House of Leaves: What did I just read?

709 pages

3/5*

Literary Fiction/Suspenseful Thriller

Formats Available: physical book

This book is not for you.

These words kick off the weirdest book I’ve ever read, and for many who attempt this challenge, it’s proved to be true. People will throw in the towel and say they should have taken the warning to heart.

House of Leaves is a challenge. The book is presented by the fictional Johnny Truant, who came across the writings of a man named Zampano, who wrote extensively on a film called “The Navidson Record.” From Zampano’s writings, we gather that the “Navidson Record” details one family’s investigation into their home’s weird dimensional properties, starting with a hallway that shouldn’t exist and yet somehow stretches for 5 ½ minutes. The house is also bigger on the inside than on the outside. At first glance, it seems to be ¼ of an inch bigger. But upon further inspection, it turns out to be much, much bigger.

Zampano has included analysis on the film from writers such as Stephen King and Hunter S. Thompson. The only problem, however, is Johnny can find no evidence such a film ever existed, and the experts quoted in Zampano’s notes claim to have no knowledge of it.

Still, Johnny becomes utterly consumed by Zampano’s notes. Many “House of Leaves” readers find themselves consumed as well.

Be prepared for footnotes. I can’t stress this enough; be prepared for footnotes inside footnotes inside footnotes. Be prepared for footnotes that lead you back hundreds of pages, footnotes that cause you to turn the book upside down, footnotes that include coded messages. Footnotes come from Zampano, Johnny, or an editor. Some footnotes leave you realizing just how much of the book you’ve missed because who could possibly pay close enough attention to catch it all?

I believe the book expects, almost demands, us as readers to add our own footnotes. I certainly did. I used countless sticky tabs to write questions, notes, revelations, decoded messages, etc. I made note of each Emergency Air Traffic Control symbol, each time the word “house” appeared (even in different languages), meaningful references to echoes and the minotaur, etc. I think the book offers this opportunity to become yet another analyzer of the “Navidson Record,” even if we could never possibly see the film.

To be fair, the book is daunting. It’s no surprise many readers give up. For some, it might be the first time you see three footnotes on one page, all in slightly different fonts. For others, it could be when they reach the point where an entire chapter is made up of ridiculous footnotes that cut through multiple pages, wind back and forth and up and down and often seem to mean nothing at all. For some, even, it could be when you realize Johnny is a wildly unreliable narrator and you find yourself wondering if any part of the story means anything. One can’t be blamed for putting the book down and finding something a little saner.

But if you stick with this book, you’re in for an adventure. The book is a blast; in fact, it is the most fun I’ve ever had reading a book.

So now you just need to ask yourself. Is this book for you?

-Caele