I just finished House of Leaves yesterday, it took me about 2 months, not because it didn't grab my attention or anything BUT because there was just so much to absorb from it. I've never read anything quite like it, and yes I can see how the book would be hard for some people to read and digest.
So brief history about this book... it's odd because it's basically been hovering around me for the last 9 years because I've had the Poe album Haunted which is its companion piece. Also all the bands that have done tributes to the book (i.e. Circa Survive, ISIS) I seem to own as well.
Not to mention its a typography/graphic designer lovers wet dream.
But yeah I wasn't actually truly aware of the book until recently when another graphic designerd told me to check it out, so i went to borders flipped through the pages and decided to buy it just because of the design qualities in the book. As I did look through it i kept thinking to myself... why the hell do I already know this book because I know I've never read it. Apparently I had only knew half the story, and now everything's complete.
Poe's album consists of audio recordings she found of her deceased father who used to record letters to her, and the concept of the album is her responding to him throughout the album while telling the story of House of Leaves at the same time. So on that aspect it's kind of creepy and definitely follows the title namesake. There's ties to both of Poe's albums in the book and you can how Poe and her brother Mark fed off of each other for influences.