Connoisseurs of “serious fiction” have mostly given this book the cold shoulder, but I think they might just be afraid. Who can blame them? House of Leaves runs counter to almost everything praised or promoted in the current literary environment, where even the most daring writers seem happy to follow the rules, stick to the established norms of narrative fiction. Danielewski has brought a unicorn to the dog show, and all the other pet owners are scowling.
Yes, there have been imitators—check out the cutting parody, House of Pancakes or, even better, read Steven Hall’s The Raw Shark Texts which shows that Danielewski’s model can inspire punchy commercial fiction. But there is only one House of Leaves. Don’t just take my word for it. On your next long trip, make sure it’s the only book you bring along... if you dare.
Article comments
1 - Kennardism
I bought this book several years ago and its pretty interesting. I think you'll be seeing more non traditional fiction coming from the next generation of writers. I would welcome a change like that from these same ol same ol types of books.
2 - Friend Mouse
Well, now I'm intrigued. Thanks for the review.
3 - James A. Gardner
I read House of Leaves when it first came out, with no foreknowledge other than its boat-anchor substance. And despite the daunting length and the sometimes off-putting typographical gimmicks, I found it genuinely creepy and enjoyable. It's been a major frustration to me that I haven't been able to convince many of my friends to read and discuss it with me.
It's one the best "unreliable narrator" works I've read; it's masterfully atmospheric; and its layers of narrative and innovative narrative approach remind me of Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler...
All the meta-textual aspects of House of Leaves are probably enough to give it stature as an important postmodernist work, but I think its greatest achievement is in conveying the questionable sanity of the principal narrator effectively and chillingly. It's an accomplished psychological horror story.
I'm glad to see you writing about it here. It will be interesting to see how canonical the book becomes in years to come.