A Complex Text
Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves is at the very least, an enigma. Normally, in this part of the review, I would give a brief summary of what the book was about, and a limited plot synopsis. Unfortunately (or, in some cases, fortunately) this is all but impossible in the case of House of Leaves.
The story is told in layers of narrative, revolving around a central story of a house that defies the laws of physics and has a sometimes malevolent character. Our primary layer of narrative is told by Johnny Truant, a low-level tattoo artist who find the collected works of one Zampano (our second level narrator) about the Navidson record, which is a documentary dealing with the house in question. Confused? Bear with me.
Post-modernist Roots
House of Leaves has been compared to other post-modern works of literature like Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, and while this is a legitimate and valuable comparison, Danielewski has gone above and beyond the previously accepted limits of literature in House of Leaves, pushing the boundaries of literary comprehension and stylistic integrity.
The book, in addition to being a story told in words, is a story told by words. The text itself will change to match or contrast with the content of the book, falling like a staircase as Navidson descends, becoming compressed to the center of the page as he crawls through a tunnel, dropping vertically as he falls, etc. This may be distracting or even irritating to some readers, but if you allow yourself to become involved in the story, you may find yourself actually feeling the sensation of agoraphobia or claustrophobia.
Multiple Narratives
In addition to this, House of Leaves intertwines the many narratives of the book masterfully, and each is told with a unique style and purpose. Truant's narrative has the rambling, visceral cadence of a Pynchon novel, while the Zampano text reads as a deep and highly accurate satire of academic criticism, while Navidson's narrative reads the most like a traditional novel.
Embedded this way, the story is told in halting, disjointed segments, divided by never ending footnotes and strange subject shifts. If the reader does not try too hard to follow a linear path, the narrative slowly reveals itself, bit by bit, built very much like the house in question.
Highly Referential
The book also contains a quantity of references to challenge Ulysses. Containing academic references (both fabricated and actual) on everything from photography to philosophy, House of Leaves likewise draws heavily from literary sources as broad as Norse mythology and Derridean deconstructionism. These references vary, sometimes bewildering the reader and sometimes allowing him or her to be drawn further into the book. The sources drawn from are far too broad for any one person to fully incorporate on the first reading, and it is clear from the overwhelming depth of the book that it is meant to be read multiple times.
Challenging but Rewarding
There is no doubt that House of Leaves is a difficult book to read. Like so many other modern masterpieces, House of Leaves attempts to forge a new path in the field of literature, and sometimes this takes it down roads that are impossible to follow. The sheer quantity of textual anomalies, obscure references and bizarre storytelling techniques is more than enough to scare off the average reader.
But if one allows themselves to truly be drawn into the story, it actually feels more compelling this way: House of Leaves reads like the loose compilation of thoughts from multiple authors, so much so that it is sometimes easy to forget that it is a work of fiction. House of Leaves is not an easy read, nor a quick one, but it has become a cultural phenomenon, and it is a book that does something very unique – as you read it, so it reads you. It would be a shame to miss such an experience.
Publisher: Pantheon; 2nd edition (March 7, 2000)
ISBN: 0375703764
Robert Guthrie - Robert is an itinerant writer, reader and academic with a broad range of interests. In addition to writing for Suite 101, he writes for ...
