: “This book is dedicated to all the rats and pigeons who have already been there.” Which I’m guessing is like the experimentation of the book.
5. The first pages of this book is very reminiscent of The Maze Runner. Or I guess it’s the other way around since this book was written way before.
6. Were Lola and Peter gay? Is that what they meant by different? Or that they have a good heart?
7. I felt like this book addressed the 7 deadly sins. Blossom- Gluttony, wrath, greed. Abigail-lust. Oliver-pride. Peter-sloth. Lola-wrath.
8. Okay I know Blossom was the worst, but they were so mean to her about her weight.
9. Interesting concept: “I mean a book is much less personal than a programmed screen that can respond to you according to your needs, and concentrate on what’s hard for you, and go fast on what’s easy. A book stays the same no matter who’s reading it. And anyway, I don’t see how anyone could read a whole long book, it must be so boring!”
10. This machine was so Pavlovian.
11. Omg when Oliver peed on the girls.
12. I want to know about reproduction and how people live outside of the orphanages.
13. I kind of wish there was more trial and error with their actions. More exploration of the stairs. More alliances built and destroyed. It could have been longer to fit all of my wishes in.
August 28, 2023
Solid little YA novella - enjoyable if you like reading about groups in peril in a strange environment or have a particular fascination with certain aspects of human psych/schools of thought.
May 2, 2018
What would you do if you woke up in a seemingly never-ending space full of stairs?
I don't know about you, but I would freak out. And House of Stairs tells the story of five teenagers in this situation freaking out.
Do we know why they are trapped in a literal house of stairs? No. Do we know why these specific orphans were picked? Nope. Does it seem they will likely die since there are no places of sustenance or any kind of exit? Yep.
Lola, Peter, Oliver, Abigail, and Blossom could not be more different. I hated them all (especially Blossom) and I also loved them all (especially precious Peter), and I admired their contrasting personalities, responses under pressure, and how they changed with prolonged hardship. Super interesting and chill-inducing, because it makes you wonder who you would be if you were pushed to that kind of limit.
The story is less about the actual plot and more about the psychology behind it, which was different than what I usually read and proved to be entertaining. I do wish we were given more closure and explanations, but the end left me with so many chills that I decided it was okay.
While its age shines through at parts, it's short, it's quick, it's weird, it spreads goosebumps, and it sticks. Wouldn't have thought, but it's worth the read.
Rated 3.9/5 for eloquent brevity, solid psychology built into engaging characters, and a timeless air about it that's just plain creepy
I don't know about you, but I would freak out. And House of Stairs tells the story of five teenagers in this situation freaking out.
Do we know why they are trapped in a literal house of stairs? No. Do we know why these specific orphans were picked? Nope. Does it seem they will likely die since there are no places of sustenance or any kind of exit? Yep.
Lola, Peter, Oliver, Abigail, and Blossom could not be more different. I hated them all (especially Blossom) and I also loved them all (especially precious Peter), and I admired their contrasting personalities, responses under pressure, and how they changed with prolonged hardship. Super interesting and chill-inducing, because it makes you wonder who you would be if you were pushed to that kind of limit.
The story is less about the actual plot and more about the psychology behind it, which was different than what I usually read and proved to be entertaining. I do wish we were given more closure and explanations, but the end left me with so many chills that I decided it was okay.
While its age shines through at parts, it's short, it's quick, it's weird, it spreads goosebumps, and it sticks. Wouldn't have thought, but it's worth the read.
Rated 3.9/5 for eloquent brevity, solid psychology built into engaging characters, and a timeless air about it that's just plain creepy
January 11, 2015
Written in 1974, House of Stairs is the Grandfather of the modern day YA dystopian/horror story.
This book works because it's subtle. Instead of training a bunch of kids in an arena for sport, Sleator puts frightened and isolated teenagers in a completely incomprehensible environment and then just lets the story happen. They don't know where there are or why. They aren't given even the most basic necessities. All they have are endless flights of stairs, a single toilet, and a pulsing light that will eventually become the only thing in their lives that matters.
Once the kids and the reader begin to understand what is happening to them the story becomes truly frightening. I started to ask myself how far I would go in the same situation, and it's genuinely scary to imagine. Of course I will never know for sure what I would do if I were put into such a situation, but knowing that the different decisions each teen makes are all realistically possible is unnerving.
This book works because it's subtle. Instead of training a bunch of kids in an arena for sport, Sleator puts frightened and isolated teenagers in a completely incomprehensible environment and then just lets the story happen. They don't know where there are or why. They aren't given even the most basic necessities. All they have are endless flights of stairs, a single toilet, and a pulsing light that will eventually become the only thing in their lives that matters.
Once the kids and the reader begin to understand what is happening to them the story becomes truly frightening. I started to ask myself how far I would go in the same situation, and it's genuinely scary to imagine. Of course I will never know for sure what I would do if I were put into such a situation, but knowing that the different decisions each teen makes are all realistically possible is unnerving.
February 2, 2015
As a Psychology mayor, I have studied and am versed in the risks, benefits and limitations of conditioned reinforcement. To say that the experiment plotted out by the scientist of the book is unequivocally unethical, is to merely state the obvious. But what other experiments have been performed on real-life human beings, with similar, devastating effects? What charades are being performed even now, controling the population through study and marketing, through communication and the control of information, through the very nature of the human being and it's innate willingness to be controlled? In control lays security, be it by virtue of being in control or by being the controlled. And denying that is dangerously naive. But who controls who? And by whom?
I read this one in a little under three hours. But the impression it left in me will surely last a lot longer than that.
I read this one in a little under three hours. But the impression it left in me will surely last a lot longer than that.
November 26, 2012
The writing style is not so great, and the plot is -by now- quite outdated: from the mystery (which has already been played out many times with way more interesting variations) to the frankly unnecessary final explanation.
The real question is: why does Sleator hate fat people so much? Not only is Blossom the most vicious character - her meanness seems to be underlined, and increased, by her size. The fact that she is fat makes her repulsive, not only to the other characters but to the writer himself, who often points out the rolls of fat, the flabby thighs and the chubby cheeks. The disgusted tone of the author seems to me quite inappropriate, especially in a book aimed at teenagers.
The real question is: why does Sleator hate fat people so much? Not only is Blossom the most vicious character - her meanness seems to be underlined, and increased, by her size. The fact that she is fat makes her repulsive, not only to the other characters but to the writer himself, who often points out the rolls of fat, the flabby thighs and the chubby cheeks. The disgusted tone of the author seems to me quite inappropriate, especially in a book aimed at teenagers.
April 25, 2016
"What if someone wrote 1984 for junior high school students, only made it creepier?" I read this book years ago, and have always remembered it because it was so disturbing. Guaranteed to give you a nightmare or two.
September 17, 2019
دقیقا همون منطقی که تو فیلمهایی مثل cube استفاده شده بود. شرطی سازی و انگیزه برای بقا. جالب بود. ولی تکراری.
حس میکنم خیلی سانسور داشت ترجمه. فقط حسه البته متن اصلی رو نخوندم.
حس میکنم خیلی سانسور داشت ترجمه. فقط حسه البته متن اصلی رو نخوندم.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 728 reviews