House of Leaves

Wow... Back-Blog... Is it really you? It’s me... Trevor. Yes, Trevor. Jeez, I don’t believe it. How long has it been? Over two months! What have you been up to? Oh, Jazzercise classes. Uh-huh. Well, it certainly shows... you look fantastic. And me... well, you know...

Coming back to the Back-Blog feels a little like reconnecting with an old flame you bumped into at the coffee shop. We have so much history yet I can’t help but feel like we’re strangers now. Part of me wants to just pick up from where we last left off, but the other part is too ashamed of all the broken promises and mediocre sex followed long bouts of crying to just resume life as it was.

In case you forgot about my promise, in my last post (months ago) I swore that that was going to set a new record in the amount of blogs posted here. And what happened? Like a coward, I cracked under the pressure, hopped into SpeedDemon (my 2001 Red Jetta with the crumpled bumper and cardboard spoiler), and began my life as a drifter. Half-watching movies and partially reading books as I pleased. No one telling me how or when to finish whatever it was I was working on. And for a while, things were good. Things were simple.

Then things took a turn for the worse. Without finishing anything I started my life fell into despair. Librarians hurl bricks through my windows demanding I return - or at least renew - the piles of half-read books that now litter my apartment. Netflix has put a hold on my account after noticing my massive instant queue list was still untouched. And my rank on Xbox Live dropped to an embarrassing level as I fail again and again to earn any achievement points from my barely touched games. That’s when I realized that I was nothing more than shadow of my former self. A pathetic excuse for a human being. Then it hit me. An epiphany. Everything in my life that was good and wholesome was due to Back-Blog... It completes me.

Now, I know you can’t just take me back - and after what I did I don’t blame you - but maybe there’s a way to show you I’ve change.

As I was walking the isle of my local Borders (now an Urban Outfitters) I overheard a couple talking about the scariest book they ever read. Being a fan of horror, I swooped in after they left to see what all the fuss was about this is what I found:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

I don’t really know where to begin explaining this book. I guess I’ll just start with a few simple questions. Did I like it? Yes. Was it scary? Yes. Would I recommend this book to others? Eh, maybe.

Let me try to explain myself. This book does not read like most novels. There’s no “real” coherent, central storyline to follow. Rather the book tries to break down the fourth wall (if you can even do that with literature) as you begin to uncover this seemingly real case of a family living within a “haunted” house. Ugh... I’m really not doing the book any justice trying to explain it this way. I’ll just start from the beginning.

A tattoo artist, Johnny Truant, from Los Angeles greets you in the introduction. From the start you can tell that this man is mad. Not mad by nature, something has changed him, eaten away his sanity. Quickly you discover that not too long ago his friend (the manager to an apartment building) invites Truant over to check out something weird within one of his recently deceased tenant’s rooms. As they explore the dead man’s room, they discover two things: stacks upon stacks of cluttered writing and notes, and in the middle of it all are claw marks dug into the hard wood floor. With no sign of struggle in the old man’s death, there’s no clue as to what the scratches are all about; but that’s besides the point. The real focus are the stacks of papers left about the apartment because that is in effect what the book is. Danielewski has basically set up a situation where you have in your hands the life’s work of a dead man who has attempted to report upon the Navidson Record - a mysterious, unknown documentary about a family who moves into their new house to find out that the dimensions on the inside surpass those on the outside leading to far more surprises.

Now, while you begin to read through this man’s take on the Navidson Record, you are continuous interrupted with Truant’s side notes, which are sometimes insightful to the text at hand... but honestly they mostly annoying. They almost always involve him having sex or yearning to have sex while he slowly describes his descent into madness through his obsession over these records.

All that aside, however, the book’s largest strength is its ability to allow the reader to choose how much they want to let the book consume them. One one hand you could just flip through the pages focusing solely on the sections dealing with the Navidson Record, learning about the creepy house with the mysterious innards. That would be the bare minimum approach, but you will still grasp the central concept to the book. On the other hand, however, you can have fun diving deep into all the superfluous information gaining deep insights into all the characters and their struggles. The book reads a lot like a school text book with footnotes aplenty always reference you to various appendixes containing certain photos or letters that are relevant to the topic at hand. For example, there’s an entire section in the appendix devoted to dozens of letters written by Truant’s mother after she was committed to a mental institution or something. Although the character has no purpose in the story, by reading her letters you gain great sympathy and understanding of Truant that would have never been gathered on the surface. But once again, it’s completely unnecessary if all you really care about is learning about the family and the haunted house.

Another factor I find astonishing is Danielewski's formatting and pacing of the text. While I said it reads pretty much reads like a textbook (footnotes and all) the standard organization of the page begins to unravel the further you sink into the story. Soon text begins to overlap text, entire lines sit at strange angles, font and sizing randomly change, various words and phrases might be inked in red.

Basically the book makes you go mad just as it has done to Truant and all those before him. And I, for one, think that’s brilliant.

So to tackle those three questions I present a few paragraphs back, this book is fascinating, fun - and most importantly - an original read that does a great job of dropping your defenses and making you vulnerable to any privacy or solitude you may have once found solace in. But is this book for everyone. Well, if your looking for just a conventional novel, a story with your standard character arc and three act structure then I would stay away from this guy. However, if you’re looking or something completely different, then turn down the lights, set Pandora to LUSTMORD (just trust me on this; it completes the mood), and good luck navigating the endless hallways of the Navidson’s home.

Well, there you go. My first review in months. Does this mean I’ve changed, that I’m a better man. Yes and no. I may not be a better man, but I do understand what kind of man I am. I’m a man who can’t keep promises. So no more guarantees on how I’ll be setting a new record in posts. What you see is what you get with me. Maybe you’ll see me tomorrow. Maybe you’ll see in a couple of months. Back-Blog, if you can take me as I am, then maybe we can give this whole thing another shot. What do you say?

Oh, and Back-Blog in case you also forgot about the mediocre sex... that’s probably for the best.