Not my best essay, but hey.
HOUSE OF LEAVES
What does it mean to be a book? House of Leaves is a book, but after reading it you begin to question how it can be defined simply as a book. When one imagines a book one would normally think of a continuous stream of words all bound together forming one story. House of Leaves challenges this assumption.
House of Leaves is different from other books on many levels. The appearance of the book is the easiest to find. The typeset, the mirror images, long lists about nothing and three-page footnotes cleverly weave themselves into many stories revolving around one topic.
Unlike short-story collection books, the stories presented in House of Leaves are all codependent on one another. Some footnotes venture off into stories about a man watching a movie called The Navidson Record. The text of The Navidson Record plays a major part in the book. Some stories discuss the stories about the movie. It’s a wicked tangle, but some how Mark Z. Danielewski makes it all work.
House of Leaves is very different to read than other books because it challenges ones mind to work on many levels. Each page holds so many, or so few, things to comprehend that the brain has to be much more attentive than if it was reading an average novel.
The stories included in the book cover a wide range of topics, providing almost every reader with something to relate to. This also makes House of Leaves special. The book in itself is a mystery for each reader to solve, and the author never comes to saw you from your wonder. It stays a mystery and that is the best part.
So why is House of Leaves more than a book? Maybe it is not. But it is defiantly a book with a nudge towards full usage of one’s imagination. And in our world of television and predictability, House of Leaves shines as something more than can be defined in four letters.
What does it mean to be a book? House of Leaves is a book, but after reading it you begin to question how it can be defined simply as a book. When one imagines a book one would normally think of a continuous stream of words all bound together forming one story. House of Leaves challenges this assumption.
House of Leaves is different from other books on many levels. The appearance of the book is the easiest to find. The typeset, the mirror images, long lists about nothing and three-page footnotes cleverly weave themselves into many stories revolving around one topic.
Unlike short-story collection books, the stories presented in House of Leaves are all codependent on one another. Some footnotes venture off into stories about a man watching a movie called The Navidson Record. The text of The Navidson Record plays a major part in the book. Some stories discuss the stories about the movie. It’s a wicked tangle, but some how Mark Z. Danielewski makes it all work.
House of Leaves is very different to read than other books because it challenges ones mind to work on many levels. Each page holds so many, or so few, things to comprehend that the brain has to be much more attentive than if it was reading an average novel.
The stories included in the book cover a wide range of topics, providing almost every reader with something to relate to. This also makes House of Leaves special. The book in itself is a mystery for each reader to solve, and the author never comes to saw you from your wonder. It stays a mystery and that is the best part.
So why is House of Leaves more than a book? Maybe it is not. But it is defiantly a book with a nudge towards full usage of one’s imagination. And in our world of television and predictability, House of Leaves shines as something more than can be defined in four letters.