House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski
ISBN: 0375703764
This book, after two normal readings and one close reading, is an enigma. If we ignore the story for a moment and focus on the
typesetting (yes, the typesetting) we can begin to understand why this book is mentioned along with Finnegan's Wake in many
book reviews. If you purchase the full color edition, the word minotaur appears in red throughout the novel. The word house
appears in blue. Many of the pages have just a single word written on them. Many others are printed upside down. Still others
are printed at a 45 degree angle. Many of the footnotes are in German or Latin or some other foreign language, and in some
cases the footnotes are printed over several pages as a diary of the man who is reading the work of Zampano. These appear in
courier typeface. The footnotes of the man who "wrote" the work often contain endless lists of names that may or may not be
real, and some pages contain filled in black boxes. "Missing" sections are printed with single words appearing among
paragraphs of XXXXs. At the end of the novel there is a bizarre correspondence that illustrates the evolution of insanity, and
several collages and other works of art are sandwiched in. If for no other reason, it is worth buying this book just to look
at it. Due to the layout, each reading reveals more information than the last, and yet the reader is left with the feeling
that there is much more to know about the work.
This is, at minimum, three stories intertwined into one novel. The first, and most chilling story, is contained within a
monograph written by an old blind man named Zampano. This is an academic work that seeks to explain and philosophize on a
documentary entitled "The Navidson Record." The monograph tells the story of the documentary as well as comments on it. A
young Pulitzer winning photographer moves into a new house in the country to solve his family problems and curb his
wanderlust, but unfortunately for him and his family, the nature of the house itself only creates more family problems and
excites his wanderlust. How can a house encourage travel? Why, if it's bigger on the inside than on the outside, of course.
Navidson, in a personal project, has mounted HI-8s all over his house to record his family's life for a documentary project
about family. It turns into much, much more when he discovers that his house measures longer inside than outside. To solve
this problem of math, he brings in his brother and a friend from the local college, who spend weeks trying to explain the
enigma. Navidson seems to forget it for awhile, until he returns from a vacation to discover that his house has a new hallway
that should be visible from outdoors - but isn't.
The second story is about Zampano, the blind man writing the monograph. Although he dies in the first 10 pages of the novel,
his own story his intertwined into his work about the Navidson Record, and his consuming obsession with it. Oh - and his
apartment just MAY have little problems of its own, just like Navidson's house.
The third story is about Johnny Truant, the punk tattoo shop worker who finds Zampano's work and soon becomes obsessed with
Zampano's obsession. His journal of his experiences appear throughout the novel as footnotes. Often they begin by explaining
some minor point in Zampano's monograph and then go on to tell about his recent sexual exploits or how he is becoming mentally
debilitated by reading Zampano's work. The letters from the insane woman at the end are from Truant's mother.
This book is possibly the most terrifying work of fiction I have ever read. Descriptions of the films, the shorts, and the
house are all expertly written to raise the hairs on the back of your neck, and for a first work of fiction I must say that
Danielewski has an auspicious career ahead of him. Even if we forget the content of the book for a moment, the fact that his
publisher thought the work was important enough to put effort into multi-color editions and odd typesetting requirements says
something about the promise of this writer.
Read this book. As soon as possible. Buy the full color edition now - it's already being sold for 50 bucks or more at Amazon
and E-bay. This book has everything - sex, symbolism, poetry, and art. If you like David Foster Wallace, James Joyce, Stephen
King, or Clive Barker, read this book. I have read this book in three different ways. The first time, I read everything at the
same time - the monograph, the footnotes of both Zampano and Truant, as well as the Editor's footnotes. The second time, I
read the monograph, then I read the footnotes. The third time, I read the monograph, the corresponding footnotes, and then the
unrelated footnotes at the end. Next time (and there will be a next time, that's for sure) I will try my first reading method
again to see if I can solve more of the mystery. This book, unlike any that I have ever read, haunts me.
Check out what other readers said about it on Amazon.
Kiera Wooley kiera@attrition.org