Rec | HOUSE OF LEAVES

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Book by Mark Z Danielewski where: A young LA tattoo artist named Johnny finds an unfinished academic paper (the incomplete life’s work of his friend’s murdered neighbor) that analyzes a cult documentary film, in which a family moves into a strange house, one that changes shape and size and hides an endless labyrinth in its walls. Johnny tries to edit and annotate the text, while journaling about his own life, as he starts to lose his mind. It’s a story within a story within a story — about obsession, and hell, and grief and finding yourself lost (and I think a lot more), all written in the form of diary entries, transcripts, essays, poems, letters and footnotes.
It reads like a choose your own adventure book, and is itself a monster and a maze. Pretty dark and really beautiful.

@slowdazzle

Aug 28, 2024

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@undiagnosedflu

It’s a really good book… spurred me on to have an obsession with postmodernist haunted houses

Aug 29, 2024

@slowdazzle

undiagnosedflu did that lead you to any similar books??

Aug 29, 2024

@undiagnosedflu

slowdazzle sorry for the late reply! I’m hardly online. I believe I read Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco afterwords! Nothing beats the magic of House of Leaves for me though, but the motif of the haunted house is just really interesting as a construct. If you don’t mind reading literary essays I would reccomend trying to find a copy of Seán Travers “Empty Constructs” where he breaks down the haunted house in House of Leaves. I’m also a bit of a video essay crazed person so Jacob Geller’s video on the anatomy of a house really re-jump started my intrigue for House of Leaves.

Sep 10, 2024

@slowdazzle

undiagnosedflu sweet thanks! These all sounds really good

Sep 10, 2024

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