House of Leaves

This is not for you.


House of Leaves
Zampanò 
intro by Johnny Truant
Mark Z. Danielewski, 2000
Randomhouse (Pantheon), 707 pgs.

This book and myself go way back. I believe it's best to start off this blog truthfully. I did not finish this book. I have tried to read this book 7 or 8 times, and it creeps me out so much that I cannot will myself to finish it completely. It changes your perspective of thinking, it takes you in and will not let you go. 

The house will swallow you (w)hole.

I cannot describe this book, so this review will be the most lackluster thing you will ever read from me. It's a maze, and a love story, and a horror story. Both fake and real (so real) at the same time. The best way I can describe it?  It's a book with 3 narrators (4 if you count the editors) The first narration is from Johnny Truant, who comes across the now diseased Zampano's in progress paperwork about a nonexistent movie called The Navidson Record. Within this, The Navidson Record is a documentary about a family who purchases a house in Virginia to try and save their flailing marriage and family. After a weekend away, they come back to the house and realize something is off. There is a door where there wasn't one before. 

Gradually- and frankly- weird shit starts to happen. The 2 most well known things (without giving too much of the book away) is that the interior of the house is slowly, slowly growing bigger and bigger while the exterior stays the same size and shape. The first of these changes is a doorway that is bigger than the exterior of the house by 5/16'', then becomes the "Five and a Half Minute Hallway" whereas a long, deeply inky dark, cold, and silent hallway opens up where there should logically be a wall. As there's no protrusions on the exterior. 

Between what's going on with the actual pseudo analysis, our unreliable narrators Johnny (as showcased by his Courier New font) and the editors (showcased by Times New Roman font.) the book becomes scattered, confusing, claustrophobic. Thus making the book one of the most popular types of New Media/Ergodic Literature in the last 10 years.

At its core, I believe this book is a love story. Do not ask me why, but I became obsessed with House of Leaves. I would stay up late into the hours of the night, feign sickness in order to spend a whole day in it's company. This lasted 15 days until I started to become ill while - and for a few hours after - reading this book. I cannot explain why, but I felt like the world was closing in on me, or I could actually FEEL Johnny's pain and suffering while he was reading the same text. Needless to say, it all got too creepy for me, and I had a life to work on. So I only got to 300 pages before I put the book down. I feel like a failure. House is still sitting on my bookshelf, with the half full notebook with all the notes and things highlighted in it so I could decipher some pages. She sits there and stares at me, knowing I will eventually return and start all over again. I will be continuously stuck in her labyrinth until the end of time.
In short, this is a book not to be messed with or taken lightly. It will eat you up and spit you out. It will feel real (Even though it's a work of extremely awesome fiction, a la Blair Witch Project scale.) but you have to keep telling yourself "It's only a book....It's only a book.....It's only a book...."



Book Haiku

                             

                                             

                         

Night Film

Night Film

Marisha Pessl, 2013

Random House, 602 pgs.


This book is the reason why you should never underestimate the artists who make book covers. If the cover wasn't intriguing to me when I was glancing over the New Releases" in my local bookstore, I would have never picked it up and read the dust jacket synopsis.

It was love at first sight, after immediately purchasing it, I raced home to read it. It took me 1 week to finish the book, and 2 weeks to prepare a haiku and write the review. After careful consideration and many drafts, I decided to re-read the book again. Just to be sure I had everything I wanted to say written down. I hardly ever re-read a book.

Seriously people, it was that good.

The book starts out with a questionable suicide of a 24 year old piano prodigy named Ashley Cordova, who is the only daughter of very famous cult cinema giant Stanislas Cordova; An incredibly well known recluse who is legendary for his explicit and terrifyingly realistic horror films. Our hero is Scott McGrath, a well known investigative journalist whose career took a severe burn by trying to uncover the true nature of the Cordova family. Scott believes with all this heart that Ashley was murdered by Cordova and/or his associates, and- with the help of two young, offbeat, questionable cohorts- thus starts a thrilling, chilling, spellbinding mystery though NY state where we are thrown somewhere between suspension of disbelief, and absolute reality.

It's hard to really discuss this book without spoiling some of what happens. As it is my supreme objective to not ruin a book, nor give any sort of spoilers, I will only give broad, confusing, mysterious reasons as to why I enjoyed this book.

This is a book about finding the truth, as you see it. At least that's what I took away from it. You are tossed about on this journey of false leads and dead ends, but if you read between the lines you will eventually understand the beauty that was the end of this book. A read a lot of reviews and the general consensus is that the ending fell short. But, if reading deeper into it, it was the perfect way to end it. (I know, confusing right? You'll understand if you pick it up and read it.) This book is a ride, a hell of a ride. There were only a few instances where it was getting slow or something became unbelievable to me, but at that point(s) in the story is where the fun part comes in. It's a tale. A fiction. You are supposed to suspend disbelief for a while and just enjoy where this book takes you. If you don't then you're not reading it correctly. It's meant to frighten, to excite, to humiliate the reader. It tricks you in the best way possible.

Pessl is a wonderful writer, she crafted a dark, richly detailed, elaborate literary mystery novel. I love her use of multi-media and unconventional ways to write a book. It was very "House of Leaves". Astounding, I cannot get enough of her. The book instructs you to download the free "Night Film" App in order to discover more clues or go in depth about the clues in the book. The app could still use some work and I believe she or the publisher could have taken it further but it's a great little addendum to an already excellent book. That being said, this is the way a mystery novel should be written in this digital age.

Other than some complications with the app, the only thing I didn't enjoy is her overuse of italics. Most seemed unnecessary. Especially when every other word is italicized. It started to feel hokey. But please don't let this stop you from enjoying this book. If you're a film fan, a mystery fan, a horror buff, or some hipster who is sick and tired of talking about House of Leaves or Ayn Rand novels, go read this book. 





Book Haiku (for the people who have read the book)

Do I dare disturb?

To go where the mermaids lie. 

To find the real truth?



Book Haiku (for the people who haven't read the book)

Go ingest this book.

No. Seriously. Take heed.

And go read this book.