Like many cool kids, this past Thanksgiving I spent some time researching new books to read. I wanted to find a book that could help me get back into reading more since realizing how little time I spent reading for pleasure. Looking back, I chose the wrong book. Coming in at a whopping 662 pages (not including the index because, yes, this fiction book has an index), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is an intimidating read.
Everything about it is unlike anything else that I’ve ever read or even unlike any other book I’ve heard exists. The novel originally started as physical pages that circulated from reader to reader. Eventually, the story started to emerge on the internet where its popularity exploded and reached more readers than ever. While the story has been around for a while, it wasn’t until here recently that everything was collected and published in book form.
What you’re told:
When you do a search of the book, the results will yield a very short, simplified synopsis. The description has been simplified so much so that it almost becomes a lie. It explains that characters Will Navidson and Karen Green have recently moved into a new home with their two children. Like any great story, nothing is as it seems. Upon getting situated in their new lives, the family discovers that their house is special: it’s much bigger inside than it is on the outside. They’re unable to explain how it’s possible and quickly realize the dangers it holds after an ill-fated incident. House of Leaves describes Will Navidson’s fall into madness.
What you’re not told:
Three major characters are completely left out of the synopsis and their connection to the family. This information is vital to understanding the rest of the story and can deter any reader unwilling to put up with confusion while reading. The three unintroduced characters are Johnny Truant, Zampanò, and an unbiased, unnamed editor who sparingly makes comments. Throughout the book, the narrator shifts between Will Navidson, Johnny Truant, Zampanò, and the editor without warning. To keep track of who’s narrating you must pay attention to the font. Each narrator uses a different font, with the exception of Will Navidson. Times New Roman is used for Zampanò, Courier is used for Truant, and Bookman is used for the editor.
That’s a lot to take in and even harder to grasp when you begin reading because of the lack of information you first receive. If you were able to follow all that information, please allow me to try and create more confusion. Now, to the best of my ability, I will try to explain the connection between each character. As explained in the book’s description, Will Navidson and his family have recently moved into a new house. What was not told to you is that his observations are told from the viewpoint of his home videos. As a professional photographer, Navidson thought it’d be interesting to record his experiences of first moving into the home. That means everything we know about Navidson and his family is from the things he says out loud and the things he allows us to see in his videos. We are unable to hear his or his family’s thoughts.
But even the things we believe we know about the family are unreliable. That’s because the films are being told to us by Zampanò. Zampanò is a scholarly writer and is writing an analysis of the family’s home videos. He describes what he’s seen in the films and how he interprets the family’s words and actions. We are never sure if his interpretations are correct or reliable because we have no direct contact with Will Navidson’s films, but we often get quotes from them and are able to make our own judgment about what was said with the little information we have. That explains why Will Navidson is not given his own font. So mostly what we read is actually just Zampanò’s analysis of the family’s videos.
Just when you think you understand what’s happening, you get thrown into more confusion. Enter Johnny Truant. From Truant’s narration, we learn that Zampanò has died. Being mischievous and young, Truant and his friend decide to break into Zampanò’s apartment after the body has been removed. After rummaging through Zampanò’s things, Truant finds his analysis of Will Navidson’s videos. After reading it, Truant becomes obsessed with the Zampanò’s analysis and his narration is told through footnotes that can get lengthy and sometimes take up their own page.
The unidentified editor also makes a few comments within the footnotes of Zampanò’s analysis. These comments are often very short and are sometimes used to elaborate on a point that Truant started talking about.
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