After reading Jeff VanderMeer's essay on House of Leaves in Horror: Another 100 Best Books, I was on a mission to find Danielewski's debut novel. I found it, all 700 pages of it, and dived in.
When I finally came out, I was stunned. I can't really add much to VanderMeer's excellent essay on the book. All I can tell you is that House of Leaves is an unconventional tour-de-force that will reward patient readers immensely.
I'm grossly oversimplifying here, but House of Leaves is a story within a story within a story. Twenty-something Johnny Truant discovers a collection of writings by an old blind man named Zampano. The writings are largely a study of a documentary film called The Navidson Record, which in itself is a chronicle of the strange goings-on inside the house of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Will Navidson. Navidson, his partner Karen and their two children move into a house in Virginia, a house that holds the promise to bring Will and Karen's fractured relationship closer to healing. But the house holds much more.
Navidson discovers that the inside of the house is larger than the outside. Immensely larger. Colossally larger. Navidson even hires explorers to find out just what's going on in the house while he sets about documenting the entire expedition on film. Meanwhile his relationship with his family deteriorates.
But that's just part of the story. Exactly who was this Zampano and why did he compile all this information about The Navidson Record? Does the film even exist? Johnny has to find out. To say that all things Navidson become an obsession for Johnny is a huge understatement.
House of Leaves works as a study of what drives us to do the things we do, regardless of the consequences. It's also a heartbreaking look at relationships. It's often humorous. And it contains several moments of pure and absolute terror. Of the thirteen books I've read so far in 2006, House of Leaves tops the list. Highly recommended.
Now Playing = Baroque Duet – Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis
Reading = Orphan of Chaos – John C. Wright
Listening to = Life of Pi – Yann Martel
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