House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)
An experimental novel with atypical formatting including many footnotes, text printed within boxes or upside down, and a lengthy appendix.
Laura’s Rating: 1/5 Stars
Plot: Filmmaker Will Navidson and his family move into a new house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, mysteriously containing spaces that should not physically exist. This story is told by Zampanó, an old blind man, and it’s edited by Johnny, a young man who becomes haunted by the story.
Analysis: The foreword says “This is not for you.” You know what? I think that’s true.
If this book was simply the story of the Navidson’s mysterious house, I could have enjoyed it. Instead, it’s the Navidson’s house in the context of the academic study of an old man, now being given (often unrelated) commentary from a young man. Plus footnotes. And upside text.
I hated this book. It was such a pointless time-suck that had virtually no pay off. I’ve read some positive reviews and discussions of this book in an attempt to understand why some readers enjoy it. I get that the author has a unique approach. Sure, the weird formatting is supposed to reflect the confusion, discomfort, claustrophobia, etc. that that author is trying to get across. But rather than enhancing the story, these elements just felt tedious and unnecessary. I’d rather that the story itself portrayed these feelings instead of the book relying on abnormal formatting to do it.
To be honest, this felt like the author was playing a joke on readers to the effect of “I wonder how many people will spend time reading this nonsense book”. Joke is on me I guess. There were meta concepts and asides recognizing the faults of the book, which more annoyed than amused me. There were nuggets I liked and the ending was alright, but by that time, I was just ready to be done.
Listen to the book: this is not for you. House of Leaves was an absolute chore and I don’t recommend it.
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