i first purchased and attempted to read this book when i was in early high school, probably somewhere around 2014. i didn't know anything about it other than it was odd and a unique read, so i grabbed it from my local bookstore without thinking much of it. the first time i tried to read it, i gave up entirely and shelved it for about a year. it was complex; it's confusing, and demands your full attention. if you think you can skim through this book and use context to pick up what you missed, you are not going to have a good time! i sat down the following year and dug into it on a long plane ride and absolutely could not put it down. it became one of my favourite books very quickly, and my copy nowadays is filled with notes and annotations of new codes and secrets i've discovered over the years of re-reads.
159 This is not the first time individuals exposed to total darkness in an unknown space have suffered adverse psychological effects. Consider what happened to an explorer entering the Sarawak Chamber discovered in the Mulu mountains in Borneo. This chamber measures 2,300ft long, 1300ft wide, averages a height of 230ft, and is largely enough to contain over 17 football fields. When first entering the chamber, the party of explorers kept close to the wall, assuming incorrectly that they were following a long, winding passageway. It was only when they chose to return by striking straight out into that blackness - expecting to run into the opposite wall - that they discovered the monsterous size of that cavern: "So the trio marched out into the dark expanse, maintaining a compass course through a maze of blocks and boulders until they reached a level, sandy plain, the signature of an underground chamber. The sudden awareness of the immensity of the black void caused one of the cavers to suffer an acute attack of agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces. None of the three would later reveal who panicked, since silence on such matters is an unwritten law amongst cavers." Planet Earth: Underground Worlds p. 26-27.
Of course, Holloway's reactions exceed a perfectly understandable case of agoraphobia.
160 Hank Leblarnard's Greif's Explorations (Atlanta: More Blue Publications, 1994).
170 Like Hudson, Holloway found himself with men who, short on reserves and faith, insisted on turning back. Like Hudson, Holloway resisted. Unlike Hudson, Holloway went willingly into that labrynth. Fortunately for audiences everywhere, Hudson's final moments continue to remain a mystery.
Thus, as well as prompting formal inquiries into the ever elusive internal shape of the house and the rules governing those shifts, Sepastiano Perouse de Montclos also broaches a much more commonly discussed matter: the question of occupation. Though few will agree on the meaning of the configurations of the absence of style in that place, no one has yet to disagree that the labyrinth is still a house. Therefore, the question soon arises whether or not it is someone's house. Though if so whose? Whose was it or even whose is it? Thus giving voice to another suspicion: could the owner still be there?
It is not surprising the that when Holloway's team finally begins the long trek back, they discover that the staircase is much father away than they had anticipated, as if in their absence the distances had stretched. They are forced to camp a fourth night, thus necessitating strict rationing of food, water, and
Victorian Gotyhic, the Octagon mode, the Renaissance Revival, the Italian Villa style, the Romanesque Revival, Early Gothic Revival, Egyptian Revival, Greek Revival, such as University Club in Portland, Oregon, Calvary Episcopal in Pittsburgh, the Minnepolis Institute of Arts, Germantown Cricket Club in Pennsylvania,
light (ie. batteries). On the morning of the fifth day, they reach the stairs and begin the long climb up. Aside from the fact that the diameter of the Spiral Staircase is now more than seven hundred and fifty feet wide, the ascent moves fairly quickly.
During the walk down, Holloway had prudently decided to leave provisions along the way, thus lightening their load and at the same time allocating supplies for their return. Though Holloway had initially estimated they would need no more than eight hours to reach the first of these caches, it ends up taking them nearly twelve hours. At last at their destination, they quickly set up camp and collapse on their tents.
i simply cannot talk about house of leaves without first talking about a haunted house. while the house on ash tree lane in the navidson record isn't explicitly haunted by ghosts, it is a hostile place.
another thing i adore about the book is its complex and difficult nature. it drew me to the book in the first place, it kept me interested as i read it, i adore the journey that this book takes you through - from pausing to quickly google something you've never heard of, to flipping the book upside down to read random passages in the margins, and finding things on the third readthrough that you didn't think twice about the first time. there is a section within this book where the characters are stuck within an impossibly long and desolate hallway. it's tense, it's scary, and the desperation of the characters is communicated through passages that slowly get more and more sparse, until you're desperately flicking through pages that only have a word or two on them to get to the end and see what happens to them. it's brilliant, it's a complete art piece. i cannot recommend this one enough.
 | PERSONAL NOTES & ANNOTATIONS. this right here is my copy of HOL! i am deeply attached to it and it does come most places with me if i'm travelling (though it's not an easy book to read on a plane, i will admit). i never get sick of re-reading it and am constantly finding new things in it. it's a little battered and a lot scribbled in - i try to leave paper inserts with notes about codes, translations, or interesting things i've found within the book, but sometimes i don't have spare paper on me! you'd have to pry it from my cold dead hands anyway, so i'll write in it if i damn well please. i thought it would be cool to scan my notes and things and keep them here somewhere! i'll be compiling notes and annotations on this page here as i go along with my re-reads for anyone who'd like to see my thoughts on things :) |