[If you HAVE NOT read House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, I highly recommend not reading this blog post to avoid spoilers. If spoilers don’t bother you, continue at your own peril…]

People who know me know that I love a good read. In fact, if it’s good enough, I’ll lock myself away in whichever fictional world is calling my name and I won’t leave again until the story is over.

So, when I heard of Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, I was absolutely and entirely determined to read it, no questions asked. For those of you who have not heard of it, let alone given reading it a go, there are basically (and I really do mean BASICALLY) two stories running concurrently. There is the story of the Navidsons, who move into a house to ‘become closer as a family’, only to realise that their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It begins to shift, rooms begin to appear and it results in a full-scale exploration into the cavernous depths of the house, ultimately driving them further apart. Needless to say, shit gets weird. This story is relayed via a manuscript written by an old, blind guy named Zampano after he watches Will Navidson’s movie detailing his experiences.

Alongside this, there is the story of Johnny Truant, a [mentally unstable] tattoo artist, who finds the manuscript (The Navidson Record) and as a result of reading it, loses his job and his mind – cutting himself off from the outside world and trying to solve the mysteries of the characters in the Navidson Report. All the while, having hot sex with a string of women he meets in bars and on the street and wherever, really, that he can find them.

Basically, this is a book, about a book, about a movie, about a house that’s inner dimensions don’t match its outer dimensions.

The concept of a house defying physics like that drives me insane and while the manuscript attempts to make explanations for its existence, there is nothing concrete as to how or why the house exists in this continuously changing manner. While I did not particularly find the concept of the house ‘scary’ (for me, it wasn’t believable enough), I did find some of the recounts of the subsequent explorations CREEPY. In fact, some of the descriptions are so well crafted that I started to empathise with the characters and almost feel their worry and pain.

In fact, Truant gives such a convincing and detailed account of the FEELING of being followed, that I couldn’t even walk through my own house without having to rush between dark, open spaces or (what I have begun to lovingly refer to as) crab-walk along the hallway from my bedroom to the toilet.

This book really hooked me from page one. While it had a really strong start, I felt myself becoming less and less convinced as the book went on and the house became more prominent. I finished it, because I was determined and while I really did, in essence, enjoy not only the format of the book (more on that later) as well as the story line, essentially I was disappointed as it felt too unresolved for me. But hey, maybe that’s the point of the book?

I was left with a bunch of thoughts and questions, a few of which I will discuss here. I do not claim to know what I’m talking about, though. Since reading I have done a lot of searching on forums run by people much more dedicated to solving the mystery than I am.

I did not realise until half way through that my particular cover (see above) has the markings of the house floor plan (the spiral staircase, subsequent hallways). This seemed SO obvious once I realised, but it legitimately blew my mind. Not only this, but the front cover unfolds, making it smaller on the outside, and bigger on the inside, just like the house.

Title’s Significance

I guess my main question after reading this was… Why the heck is it called House of Leaves?! My favourite theory on this is that the whole thing was imagined. It’s all a hallucination and the book itself is the house. By reading the book, you enter the house. The house lives in the pages. Pages of a book are known as leaves. Thus “House of Leaves”. I’m going to leave that there because it is the only explanation I want and need.

“House” appearing in Blue

There is an interesting theory here that I ABSOLUTELY love, based around MZD’s response to a question regarding the blue text. He said to think about how blue is used in movies. During my reading, I came across someone (the source escapes me, I’ll update if I can find it) who explained their theory as the house being like a blue screen. A blue screen in movies is a blank canvas – it has the potential to be anything, everything or nothing. Someone else suggested it represents the nothingness, the void that the house really is. My favourite so far, however, is the simple idea that it is meant as a visual pun… the word house is in blue print.

The Check Mark on Page 97

I noticed this during reading, but didn’t make the connection with the ‘check mark’ that Johnny’s mother requests he make in the lower right corner of her letter to assure her that he received it. Theories suggest that this check mark means the TRUE author of HoL was in fact, Johnny’s mother. I don’t buy this. I just don’t like it, even if it is true. If it is all going to be fabricated, I much prefer the idea of it all being Johnny’s fabrication. I can’t even bring myself to start discussing the number of additional theories (like Zampano as Johnny’s father) that this SIMPLE check mark brings into question.

How is Navidson READING the book I AM READING about HIMSELF?

I can’t even. This is just too much. I mean, WHAT?! Towards the end of the book, when Navi is completing his fifth and final exploration of the house, he is reading a book titled “House of Leaves”. Assumedly, this is a copy of the same text I am reading, while I read that he is reading it. It is suggested that the only reason he survives is because he KNOWS he survives, because he read about it in House of Leaves. This then becomes so mind blowingly confusing for me that I have decided to just leave it alone and never think about it again.

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On a side note, the formatting of the book – purposely designed to reflect the way the house changes and disorients the explorers (and you!) is something that appears confusing when you first flick through it. I’m talking about that flick you do before you start reading, the flick that (with this book) will probably leave you, your mouth slightly ajar in shock or mouthing, “what in the bloody hell…..?”. The format, footnotes, crazy layout… I promise, it will all make sense. For the most part.

Something interesting has happened as I write this and take the time to consider the different parts of the book that annoyed me before. I have changed my mind. This book is fantastic. I am SO sure that if I read it again, I would read a different story, take away different information. For me, I tend to lean towards the theory that it IS all fabricated, or that it atleast in some way, is meant to provide an insight into what it is like to experience schizophrenia. In fact, in some ways, I think that the dark, unpredictable hallways of the house are symbolic of Zampano’s blindness.

It messed with me BEFORE I read it, it messed with me while I read it and it is still messing with me now, a week after I finished reading it. I think, essentially, this book has a different meaning to all who read it, there are as many theories as there are readers and those readers create new theories upon additional readings. Just like the house itself, the book is forever changing and growing with each reader, each person that makes careful annotations in the margins or discusses it with a friend or posts online about their own thoughts, in turn creating a new edition of House of Leaves.