House of Stairs: Amazon.ca: William Sleator: Books

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The whirring around them had been going on for quite a long time. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

37 Reviews

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars The House of Stairs, Oct 2 2005

By	Deborah (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House Of Stairs (Paperback)

I first read this book in 7th grade, and kept it out of the library for 3 weeks just to read it over and over! It was bizarre and psychologically thrilling...20 years later I found it again in a library in Pennsylvania, and re-read it. It was bizarre and psychologically thrilling! Now I am in law school in Baltimore, and wish to own a copy because it seems to me that The House of Stairs is a simple commentary on the complexities of conformity and non-conformity and human conditioning and personal expectations from which we can all take a lesson.I have enjoyed "knowing" this book and realizing, like Peter, just when to say "Enough!"

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5.0 out of 5 stars House of Stairs, Mar 24 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: House Of Stairs (Paperback)

House of Stairs by William Sleator

Book Review by Geremy Brosmer

"'When are they going to take us out?' Blossom wailed as everybody came back to the landing." Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail, and Oliver are all orphans and all sixteen. All of them have suddenly been put into a big room full of nothing but stairs. They find a food machine that makes the kids do crazy stuff like stick out their tongues, dance, and lie to get the food machine to give them food.
I think Sleator could have made Blossom a little less easy to hate because he just makes her so mean and snobby and self centered. He also could have had a better concept because he just puts four orphaned teenagers in this big room full of stairs for no reason. I liked the way he always kept me on my toes. I was up till ten reading this book one night. He described everything so well I could almost see a picture in my head about what was happening.
William Sleator is mostly a science-fiction writer. He's only written one book that's not science-fiction. I would recommend this to anybody who likes sci-fi.
Find out more by reading House of Stairs by William Sleator.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Adults Too!, Jan 4 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: House Of Stairs (Paperback)

I first read this book 25 years ago, when I was in the 7th grade. Of the (literally) thousands of books that I read during my childhood - this book belongs with the dozen or so that have never been forgotton. Recently I reread this classic, and was just as impressed and impacted by its thought provoking and captivating premise. Because the setting is futuristic, this book is not dated at all. I'm a mom with kids of various ages and would NOT recommend this book for anyone under the age of 12 to 13 - but I would also not classify it a "young adult" novel. Older adults will love it too!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cube for Children
I read this book in 5th grade and it blew my mind. Thinking back on it, I wonder how appropriate it is for children. Read more

Published on Oct 4 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars I'd forgotten how good this was...
..This is a tight, fast-paced morality play about a group of five teenagers -- orphans, all -- thrown into a twisted experiment in conditioning. Read more

Published on Jul 14 2003 by Blake Petit

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing book
ive made a tradition of reading this book once a year and every year it continues to amaze me. when i first read it i was younger and did not entirely understand how interesting... Read more

Published on April 30 2003 by Hannah

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book
I read this book right after I finished Interstellar Pig. While Interstellar Pig was a very entertaining book, I wasn't expecting the House of Stairs. Read more

Published on Mar 8 2003 by Caitlin