House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of House of Leaves
Book Review: Zampano, Johnny Truant and Navidson
Summary: 4 Stars
At times utterly infuriating, at others creepily absorbing, even terrifying, House of Leaves is either a tour de force of paranoia and mind-numbing horror, or a huge con-trick. It purports to be thrice conceived - the book is presented as Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves by Zampano, with introduction and notes by Johnny Truant. The text might drive you crazy, alternating as it does the story of Navidson, a film-maker, his wife, Karen, and their children who move into very peculiar house with dimension-changing properties, and the drug-crazed rambles of Johnny Truant, a young tattooist with a tragic past. Johnny lived in the same house as Zampano, a blind old man who has collected together all the relics of the story of Navidson. In its first conception it is a film, secondly the writings of Zampano, and thirdly the additions made by Johnny Truant. All of these accounts are mixed up together, and then there are the footnotes, various appendices and works of art, including collages and poetry. In all 907 pages of text that occasionally bursts out in peculiar ways - as concrete poetry, written diagonally, edge to edge, upside down, in boxes, in different fonts - and in numerous other ways - all to somewhat bafflingly obtuse, arcane or abstract (sometimes even amusing) effect. Some of the footnotes are quotes from people such as William Wordsworth, Camille Paglia, Stanley Kubrick, etc., some are even genuine quotes, but they are all spuriously appended to something that never happened, for the story of Navidson's adventures is fiction.
What's to like in such gallimaufry (n. heterogeneous mixture, jumble, medley)? Numerous moments of genuine suspense, are mixed in with portentous background, recounted effluvia and Navidson-related trivia. Johnny Truant gets into fights and sleeps with a number of girls though not with the one he really wants (a stripper called Thumper, with her nether-regions tattooed with the legend "The Happiest Place On Earth). Towards the end there are the letters his mentally ill mother sent during his numerous experiences as a foster-child. We learn little about the life of the putative author Zampano.
A great achievement and a triumphant (possibly post-post-modernist) work of art, this book most certainly is, but as a reading experience it requires stamina and grim determination to get through. Some critics have compared Danielewski to David Foster Wallace, but Wallace, if similarly digressive, was never less than entertaining and his intelligence and erudition were the unforced, natural corollaries of his brainy brilliance. Danielewski has a similar warmth and is undoubtedly an adventurous and engaging writer, but the wit and charm don't quite stretch to cover his ambitions. Nevertheless, I would heartily recommend this novel for it's sheer, adventurous complexity. It is something else.
Book Review: Gripping and original
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll keep this short. This is not a flawless masterpiece, but it is original, gripping and offers a new reading experience. The basic idea of the Navidson house is intriguing and I'm sure if House of Leaves had been written as a conventional novel it would've done very well. The eccentric structure can be offputting at times, but it is part of the unique experience of the book, and if you are left confused about some things (which is very likely) you can always read it again.. a different way!
Definitely recommended.