Reading Notes

Alright, it's time to get to House of Leaves. I've started it like 3 or more previous times. But have never been able to get far. The farthest I remember getting is we just started properly exploring the maze with multiple people. And there was rumblings of a minotaur. Which sounds very interesting, but the novel is hardly an easy read. But I know there's a lot in there that is interesting to me. And I know it should be up my alley. It's just real dense. But let's give it the old college try.

I believe I've at this point passed where I got to in previous readings. We've now explored the house several times and there's been some fracturing in the group of people in Navidson Record land. So hard even talking about this book. What level are we talking on? I did enjoy reading the letters that came from Johnny's mother. The obsessive love. The steadily increasingly panic as they years go by. The text going all wonkers was quite effective and even sad. Seeing her mind go. In particular the revelation as to why she was in the Whalestoe in the first place (maybe? Is she a reliable narrator? I don't even know.). Attempting to kill Johnny when he was a child. If that did indeed happen, you can hardly blame him for being fucked up. Hoping he gives some confirmation that that actually happened. I do wonder what all from Pelafina's perspective we can even trust. Was Johnny ever even sending letters or visiting her? I have no earthly idea. Again, hoping Johnny gives some confirmation either way. Or maybe he will continue to lapse into nearly unintelligible diatribes...

House of Leaves is just on the edge of what I'd consider overly pretentious. And I do have an appetite for pretentious stuff as long as I feel there's clear heart in it. Some humanity. I'm a bit more willing for the artist to go a bit crazy than I think the average fella is as long as it feels like there's a clear purpose. And House of Leaves gets close to that line. I don't think it's going to stray over the line, at this point I'm over halfway through the book. But it does get close, and I wouldn't blame anyone else if they do not have the tolerance that I have.

Is Johnny real?

Review

This is a tough one, bud. I don't dislike it. And in many ways, I like it. But I don't think I could ever give this book as an unqualified recommendation. House of Leaves feels like a parody of overly academic writing. But in doing so, it does just read as overly academic writing a pretty good amount of the time. I think I tried reading the book on 2 or 3 previous occasions and I stalled out each time when we started talking about echoes for 5 pages apropos of nothing. Only to be interrupted by Johnny for another couple pages going on about who knows what. A lot of the time, I do think some of this writing is serving a purpose. It just doesn't go down smooth. There's a lot going on here and I'm sure the book stands up to more rigorous critique than I'm willing to give it.

All of the actual events going on at the Navidson level I find quite interesting. A House that inexplicably becomes larger on the inside and develops whole infinite wings to it is great stuff. Which again, is why it does become frustrating doing the back and forth between the events, the commentary on those events by Zampano, and the commentary on Zampano's writing by Johnny. I did end up warming up to Johnny's nonsense after a while. Even if, for quite some time, my reaction to his footnotes was something along the lines of "Johnny, what in the fuck are you talking about?". And now I'm not so sure he even exists...

The thing that confuses me most is the bit near the very end where we have the mother and her baby that dies. I have to assume that that's Johnny and Pelafina. But like, what the fuck does that mean? Is Johnny even a real person? Did Zampano make him up as like an editor to his insanity? Is Pelafina real? Someone Zampano knew perhaps? I have no idea. I would imagine if I went back and did any re-reading, there might be some details either way that I missed. Every narrator in this goddamn book is unreliable. Also the events in it are explicitly said to be unreliable. Did the Navidson Record happen? Or did Zampano make it up? Is Zampano god? We get a lot of biblical stuff with him. And I noticed that Johnny's "father" was said to be at home in the sky...

Is this a good book? That's an interesting question. I will say that it undoubtedly accomplished its aims. It is somewhat fun, once you get into it, to let the insanity take hold and find yourself turning a book upside down and sideways. Trying to piece together a rat's nest of footnotes. I just think this is definitely the sort of book where you already know if it's for you. It's not the kind that I feel any particular desire to evangelize about. The people it is meant for will find it on their own.