House of Leaves
By Mark Z. Danielezski
Rating 5/5
Genres : Horror, Mystery, Gothic, Drama
The structure of the book is very different. At times I had to remind myself that this is only a work of fiction. It tells a scientific expedition by a group of people along side with foot notes taken from journals, research papers and puts forth different sets of arguments for and against the events and the participants' reactions to them.
Some readers said this is a horror story while some felt it is a love story. I guess I will lean more towards the horror and mystery side than love although their is some deep realization and self sacrifice in the name of true love in the story. It is very engrossing and I couldn't put it down trying to make out what it all amounts to in the end. I guess the end is a mystery to me although there are some opinions and theories put forth in the unraveling of the plot.
An old man Zampano who leads the life of a recluse dies and leaves behind plenty of papers and his journals in a trunk. His neighbors Johnny and Lude steal the trunk box and Johnny starts going over the material in the box. It tells the story of a house of leaves - a house in Virginia which a couple Will Navidson and Karen with their children newly purchase and occupy. Navidson is a pulitzwr prize winning photo journalist whose life is about taking risks to get the right shots out. They are surprised to learn that the interior of the house is larger than the exterior. While experimenting on the issue, new closet spaces miraculously appear in the house where they were not there previously. A team of explorers with Navidson and his twin brother Tom enter this closet space which keeps going endlessly through a maze of doors and whose layout keeps changing whimsically every now and then. Some lose their lives, some are emotionally and psychically shattered while others barely escape with their lives. Navidson for several reasons revisits the house to explore the meaning of it all but finds nothing and the house just disappears..
The reader of the journal of zampano, Johnny in the meantime grows an obsession with the material, becomes a recluse, haunted by nightmares and ghostly beasts that are purely living in his imagination sort of starts losing grip over reality. He weaves a world of horror for himself in which he kills people and hurts them brutally..he goes in search of the house..but nothing comes out of it..
So what is this house made of? What is this infinite space within finite space made of? Why is it there and not there suddenly? Is it alien in origin? I definitely like the way the whole plot is organized and the endless psychological analysis on Navidson mental capabilities and Karen's emotional states were very interesting..I just loved the story within the story..or rather the movie thesis within the story..
Comments
Post a Comment