Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves

From the very start, Danielewski is playing with the reader's mind. On the cover, the word "House" in the title is printed in a different shade from the other words in the title. Throughout the book the word "House" is printed in a different shade, and even off-set in position from the rest of the text. "Why?" is the first impulsive thought.

The title page introduces the book as, "House of Leaves" by Zampan , with introduction and notes by Johnny Truant. Even the "Note on This Edition" on the copyright page gives the impression of being fiction and part of the attempt to pull the unsuspecting reader into a world of the uncertain, and to lose them in a myriad of passage ways and possibilities.

Anyone picking up this substantial book and flicking through the pages will notice that it is less than conventional in its structure. They will find pages with only a few words on them; pages with squares of mirror-writing embedded in the body of the text; pages with footnotes running vertically up the side of the page or running backwards from one page to the previous. There are pages with overprinting and passages with text disappearing into tiny font sizes. I could go on for another half page describing the different layouts and patterns used in the text, but it is better you go and look for yourself.

Now, before going on, I must say this is not a book for everyone. There are many people I know who would not have the patience for it, and it does take patience; as well as determination, stubbornness, perseverance, an appreciation of the weird, a sense of humour, a willingness to carry on not knowing where you are, where you are going or how far you have come.

I believe however, that the simple scan through the pages of this book will be enough to put off those for whom it is not suited. If you see the structure of the book and are still interested in reading it, then it's for you, despite the warning on the page that follows the "Forward".

The copy of the book I have is like a big university textbook in soft cover. It is weighty and feels like a number of physics and chemistry textbooks with which I am familiar (familiar with the books; not necessarily their content). This adds to all the mystery, and when you start reading the book you will wonder if this is a university dissertation, an academic paper, or a novel.

My initial impression was that Danielewski was trying to do the same type of thing that the makers of "The Blair Witch Project" attempted, i.e. blurring the delineation between reality and the supernatural in their marketing and presentation. Danielewski does a much better job at this mind-game, and he has a story that has much more substance.

Further tricks he uses to weave a sense of reality into his book include the use of references to real academic publications, and to existing people who might be expected to have had an interest in the subject of the story. He also uses the structure of the book and the circumstances of the reader to wrap the story around you and draw you into the very proceedings being unveiled to you. While the protagonists are wandering in a labyrinth, the reader finds him or herself jumping from one part of the book to another as the story refers you to a footnote, which has a footnote, which directs you to an appendix which has a footnote, which then...

I had three bookmarks on the go at one point, trying to ensure I didn't lose my place.

So what is the story about?

There is a house, as you might have guessed. The house has been the subject of a short movie that was released to the public, and appeared to show a corridor extending out from a wall that had only open garden behind it. This triggered much discussion, as it was considered by film experts to not be a fake, and therefore must represent a place where physical dimensions are being bent.

The house is the new home of photo-journalist Will Navidson and his young family, eager to make a new start in life. Being the photo-journalist he is, Navidson places remote cameras throughout the house to capture the experience of the family as they adjust to their new home. What happens to the family and what the house does is captured on the film in these cameras.

This is the core story of the book, i.e. "What happens in the house and what happens to the family?" For many horror books this would be enough, but not for Danielewski. He was hoping to do much more than just write a horror story.

It transpires that the film of the house and its strange corridor attracts the attention of several academics, and there are many articles written of the physical, photographic and psychological impacts of such an arrangement.

Be that as it may, the book purports to be a report, written by an old man call Zampan , attempting to gather all the known knowledge about the house into one document and examine the possible explanations for such phenomenon.

Zampan has written the core text of the book. He never had the chance to have it published. Through a series of incidents that I do not want to detail for fear of spoiling parts of the story, it falls to the hapless Johnny Truant to compile the old man's materials into a coherent whole for publication.

In so doing, Truant adds significant footnotes that not only clarify points in the original text, but inform us of the experiences he has had since starting to work on this mammoth task. As he progresses through the collation of the material, his footnotes become more autobiographical, as events in Zampan 's text start ringing true in Truant's own life.

The editor has also added footnotes to both the original text and to Truant's footnotes and commentary.

I think at this point you can see where the opportunity to turn the book into a labyrinth appears, and I haven't even mentioned the appendices.

Between the core story, the extracts from learned journals in the areas of cinematography, psychology and the paranormal, footnotes by Truant and the editor, and from the copious appendices provided, we have three layers of story: the Navidson family moving into a curious house; Zampan 's life; Johnny Truant's life trials and struggles in the face of major family disruptions and dislocations.

Danielewski is a master at revealing vital information in a controlled way and in unexpected fashions. If you decide to read this book, you should read it as the book guides you to. If there is a footnote, read the footnote. If the footnote has a footnote, read the footnote.

This book is a challenge in the same sense as a complex maze. As in a maze you may find yourself going along passages that appear familiar and that you might have read before. By the time I had reached page 400 of this 709 page book I did not know how much of the book I had read and how much was left to be read. This is not a straight line read. Once into the maze you are never too sure how much further you have to go.

If you can navigate your way through House of Leaves without mishap or getting lost, you will have a distinct sense of achievement. If you give up in despair and throw the book away in frustration, then the book has won, and you, my friend, are lost.