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House of Leaves

By Mark Z. Danielewski

(100)

| Paperback | 9780385603102

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Book Description

Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting wiContinue

Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth -- musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies -- the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.

Now, for the first time, this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and newly added second and third appendices.

The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story -- of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

Critics

  • A haunting house

    House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski Doubleday £13, pp729 Buy it at BOL There is a visual hallucination born of situations of extremity. It lurks just on the edge of vision. It has been described by exhausted mountaineers, soldiers and ultra-distance ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • Gothic scholar

    House of Leaves Mark Z Danielewski Anchor, £13, 709pp Buy it at BOL Borges once explained in an interview that he often had ideas for esoteric books, which, however, he could not bring himself to write. Instead, he would pretend the books already exi ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

12 Reviews

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  • 4 people find this helpful

    Editions

    There are actually several separate editions of this book. First, there was an edition without any colored words or Braille plates; this was a first edition. Then, there were two editions, both without Braille (raised) plates, the first with the word house throughout the book colored blue, and the ... (continue)

    There are actually several separate editions of this book. First, there was an edition without any colored words or Braille plates; this was a first edition. Then, there were two editions, both without Braille (raised) plates, the first with the word house throughout the book colored blue, and the second with "house" the standard black, but with the word "minotaur" and all struck passages colored red.

    Recently there has been a "special" edition released, with Braille plates, full-color illustrations in the back, and both the blue "house" and red "minotaur"/struck passages. This new copy is what you'll probably find if you look at Barnes and Noble today.

    (Mine is 2nd ed, house in blue, minotaur & struck passages normal black, no Braille plates.)

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    Savedr said on May 4, 2007 about the Softcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    Really interesting non-traditional kind of book. Bizarre and a bit creepy, but very enjoyable.

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    guaddess said on May 25, 2007 about the Softcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Amazingly original and at times, very scary and unnerving. Interestingly, often in very unconventional ways. Four pages of names in a footnote? That made me feel deeply disturbed! :)

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    Max said on Aug 3, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • My Review of "House of Leaves"

    “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski is jarringly unconventional and instills a deep sense of dread within its readers. Through the use of elaborate text arrangement, numerous footnotes, (some referencing non-existent books), and multiple narrators - Danielewski creates a dark and disorientating ... (continue)

    “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski is jarringly unconventional and instills a deep sense of dread within its readers. Through the use of elaborate text arrangement, numerous footnotes, (some referencing non-existent books), and multiple narrators - Danielewski creates a dark and disorientating tale.

    House of Leaves begins with the first-person narration of Johnny Truant. Johnny is a troubled tattoo parlor employee who stumbles upon a manuscript written by a blind, elderly man named Zampano.
    This turns out to be a written account of a fictional,documentary film called The Navidson Record. Johnny begins to read Zampano’s notes and becomes drawn into the maddening tale.

    The manuscript describes the Navidson family as they move into a mysterious home in Virginia whose interior exceeds its exterior. This oddity is quickly overshadowed by the sudden appearance of a closet in the family’s living room. A closet that inexplicable expands into tunnels and caverns of utter darkness. This paradox draws members of the Navidson family and others in. Dementia and death shortly follow.

    Johnny Truant’s own grip on reality falters as his obsession in completing Zampano’s work takes over his life. The darkness and fear haunting the Navidson’s family soon materializes in his own life as a beast of shadow stalks him. But is this an actual monster? Or is it a figment of Truant’s own mind? As the credibility of Johnny’s narration erodes through the story – what can the reader consider real?

    Danielewski uses the myth of the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Is this done to allude to those beings lost within the Navidson home’s inky depths? Is it an allusion to Johnny Truant being lost to the darkness within his own mind? Or is the reader the misshapen creature trapped within the maze of Danielewski’s words? Read the House of Leaves and decide for yourself.

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    Jason Zapata said on Nov 6, 2010 about the Softcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 7.5/10

    Nice reading, extremely compelling at times. But it is also a hot mess to follow. There is something missing, here, although I am unable to point the finger at it.

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    Demonio Pellegrino said on Feb 11, 2010 about the Softcover edition | Add your feedback

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9780385603102 Paperback $40.25 $31.26 The Book Depository
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