House Of Leaves Sparknotes

The Novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski uses two characters of his own creation to construct the book in its entirety. The first contributor, Zampano, who is the author, who may or may not be trustworthy of the interpretation of The Navidson Record, because he is blind. Early on in his efforts to finish the book he dies under suspicious circumstances. At this point, Danielewski employees another to contribute, Johnny Truant, who composes the introduction and notes for the book. Zampano documents the Navidson Record which is about Will Navidson and his family. Navidson calls his brother Tom and a family friend, Billy Reston, to investigate a hallway that appears out of nowhere between two rooms. Once a labyrinth appears in the house,

Will asks Holloway Roberts an experienced explorer and his team to join him, Tom and Reston to investigating the strange labyrinth within his house. The book itself illustrates a direct metaphor of the labyrinth by reflecting the confusion and disorientation experienced by the characters who have any exposure whatsoever to the house.
While reading the novel House of Leaves, the readers can begin to understand that just as the house is bigger on the inside versus the outside, so also are the characters and the book itself.

Within the first few pages of the novel the reader can see that not only is the book bigger on the inside than the outside, because of the one inch difference between the cover and the inside of the book itself. To find subtle differences one must go searching through the novel for the answers. Throughout the novel the word house is always in blue, let it be discussing the Navidson house or a random house that is being referred to. For a reader to find out the meaning of this small change they must go into the back of the book, to the Appendix and find one untitled poem that sheds light on the meaning of why the house is in blue; this illustrates that just as the labyrinth is hard and confusing to navigate, so is the book; to find answers one must go searching or hunting for them (Danielewski 563). While reading the story one can see that the characters are also larger on the inside than the outside, the person they show to their loved one can conflict with the person the character truly wants to be. When the hallway first appears in the home Karen asks Navidson to “ promise [her] that [he] won’t go in there again… Navidson cradles her in his arms like a child and promises [her]” (Danielewski 57). This shows that to Karen, Navidson portrays himself to her as she wants him to be. When

in reality the only thing he “ wants to do is go in there but she’s adamant that I don’t and I love her so I won’t but, well it’s just killing me” (Danielewski 62). Navidson says he won't go in there because he loves her, but people are bigger on the inside then the outside and what he really wants is to investigate the hallway which he eventually does without telling Karen. The novels “architectural textual layout corresponds to [the] plot and mimics the labyrinthine structure of the house itself” (Hagood 87).
When it comes to Navidson and Holloway, the labyrinth itself changes most drastically and the contention is as follows: the labyrinth reflects the confusion and disorientation suffered by the teams that venture into it. Navidson is the first one to venture into the hallway in actually search of something. While breaking the promise to Karen he goes into the hallway at 3:15 in the morning at first, “ the hallway cannot be more than seventy feet long. “That’s it. Nothing else. No big deal”... Except as Navidson swings around, he suddenly discovers a new doorway to the right. It was not there before” (Danielewski 64). This one quote shows that the slightest change in the mindset of the person within the labyrinth changes how it is configured. This part that can be read over quickly by the reader shows foreshadowing of how confusion and disorientation of the individuals within the labyrinth can directly change how it is configured, this point can be proven by not Navidson but also Hollway.