House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of House of Leaves
Book Review: A creative marriage of horror and satire
Summary: 5 Stars
House of Leaves is a multi-layered novel that is a satire, a horror story, and much more. At the core is the story of Will Navidson and his life partner Karen Green. He is a documentary filmmaker; she is a model. They have just moved into a house in Virginia when strange things begin to happen: a closet appears where nothing was there before, the house seems to expand until it is larger inside than out, and, finally, a door appears that leads into a perpetually dark labyrinth--a maze of featureless corridors and staircases that expand and contract unpredictably. Naturally, Navidson is compelled to explore and document this bizarre phenomenon. He eventually produces a feature film titled "The Navidson Record."
The next level of the novel concerns a blind derelict named Zampano. He lives in squalor and apparently spends most of his time talking to stray cats, but upon his death his neighbor discovers a chest containing an unpublished manuscript that is a comprehensive history and critical treatment of "The Navidson Record." The neighbor turns this manuscript over to his friend Johnny Truant, a drug addict with an abusive childhood who works as an assistant at a tattoo parlor. So the book you read is, for the most part, Johnny's edited version of Zampano's manuscript. In this heavily footnoted document (the footnotes tell much of the story) Johnny manages to tell much of his own life history, including his obsession with a stripper he calls "Thumper." But the more he transcribes Zampano's manuscript, the more it begins to destroy him as it evidently destroyed Zampano.
In Zampano's scholarly treatment of "The Navidson Record" we see the satirical element of the novel. The discovery of the bizarre hallway leading to some other dimension has been analyzed from every perspective: artistic, architectural, psychological, sociological, sexual, literary, but never does anyone ask the most obvious question: What is this thing? Each moment of the film has spawned dissertations and scholarly papers galore about the relationships between the characters, but nothing about the enormous and terrifying discovery they have made.
Throughout the novel, Danielewsky plays with the contrast between the visual and the verbal. Navidson makes a film about a place in perpetual darkness, Zampano, a blind man, writes a treatise about a film he can never see. His text is then laid out in a manner that can only be interpreted visually. Flip through the book and you will see bizarre typographics: footnotes galore, footnotes within footnotes, text running in all three dimensions, text upside down and backwards, pages with only a single word, etc. All of this is to provide the reader with another level of shared experience as Navidson and others explore the labyrinth.
What makes House of Leaves extraordinary is that it operates on so many levels, yet is compulsive reading. The footnotes, the bizarre typography, and the multiple story lines all blend effortlessly into a thoughtful yet captivating novel.
Book Review: A cut to the chase...
Summary: 5 Stars
If you look at all the other reviews, they will tell you it all. to tell you the truth, there are really no words to describe the horrifying and psychologicaly taxing experiance you get when reading this. I slept with the light on for two night(this is not a lie!). I finished the book three days ago and I am still obsessing over the end. If you don't read this there is some seriosly wrong with you (but if you're not psychologicaly demented, you will be when you finish reading. I promise). --Write me at fearandloathing20@Hotmail.com-- to talk about this outstanding book.Book Review: A dark journey into yourself
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like reading, and thinking, and expanding your vocabulary, (and, I should probably add, expanding your mind) then House of Leaves is a book you want to read. Most of the negative reviews I read here said either House of Leaves "had nothing to say," or "the story is boring."
To claim that House of Leaves has nothing to say is to spit in the face of art. All art is interpretive; House of Leaves will show you things about yourself that maybe you didn't want to think about. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was the case for me. Danielewski went to great lengths to make sure the narrative was fractured and disjointed, so if people don't understand it, it is either because they didn't want to put in the effort, or because they don't possess the capacity to see the fascinating overlapping and interweaving of metaphors, symbols, and allegories (not to mention characters, events, and times).
This book really does everything extraordinarily. I think many people who were disappointed by House of Leaves' plot were horror fans looking for a little mindless death. Serious, thinking people will be intrigued by the expanding house, the descent of Johnny, Navidson's perspective and motivations, and Zampano's brilliant and insane interludes. The bizarre, dark plot matches the tone - and, somehow, even the symbolism - perfectly.
If you usually read John Grisham, Sue Grafton, J. K. Rowling, James Patterson, Stephen King, Dan Brown, etc. this book may not be for you. These authors are great, but provide little more to the reader than television; they are the literary equivalent of a "popcorn movie." Enjoyment of this novel takes time and energy. But I would advise anyone to give it a try. The fruits of your labor may be worth more than you can imagine.
Book Review: A dream, a nightmare, a hated love, an unfinished myth - there are no words to classify the experience.
Summary: 5 Stars
Mark Z. Danielewski's incredible first novel remains beyond classification or genre placement. This might be because - beyond showing an incredible talent at post-modern storytelling - the story has a lot going on. Most notably: 1)a small time tattoo artist's discovery of an almost academic monograph called The Navidson Record, 2) written by a blind man named Zampanò, 3)about a nonexistent documentary film about a photojournalist who finds a house that has some disturbing quirks. For one, the house is bigger on the outside than it is on the inside, with a mysterious hallway that shouldn't exist and continuously changes shape. Woven between this layering of narrators, Danielewski packs in footnotes, poems, scientific lists, collages, Polaroids, appendices of fake correspondence and "various quotes"; single lines of prose or sometimes single words on a page, and even crossed-out passages.
While this story may seem, at first, to be too broken to induce actual fear in the reader, the story within unfolds in such a way that the reader can not help but grow unsettled. Because of this, the closest classification I can think of would be "psychological thriller," though that is hardly all inclusive. Each interwoven story has a different taste, almost comparable to spices in a complex soup.
The first time I read this book, I couldn't put it down - I was almost frantic at some moments, flipping wildly through the pages with few words and turning the book upside down to read other passages. 'House of Leaves' is a full blown experience, one that not only left me breathless, but also with a vague sense of unease. It was hard to resist the impulse of tacking measuring tape all over my walls :)
This novel is not for everyone. The story lines are disjointed, and there are a few chapters that really slow down before the spectacular intensity of the finish. There are also a number of fairly violent scenes, that, while not overly graphic, are still hard to stomach. Not a story to read to the kids! My only other suggestion would be to get the full color edition. It's the best way to grasp the full experience of Danielewski's incredible vision.
Book Review: A fine book
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of those books. You know, the ones you always want to find. The ones you read in a day or less from the couch to the covers on your bed. The ones you spend the next couple weeks recommending to all of your friends. The ones you want to go back and read but realize you gave your copy to a friend who of course gave it to a friend....This book moves.