House of leaves is an exceptionally interesting book to read. The “main character,” Johnny Truant, finds an unfinished book written by Zampanò, an old man who mysteriously died in his apartment. The book is an analysis of “the Navidson Record,” a documentary that doesn’t exist. Johnny begins to slowly go insane, and you discover his backstory and current life at the same time as you learn about the events of the Navidson Record.
house
House is the most central word of the book. Every time “house” is written it is printed in blue instead of black. I don’t think this has any significance necessarily, but it is nonetheless very ominous.
journalism
Navidson is a photographer. His primary goal is to accurately depict the world, and he very often puts finding the truth above his own safety. This is the incentive for the creation of the Navidson Record, a documentary about Navidson moving into a new home with his family that turns into an exploration of the curious and malevolent house.
labyrinth
The house is essentially a labyrinth. It shifts when you aren’t watching. Chapter IX talks about labyrinths in detail.
echo
The book spends half a chapter talking about echoes to explain a relatively short segment of the Navidson Record. This overexplanation reflects the eccentric nature of Zampanò.
obsession
Navidson becomes obsessed with uncovering the mysteries of the house, driving the fragmentation of his family and leading to his entrapment inside the house.
collapse
During expedition #4, the plans of the adventurers begin to collapse. They are stuck inside the house and begin to go insane. You could also certainly say that other things "collapse" over time- it's a great word to describe the sudden events of the book.
typography
This book is full of interesting typography. Different fonts are used for different authors, and eventually the organization of the words begins to change, inciting more and more suspense, mystery, and fear.
footnote
Footnotes are how the book bridges Johnny Truant’s writings with Zampanò’s. Additionally, the footnotes provide sources and further insight on the background of the Navidson Record.
disorientation
Inside the house, since it shifts constantly in its deeper areas, the ones leading the expeditions quickly become disoriented.
cartography
Navidson initially attempts to map the house. Some rooms, like the great hall and the stairwell, are always in the house. But the hallways change even while people are inside the house.
space
The space within the house is an interesting anomaly, and is heavily analyzed by Zampanò. The house is bigger on the inside than on the outside, and some parts would even seem to intersect each other.
decay
Johnny’s descent into madness is best characterized by decay. It eats away at him over time.
claustrophobia
Navidson’s wife, Karen, is claustrophobic. She is scared to set foot inside the house’s interior, because its space-distorting walls elicit uncomfortable feelings even when the space inside is plentiful. There’s another rant about this from Zampanò, about cavers in large open spaces feeling claustrophobic.
unreliable
The two authors, Johnny and Zampanò, both exemplify an unreliable narrator. Johnny is literally going insane, his excerpts are not chronological and he doesn’t understand the words that he writes. Zampanò is writing about a documentary that doesn’t exist, citing sources that don’t exist. You can only look at what they write as a window into their minds, not as facts representing events.
silence
The inside of the house is completely quiet. This lack of sensory information contributes to the descent of the ones on the expeditions.
descent
A large symbol of the inside of the house is descent. There is a stairwell several miles tall, so literally the explorers must descend, but additionally it describes their mental state from the prolonged stay within the house.
horror
This book is a horror novel. Usually, a horror novel to me is just a book about a scary subject, still far removed from reality. In this case, the book does such a good job immersing me that on occasion I was actually scared while reading.