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goodatdoom · 2 years ago

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My review of House of Leaves

House of Leaves is a book written by Mark .Z Danielewski as his debut work. I finished it today, and now I’m going to review it.

House of Leaves can be interpreted as a criticism of criticism itself. The four, at some points five, narrators overlay and interact in structurally interesting ways to replicate a sort of pseudo-psycholigistic environment, even if the narrators arent aware of eachother. This perhaps mirrors the state of debate in a modern setting, forever unaware of the opposing person. The way House of Leaves works this into its story by creating cliffhangers by a different narrator hijacking the story makes it extremely memorable and its point only more valid as the flagrant disregard each narrator has for another (besides Ed.) speaks the same as a theorized point being written over.

I want to talk now about one of the narrators- the analyser of the Navidson Records. This person, to me, is a clear satire of a certain character archetype- the intelligent professor. This narrator, whom I will henceforth refer to as Prof, is the prime offender among the characters for overuse of references. For nearly every page they talk, it sounds as if they are plucking random pages as they dust their fingers along the ream of an obscure library shelf. But they work splendidly! The sidetangents on doors, eyes, Mount Everest - they all brilliantly tie into the narrative. It really does play off like a planned psychologists thesis.

I believe its this stretch logic, before justification, is the intended satire. This is only made more clear by the overt use of many different languages that quoted are pulled from. Though most are translated by the Editor, some are left mysteried. It is this barrier, and the dense paragraphing and structure Prof uses, that is a microcosm for the greater barrier of upper scientific works. It is a satire for the accessibility of the frontier of sciences. This might sound like a writing flaw, but Prof has a secondary purpose in the narrative - telling the main plot line, a job which they succeed at completely.

The book sets a structure, in which Prof tells the story, analyses it, then continues. And it is this analysis of the story we just read that makes it so much more interesting. It truly is a genius play by the writer, Mark Z. Danielewski, to literally tell us why the story is interesting and the characters are good. It's this criticsm loop that makes it feel so real. A story does not openly assess itself- that is for the readers. By stealing this job, it grounds its own speech perfectly in reality, and makes the main characters seem so real. This of course would not be possible without actually consistent characters, which HoL is more than fine to deliver on.

A particular strength Danielewski has is for the voice of a character. As I was reading, I found myself referring to the characters as if they were people. If I had thoughts about Tom Navidson's character, I wouldn't think hare nor tail of a character. I would think of him as if I was psychoanalysing a human being. This is due to the analysis structure I mentioned earlier, but also just excellent run-of-the-mill character writing. Now, more on the narrators later. I am going to talk now about the actual point of the book- the House.

When the cast are exploring the House, they end up becoming mirages of their own fears. (spoilers ahead) Holloway fears the natural, and progresses into a psychotic man on a rampage with a gun. Tom fears his inadequacy and innate simplicity infront of the overbearing curiosity and apparent control of his brother, and progresses into a more perfected version of Will, dying quite heroically. This brings me to Will Davidson. His struggle is Frankensteinian, in a peril of science versus religion. An arms race between the two in his brain, as he attempts to explain the inexplicable. He fears religion. And so, be progresses into the story's chaotic definition of a God.

When the closet betwixt the bedrooms is found to be impossibly short, Will's initial instant instinct is to contact Reston, whom uses a lazer measurer. This begins the progression from completely enamored in the science, refutation of the impossible natures of the house (as the book spends alot of time describing Karen and Will's fear to the topologically impossible) to his final stage as God. The first stage is a strong one. It is not even broken when he realizes he is trapped within the House- utilizing the sounds of echos to measure distance. Noteworthy, an echo works due to a place being full of molecules for a sound wave to travel across. This will be important for later. The second stage, in which he begins to care less for science, comes after Tom's death. His letter to Karen makes this apparent. The book leads up to the letter with Will's scientific discoveries made useless. In fact, one of the narrators even forgets to include several components of it. The book (which can be treated as synonomous with the House) brushes it aside, as if it is saying that science against the House is no good weapon. His transition into Stage 2, a state between religious acceptance and scientific denial in the context of the house, begins with this.

This is evidenced in his refusal to contact any major professionals. I believe this begins as a desire to not be embarassed, but turns into an acceptance. To put himself into a room of other scientists would be like looking into a mirror of his younger self. By this point in the story, his brother and two friends are dead, his wife is planning divorce, his kids have been taken away- etcetera. To have the House’s supernaturality be wrestled with by a whole new sector of people- a supernaturality that ruined him- would be torture. That is why I believe he does not contact others.

However, after all this, it is revealed in the end of his letter to Karen (which we are told is written live, not planned in any sense by Will) I quote: “What I mean to say is that our house is God.” This is where Stage 2 two truly, formally begins. A midway point between his pseudo-godhood and the rational family man of chapter 1. This is backed up by himself being shocked: “I just made God a street address.”- he talks as if there are two sides of him, as if “I” is some other force. More on this quote later.

I would like to talk now about stage 3, but to maintain rigor, I will also talk about what I think is the transition point between 2 and 3- the odometer breaking. An odometer is a pure scientific tool to measure distance. It is extremely similar to the laser measure used by Reston in the closet betwixt the bedrooms. During Exploration #5, the meter breaks. His reaction to this is beyond neutral ignorance- his default reaction so far. I quote: “Navidson does not care. It no longer seems relevant to him how many thousands of miles he has traveled. He just continues to ride, lost in a trance born out of motion and darkness...” To call distance, which is made clear at this point to be “thousands of miles”, not relevant is telling of his mental state. Near the beginning, he was shocked beyond belief at a single inch not making sense. And now here, he only cares about the ride, this “trance” he sets himself in. The short, punctual fact-like statement “Navidson does not care.” further cements this.

Before I discuss Navidson’s godhood, I want to discuss a topic I’ve been dodging this whole time: the book’s fascination with the void. In alot of climactic scenes, the page, typically full of words, will be left intentionally blank. Sometimes words will be sprayed about the page for symbolic effect, maybe upside down, obscured, contorted into shapes, but still readable.

The book utilizes the negative space of the pages to literally create tension- as you, the reader, must flip pages of few words to reveal what happens next. A literal physical barrier between you and the events of the story.

This void is also key in the narrative. It escapes me who at what point, but a quote said is “A mind imprints on darkness.” This is a major theme in the book.

Truant’s mother imprints herself on the void of no response from her son: “It is your right to be silent”- as the left brain explains away that with no evidence. Holloway imprints on the void, as the nothingness of the house leads him to his own personal violence. Every character, when confronted with the total darkness of the house, reacts in a way indicative of their character. There are FIVE explorations, as they go back and back again to discover- Nothing! Will’s biggest revelation is that he has discovered a window- nay, a square in a wall he calls a window!

When confronted with utter inannity, our pattern seeking brains must make our own stimulation. The volleyball from Castaway. The companion cube from Portal. Nothing truly becomes something.

This is made no more clear in the house, which is literally defined that way. No more possible space can be within this closet- and the nothing becomes something. Even then, the house is full with nothing. It overflows with it, and spills into our characters, forcing them to overflow back.

In Exploration #5, Will Navidson witnesses the house tear apart before him. The black walls become nothing, the ceiling and floor shrinks away, until he is left, alone, afloat on a slab, until even that is gone. In this moment- Will is God, as defined by the house. All nothing becomes something- him. If he wishes, the nothing can be filled with his words, even if there are no molecules for which it to reverberate and echo. All that is within the inky void is Will Navidson. Imagine if you will, God as a flawed person. When he said “Let there be light”- for what benefit? Was it out of fear, like WIll, burning the pages of the very book he reads for light, until it is gone- and it is only the self, forever? That was made clear to be his biggest fear in Navidson’s First Dream- hell is a void of no stimuli but the self. Jean-Paul Sartre once said “Hell is other people.”- and House of Leaves raises the point that the self is layered enough that isolation, while infinitely alone, you are constantly in a party of 1.

As I said earlier, he “just made God a street address”. The ability to define God as something so trivial- yet another example of imprinting on the void. The perspective of the quote and imperative verb “made” puts Will in a metaphorical position of power. This ability to imprint whatever you like, to craft whatever ideas you can from nothing, this is what the House is. This is what Stage 3 is- it’s all a giant metaphor for the writer’s mind. Infinite, yet seemingly finite. Cold and desolate, uncountable pathways to be explored.

This nothingness Navidson cloaks himself in, whether it be choosing to leap in his first dream, pushing forward into the snail shell in his second, or suspended in it within the House, links back to a topic coined by Kieerkegaard, but to my knowledge no formal name- Nonestdesterium, the desire to not exist. A midway point between the rigorous existence we have on Earth, and the metaphysical, interpretable beyond- is a perfect metaphorical fit for the science versus religion we have present here. In media like Evangelion, or OMORI, this void is described as a white space. Though diffuse with colour, Sunny, Shinji and Will Navidson all exist here for similar reasons- escapism.

Will had many, many turns to abandon the house. It would have been easy, but he chose not to. His imprinting onto the void pushed him forth, but also his picture of Delial. It’s revealed that he keeps who Delial is a complete secret from friends and family. I believe this is due to trauma, as the passage describing Navidson’s run whilst cradling Delial exerts an energy of helplessness and tension. This is aided by the complete lack of punctuation, as if he didn’t have time to write it- and it results in nothing. Nothing, for years upon years after the photo, but the dead child that Delial is.

He, as a photographer, “ran straight into” [as Prof. says] the psychological problem of photography- you are often not aiding the tragedy you archive. Only making it frozen in a frame forever.

It is this helplessness against the uncaring circumstances of the universe that Navidson experiences once again within the House. But he presses forwards , again and again and again, exploration after exploration, until he is utterly defeated at the end of Exploration #5, led here to die by the very mind he imprints upon the void- for control. A desire to be in control of that which he cannot grasp, just as the world weighed on him as he carried Delial. It is that trauma that keeps Sunny in White Space, Shinji in isolation and Navidson within the House. In a state of all-void,you have control... except, here is where the story takes a turn.

Science rears its ugly head again, and reminds Will of his roots. He succumbs to hypothermia and was possibly minutes from death if not for Karen. This part of Exploration #5 serves as a reminder against the metaphysical teasing throughout the book almost to the point of satire. Truant talks of a monster just behind every lurking corner, ready to tear him to blood and flesh at the slightest move- but there is no such thing. You are simply imprinting upon nothing. There is no monster. There is no God. As seemingly divine through its manipulation of space and “rape of physics” as Prof calls it, the House is only ever influenced by the psyche of the people within it. Holloway experienced clear, consice tunnels repeating on end, but Navidson experiences great halls, gantries, downhill slopes defying topology, etc. It is the mind that acts as the primer for the labyrinth that the House is. This is why Will experiences his white space, his nonestdesterium- the House is matching his psyche, just as it matched Holloway’s expectant adventuring spirit, as it matched Navidson before and after Exploration #4. Admittedly, I’m working with a small sample size, but it seems to be the case regardless.

Really, it all links back to the trauma of the mind. Though Will Navidson ends up physically scarred, down one hand an eye and with an injured leg, the description implies it is the memories that will cause him the most pain.

And it is with this I reach my last topic- the final page of House of Leaves- Yggsdrasil.

Above is the 709th page of House of Leaves. It is the final page.

The Yggsdrasil is a tree in Nordic mythology with infinite roots. It also represents the cyclic nature of time, as the sap grows the tree upwards, before dripping back down into itself- the past influences the future as the future does the past. Now, we can imagine the Yggsdrasil and the House of Leaves as synonymous. The House is infinite branching pathways, as is the Yggsdrasil. If we apply our “the House is the mind” metaphor from earlier, what is the writer saying here? I think it is a positive message about trauma. The roots in our mind contain no physical danger. It is our minds, our brains primal respone, imprinting on the void. It is up to us to grow and fight it- as the past influences us, we too can influence the past into the future.

House of Leaves is a story about growth. That’s what leaves do.

Thanks for reading. I haven’t proofread this entirely. I don’t even really know if it makes that much sense, I just wanted to SPILL all my thoughts onto a post that I had while reading the book. And this is a review, I kinda forgot that part, so do I recommend house of leaves? Yeah. I mean, it cant hurt to try. Take it or leaf it.

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