Heartlessed Book Review: House of Leaves
House of Leaves is a strange book. If you’re picking one up, be well aware of the warning that was at the very beginning: This is not for you.
For House of Leaves is no your conventional thriller/horror/whatever genre critics slapped on. Some may find plenty of chills, thrills and treasures in each line, while others may be completely bored out of their minds. It’s a book for the bibliophiles, cinephiles and photographiles; those who love the touch of ink on paper and values printed lines like precious gems; those who get lost from lights, sounds and visions.
And most importantly, it is NOT for those seeking cheap entertainments.
There are two plot lines here: one is an essay (with all the footnotes, indexes and such) about The Navidson Records, a documentary film that doesn’t exist. The “film” is about a supposedly famous photographer named Will Navidson (who does not exist either) who moved into a new house in Virginia with his family. Things seem fine until one day, out of no where, they found out the interior measurements of the house somehow exceeds the exterior by 1/4 of an inch. What follows is a whrilwind of terror, insanity and even violence. On the other side, we have the story of Johnny Truant, a young man who happened to find the essay’s manuscript after the original author died. As Truant examines the paper and put it in place, he started to experience paranoia and agoraphobia that is the central theme of Navidson’s story.
It took time and effort to get into the book, especially the essay section. It started off fairly slowly, which can be a challenge to the less patient. At times, it will go off discussing a very minor subject for a whole chapter. The footnotes of the essay, a prominent feature of this book, can span pages long. Again, as I said above this isn’t an easy read. The Truant sections is similar, in that Truant’s discussions on his life before and after finding the manuscript can be random, jittering, and even at times tedious.
However, if you can get pass those elements, then House of Leaves becomes truly terrifying. Danielewski is able to create an atmosphere that is both agoraphobic and claustrophobic, creating an unsettling effect that will crawl under your skin. One theme of the book is that even the tiniest, most insignificant changes in things can create a great unsettling in someone’s life: we saw this in how small architectural changes in the house on Ash Tree Lane evolved into a dark world of void and terror; or how a simple coincidence (or is it?) of founding the manuscript can completely unravel Truant’s life. In the book, Danielweski often employs unsual page layouts, fonts and colour to archieve this unsettling, unnatural atmosphere.
One of the major themes of the book is how past traumas can haunt you and never truly disappear. Navidson and Traunt are both haunted by semi-paranormal events that stemmed from their past traumas. It was through endurance of their horrific journey that they are able to, in some ways or another, reconcile with their past. Another prominent theme is the fear of unknown; in inexplicable things but more importantly in self. You don’t know who you are; like the sacrificed children in Minotaur’s labyrinth, wandering around looking for something, just something, even if it’s a monster. The loss of self may indeed be considered a better fate than not knowing about self at all.
There are many ways to interpret House of Leaves, and you will never find an entirely satisfying one. The many puzzles, riddles and secrets Danielewski hid in it won’t help either. You will be frustrated, kept awake at night, and experience the same thing Johnny Truant experienced from the manuscript. Or you can take the quick way out and think Danielewski trolled us all with an overcomplicated mess. Either way, be warned: This may be not for you.