minorthreat78's Full Review: Mark Z. Danielewski and Zampano - House of Leaves
The set-up runs more or less as follows: A young man named Johnny Truant happens upon a blind, elderly shut-in known only as "Zampano". After Zampano's death, Johnny discovers a manuscript Zampano was working on up to his death. Having little else going on in his life, Johnny tries to piece it together. The manuscript, as it turns out, is a criticism and analysis of "The Navidson Record", a documentary about a house that is bigger on the inside than the outside. Johnny grows more and more obsessed with this task, his life falling apart around him as the characters in the story do likewise.
The book "House of Leaves" is presented as the manuscript "The Navidson Record" with footnotes by Johnny and the "editors", as well as miscellaneous appendices and evidence, and an (insanely) complete index. The whole package was ostensibly written by Mark Z. Danielewski, who, incidentally, is the brother of singer/songwriter Poe (an artist worth checking out, for what its worth). The book has a number of post-modern touches (text sideways, upside down, backwards, in several colors, etc.) which either add to or detract from the story, depending on your opinion. It definitely is the author's conceit, and some readers will be turned-off by this.
The most unusual feature of the story is its presentation as fact. While not the first book to do this (Nabokov did it decades ago, for instance), it adds the further twist; namely, how did a blind man write a book about a movie he (by definition) never saw?
On first reading this book, my first thought was, "Hmm...interesting", and then I went on my way. But eventually, days, weeks passed by and the story wouldn't leave my mind. Much like Mr. Truant, I began obsessing. I looked all over the internet and found answers to many of my questions...however, the answers led to more questions, and so on. I fear there are no absolute answers to this story; was that the intention, or is there something more?
Be warned: this book is fairly long and very tangential; this is not weekend or beach time reading. At a certain point in the book, the reader will likely either get sick or bored of the games the book plays, or will be intrigued, and maybe even a bit obsessed. Based on the online community dedicated to this novel, many others also found this obsession.
Its hard to even really call this a novel; this book is, both literally and figuratively, a maze. If you want a straightforward horror story, then, in the words of the book, "This is not for you". On the other hand, those looking for a book that will "get under your skin", I would definitely suggest giving it a shot.
The textbook, House of Leaves : A Novel, by Mark Z. Danielewski, available in Paperback. Published by: Random House, Inc.. Edition: . ISBN10: 037...More at Textbooks.com
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