Thoughts on House of Leaves
Spoilers ahead
House of leaves is a gordian knot.
I'm not going to turn this into an essay, I'm just recording thoughts.
Partial credit to my friend Joker, who introduced me to this book, and discussed it with me. [1]
Yes I understand the irony in an analysis of House of Leaves.
I don't care.
Work in progress as I chew on this book more.
I've seen a little discourse on House of Leaves, most of it buried in long-dead forums given that the book came out in 2001.
One theory that I am absolutely set against is the idea that Johnny is not real, that he's just a character in Pelafina's delusions.
To reference a certain Catholic author: "If Johnny isn't real, then to hell with it."
However, I do think Lude isn't real.
He's either a schizophrenic construct of Johnny, or a post-hoc justification for Johnny's actions that he invents while writing his sections.
I will have to check a few things before I'm certain.
For one thing, I think Johnny moved to LA right when schizophrenic signs start showing up, at 18 or 19.
For another, Lude doesn't seem to be a character on his own without Johnny.
I don't remember him having a job, for example.
I think he was a manifestation of Johnny's worldly desires, and as Johnny distances himself from those, so too he distances himself from Lude.
This culminates in Lude's death, a mere six months after Johnny leaves, acting the same way that he always did, but in the most extreme degree.
A flanderization of Johnny's worldly impulses, not a real character.
Another thought is on the purple.
I interpret the purple passages as a post-reform Johnny.
In Zampano's notes, a lot of emphasis is given to why Navidson decided to go back to the house.
This is in stark contrast to the aftereffects of Exploration #5, where Navidson, satisfied, never returns.
The house is fenced up, pulled off the market, and never touched again.
Navidson has been set free of his madness.
Conquered isn't the right word.
He has mapped out the labyrinth that is the house, would be better phrasing.
Even if corridors and passageways remain unexplored, he has seen enough (and documented enough!) to be satisfied.
In the same way, Johnny has mapped out his own labyrinth, in writing House of Leaves.
There are tangents that remain unexplored and stories that remain untold, but he has seen enough (and documented enough) to be satisfied.
He burns it, like his arms were burned, and in doing so is set free.
He remains scarred, of course, like Navidson did.
His scars are mental, but as Navidson recovered, so does Johnny, and in authoring the second edition, he seeks to distance himself from the House of Leaves.
"A novel" on the cover, and "What I'm remembering now" scratched out; attempts to distance himself from that labyrinth.
Update: 4/28/24
Turns out I misread the ending.
The scene with the band happens on August 28, 1999.
The book burning scene is dated October 31, 1998.
That means the last we see of Johnny is with that dog, after having a good sleep.
I'm choosing to interpret this as hopeful.
I reject interpretations that it's just him sliding further into schizophrenia.
