House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

 

House of Leaves

by Mark Z. Danielewski

I can't pretend I know how to talk about this book other than to briefly say what happens in it and what my impressions are of it.

The story is about a young man named Johnny Truant as he makes his way through a documentary writing by a man named Zampanò, who himself discusses a documentary film involving the Navidson-Green who made the film that came to be know as The Navidson Record. The film documents their time living in a new house that turns out to be bigger on the inside than it is on teh outside, and which has the ability to change itself in astounding and incomprehensible ways. This film seems to affect everyone who sees it in some way, and the record of it, and Johnny's attempts to work his way through it and unravel its meaning, ultimately causes him to lose his mind.

It is a smartly written book, though the prose is simple. It is supposed to be a horror novel, but it is far too complicated and thought-provoking for me to reduce it to that genre alone. The structure is famous for being unusual, with varied textual formations, many footnotes that refer back and forth through the book--some telling Johnny Truant's story (in fact, his story is only told in the footnotes)--and many additional materials at the back of the book that are referred to in the text. I can't imagine having the imagination or ability to think of a structure like this or to write a book like this. What does the story mean? I have no idea. It is complex and subtle, and can be read in so many different ways, that the real meaning of the story is lost on me. But what I got out of it was a breaking apart and coming back together, the wholeness being found in those you love. The story is labyrinthine in structure and in its readings, which are many. It would take repeated re-readings to be able to sort it all out. And even then, I think, you'd only be scratching the surface.

Because House of Leaves is so imaginative, creative, and complicated I am giving it 4 stars. It is a feat of story telling.