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A review by juliezantopoulos
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
5.0
Okay, forming thoughts after finishing this book is difficult. I have thoughts, feelings, and questions. I have feelings about my questions, questions about my feelings, and I doubt my own thoughts. I have more questions that when I started and more answers than I hope to find. Legit, nothing makes sense. lol.
It was a ride. It was an immersive reading experience (if you let it be) and you have to be willing to go on the journey or I don't think you'll get out of it what you should. You have to commit to the puzzles and the decoding to the anxiety and the uncertainty when reading it. You have to let your sink just a little bit into the madness of it all if you want to take from this book all that you can.
That being said, I'm sure there are nuances of this book that I missed, parts of it that were over my head scientifically or spiritually and that's okay. I enjoyed the hell out of this book and was deeply impacted by it in several ways. The writing methods used were brilliant. They unsettled the reader, made them keep pace and focus on things, caused anxiety and panic where needed. I was in awe of it even when it frustrated the hell out of me.
The House is a living character in this book. The "characters" are real and flawed and broken and beautiful (though I strongly believe the kids should be locked away cause they ain't right!). I became invested in all of them, in their past, present, and futures. I was sufficiently creeped out, shaken, and terrified at parts of this story and frustrated and confused at others.
I understand how Z and Johnny come into play in this book, how they're needed to help tell the story but quite honestly, whatever message was meant to be sent with Johnny's storyline was lost on me. For his part in this book, I knocked off a star. His descent into paranoia and madness definitely added to my own feelings of the same but I ended up skim reading so much of his inner dialogue due to disinterest or frustration over three page long run on sentences. I didn't ignore or totally not read, I feel I still understood his story, but I definitely didn't pay as close attention to him as I did Navy and the House.
This was a ride, guys, a seriously insane ride and I think everyone should go on it! If you do, definitely tweet @according2jewls and let me know!
TW for violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicide, and high-stress anxiety (I legit think if you already have anxiety this could set you off if you go deep into this story like I think you should). That said, I have anxiety and I was ok during the reading but breaks were needed.
Additional thoughts after re-read in 2021
I am changing the rating to 5 stars. As a reader, I could see what Mark did with Johnny's POV after a little reflection. As a writer, I am constantly blown away by the detail and attention that went into this novel. The theories, sites, redit threads all dedicated to the book and the mindset of the readers is so impressive. It is an absolute masterpiece.
I noticed so much the second read through that I didn't recognize in the first reading. Things that I may have highlighted but not fully understood the importance of. I'm walking away with such a different understanding of this book than I had the first time. I can't believe that I thought Johnny's POV was the weakest part of the story before, when at the heart of this book beats Johnny and his mother's relationship. I have never been so crushed by a novel as I was in the last large footnote by Johnny. I have no words if what I believe happened at the end of this book actually happened. None.
This book is by far and away the most annotated and tabbed book on my shelves.
It was a ride. It was an immersive reading experience (if you let it be) and you have to be willing to go on the journey or I don't think you'll get out of it what you should. You have to commit to the puzzles and the decoding to the anxiety and the uncertainty when reading it. You have to let your sink just a little bit into the madness of it all if you want to take from this book all that you can.
That being said, I'm sure there are nuances of this book that I missed, parts of it that were over my head scientifically or spiritually and that's okay. I enjoyed the hell out of this book and was deeply impacted by it in several ways. The writing methods used were brilliant. They unsettled the reader, made them keep pace and focus on things, caused anxiety and panic where needed. I was in awe of it even when it frustrated the hell out of me.
The House is a living character in this book. The "characters" are real and flawed and broken and beautiful (though I strongly believe the kids should be locked away cause they ain't right!). I became invested in all of them, in their past, present, and futures. I was sufficiently creeped out, shaken, and terrified at parts of this story and frustrated and confused at others.
I understand how Z and Johnny come into play in this book, how they're needed to help tell the story but quite honestly, whatever message was meant to be sent with Johnny's storyline was lost on me. For his part in this book, I knocked off a star. His descent into paranoia and madness definitely added to my own feelings of the same but I ended up skim reading so much of his inner dialogue due to disinterest or frustration over three page long run on sentences. I didn't ignore or totally not read, I feel I still understood his story, but I definitely didn't pay as close attention to him as I did Navy and the House.
This was a ride, guys, a seriously insane ride and I think everyone should go on it! If you do, definitely tweet @according2jewls and let me know!
TW for violence, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicide, and high-stress anxiety (I legit think if you already have anxiety this could set you off if you go deep into this story like I think you should). That said, I have anxiety and I was ok during the reading but breaks were needed.
Additional thoughts after re-read in 2021
I am changing the rating to 5 stars. As a reader, I could see what Mark did with Johnny's POV after a little reflection. As a writer, I am constantly blown away by the detail and attention that went into this novel. The theories, sites, redit threads all dedicated to the book and the mindset of the readers is so impressive. It is an absolute masterpiece.
I noticed so much the second read through that I didn't recognize in the first reading. Things that I may have highlighted but not fully understood the importance of. I'm walking away with such a different understanding of this book than I had the first time. I can't believe that I thought Johnny's POV was the weakest part of the story before, when at the heart of this book beats Johnny and his mother's relationship. I have never been so crushed by a novel as I was in the last large footnote by Johnny. I have no words if what I believe happened at the end of this book actually happened. None.
This book is by far and away the most annotated and tabbed book on my shelves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide