Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves is a weird trip, man. Multilayered in nature, this is a manuscript recounting a documentary of a family that lives in a house larger on the inside than the outside that was written by the blind Zampanò that is found and published by Johnny following Zampanò’s death and the final book includes Johnny’s reactions in footnotes; sometimes the footnotes have footnotes. It’s not exactly beach reading.

At times it’s emotionally evocative, and at others [ ]s undeniably convoluted. Having worked with manuscripts, I can attest that it can be thri[ ]ing to piece together someone else’s thoughts. More often th[ ]n not though, it is a boring process; and sadly Zampanò was not the best writer (may he rest in peace). His account it pretty boring, “pseudo-academic hogwash” as Johnny would put it. The Navidson family are also mind-numbingly dumb; throughout the tale I kept hoping one of the parents would die and end the repetitive suffering of their asinine lives.

That said, Johnny and his tale that creeps into the footnotes are fairly intriguing. As far as unreliable narrators go, Johnny is a solid dude, even if he is fa[ ]ing apart. His desire to understand and make sense of Zampanò is infinitely more interesting than Zampanò himself. It is almost as if he seeks to fill a hollo[ ] v[ ]id with this other pe[ ]son to feel o[ ]ay. Without the distraction, [ ]r sense of familiarity, only fear can seep into the empty pockets of his mind. To [ ]nders[ ]and the other, is to understand the self.

But, it’ll all work out.

I guess,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXTHINKXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXWXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXOXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXRXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXYXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXOXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXUXXXXXX

to pass judgement, but our sentiments are our own. At least we are not in a labyrinth corn field. Corn is just an empty starch masquerading as food.

f = s = f = s = f = s = f = s = f = s

The game is ftill sun enough to play, so I digref. Perhapf the tired narrative can be excufed as the fentiments of ifolation are well portrayed.

Time can L
......................I
..........................N
..............................G
..................................E
......................................R

U
........ N
... S
..................... T
..E
.......... A
....... D
................ I
L
......... Y

or come to a grinding halt. Emotional truth can lurk in cadence, even when the words say otherwise. Just listen to a fucking song. Fuck. We can curse so Zampanò does not have to.

[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]
[. . . . . . . . . . . .XXX. . . . . . . . . . . . ]
[. . . . . . . . . . . .XXX. . . . . . . . . . . . ]
[. . . . . . . . . . . .XXX. . . . . . . . . . . . ]
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

Picture it, though it may help if you have synesthetes. No mater, this is all drawn out to create a sense of inevitability. Navidson is a fart, but the experience[1] is okay once you let yourself
F
A
L
L
Into it.

---footnotes---
[1] TLDR: Fun experience, boring central narrative. This book is more art exhibit than book. Style > Substance, but it’s still okay. Also, maybe stay away from cocaine[2].
[2] This meta footnote contributes nothing of substance, but neither do матрёшка. Pero si no puedes entender, debe parecer bien. Todas las palabras después de matryoshka no están en ruso, jaja.

仕方がない


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All that said, if you found this tedious, this book may not be for you.