House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I almost didn't finish this. Starting this book back during...January(?), it immediately got under my skin. I started having nightmares and a feeling of dread or unease followed me around. I didn't enjoy being made to feel terrified by a simple book so I put it aside to read some Vonnegut. Let me say, I am really glad I came back and finished it.

The book operates on at least two different levels (probably more). Johnny Truant, a wastrel in LA, is given a manuscript that belonged to his friend's elderly (and recently deceased neighbor) Zampano. Zampano was writing a 500+ page meditation on a movie called the Navidson Record, that was supposedly released in 1993. The movie is a documentary (maybe) about a family moving into a house in Virginia where extra rooms appear from nowhere and, eventually, they find an all-black corridor that extends into a maze. The story of the Navidson Record is the main narrative as we follow Will Navidson (a world-famous photographer) into an exploration of the dark labryinth that somehow manifests inside his house (it goes on for miles, defying all laws of physical space). There is plenty of horror as the cold, dark expanse starts dissolving the sanity of anyone who enters. This would be spooky enough but then you have the Johnny Truant parts of the book. Truant takes it upon himself to arrange and publish the annotations Zampano has compiled. In the footnotes of chapters, we get to see the effect that reading the book has on Truant. His psychological breakdown begins to mirror our own (if you are a sensitive reader) and we see things get very, very bad for Mr. Truant before it is all over.

In between these two narratives is the mystery of Zampano that you can kind of piece together using his own footnotes and editorial choices. Along with letters from Truant's mother from her time in a mental institution as well as drawings and photos from (and inspired by) the movie, it all adds up to a pretty harrowing view of mental illness, loneliness, depair and the power of ego. The real trick is in the way that the book is written. Danielewski uses all sorts of tricks (in a chapter about labyrinths, he makes his footnotes lead nowhere or double back on themselves) and stylistic choices to force the reader to read actively. You either jump into the book with both feet or it proves too much work and you stop reading. I doubt anyone has just casually read this book. The level of effort put into the reading then translates into the impact said reading has on your subconscious mind.

I will say two things, if you are not affected by this book in any way after having read it, I would be shocked. And, it is absolutely worth it to read the whole thing. There is kind of a climax halfway through the book when an exploration of the house goes completely wrong. This is where I laid the book down and tried to purge my mind of all the negative thoughts the book created. If I had plowed through (although in my defense, there is no hint from the author that relief is in sight) I would have walked away with a quite refreshing, almost joyful release from the ending. You can't say that things end happily for everyone involved but the truths that are illuminated and the insights one can then use for one's own life are pretty damn cool.

As a work of fiction, I think Danielewski has accomplished a pretty singular and amazing feat. If you let it in, this book will make you think about big, important things in your life. While it doesn't give many answers, the questions it presents are well worth the time. Plus, it is a scary as hell horror story to boot.

Josh