Monday, March 15, 2010
House of Leaves: Unreliable Narrator
House of Leaves is one of those books that has a story, within a story, within a story. First, there's the Navidson Record, a movie that doesn't exist. Then, there's Zampano's analysis of this non-existent story, which is then commented on by Johnny Truant. Furthermore, Johnny's compilation is then clarified (or not, as the case may be) by an editor. It's hard to draw any sort of conclusion about the 'truth,' because what we read has already been heavily filtered through three different people's perceptions- Navidson about the house, Zampano about the Navidson Record and Johnny about Zampano (and his experience with the book). As Johnny becomes steadily more insane, I'm having a hard time believing too many of his conclusions. As readers, we are forced to take Navidson's word on the house, Zampano's word on Navidson and Jhonny's word on Zampano. Too much is opinion or filtered through madness to believe, but too much is unknown to truly discount. It's interesting, if a bit aggravating.
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many times, I felt that the things really happened, there is the documentary, the Navidson Record, and it's true about the house, it feels liek the weird things happening in the house is true and the characters are real. but after all, it's just a fiction and nothing is real
ReplyDeleteYour illustration actually did a really big favor for me. I realized how the editors' relationships are between each other. Surely the story is confusing because it is an unfamiliar made-up world, and i understand this is how the author wrote it this way to have the book stand out in the multimedia literature field.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's true that this is just another way that the author fits into a sort of multimedia niche, it is inevitably frustrating and fascinating at the same time. Not only does the book literally have to be flipped upside down and sideways in order to be read, it seems like we're doing the same flipping mentally in order to wring any sense out of the narrators themselves.
ReplyDeleteFlipping sideways and upside down, and thinking sideways and upside down. That's a very apt way of describing it!
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