House of Leaves defies the conventions of the modern horror novel.
The novel has gained a cult following after Author Mark Z. Danielewski originally had his book published back in the year 2000. It is chock full of footnotes, appendices and references to books, some real, some not. The story itself is simple: unsuspecting family moves into house, house turns into an evil entity, fear and death ensue. But to leave it at that is a disservice.
The core of the novel revolves around two different stories, which anchor various subplots. The main story is that of the Navidson family, and their Pulitzer prize-winning photographer father Will (referred to as Navy). Their misfortune in the house is all captured on tape by Will and released as a “Blair Witch” type documentary, met with skepticism by those calling it an elaborate hoax.
The family’s story begins and ends with a mysterious hallway that appears in their countryside house after they have moved in. As Will reluctantly explores the hallway, it is found to have no end, and is constantly shifting shape and length. Eventually an exploration team is sent in to the monstrous labyrinth with disastrous results.
The second storyline of the book is that of the troubled young man Johnny Truant, who is compelled to edit and narrate alongside the unfinished work of the recently diseased scholar Zampano. Danielewski’s book is supposed to be fictitiously penned under Zampano’s name within the book and focuses on the literary criticism of Navidson’s movie. Truant’s story is found in lengthy footnotes accompanied to Zampano’s description of “The Navidson Record,” during his editing of the work.
Readers have proclaimed the novel the scariest ever due in part to the style in which it is written. Danielewski often slips into narratives that run off the page, go backwards, or simply have one-sentence pages that better help illustrate the different feelings of the novel. When a character is having the walls close in on him, the text suddenly jams together; and likewise, when someone is falling, the text drops off the page.
This aspect has been explored many times before in horror stories before (House on Haunted Hill, The Haunting); however Danielewski provides a sharp psychological aspect to the story. One of the byproducts of the house includes Navidson’s previously forgotten demons resurfacing. He also explores the toll that spending numerous days in a dark place takes on the human psyche
This book may not appeal to the common reader, but those looking for a more refreshing experience into the realm of horror will be pleased.
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Being A Critic
Avatar seemed doomed for failure-then the reviews started pouring in. By the time it was actually released to the public, it had attained a lofty 82% on the popular critic polling website Rotten Tomatoes. Soon after, the movie became the highest grossing film of all time.
Critics are paid to write their opinion on any topic ranging from books to movies and even video games. But why does anyone value what other people have to say so much?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri believes it is trust built up between the reader and critic. “I would like to think that people feel they can trust the Post-Gazette,” says Vancheri, “I try to back up what I say, even when I sometimes think ugh, that was awful or just not funny.”
Along with trust, knowledge of the topic is key for critics-but it is not enough in this day and age. The critic must understand everything about their subject.
Lindsay Cryer, The Daily Collegian’s music editor says that the key to a good music review is in listening to the band’s previous material.
“Do background research as much as you can. Listen to their most popular stuff so that you’ll know why people did or didn’t like them before,” Cryer says.“Being a critic really isn't anything different than being a music fan. If you like music, you obviously have good and bad things to say about it. I'm just lucky enough to have mine published.”
As it is everywhere in today’s society, everyone has an opinion. Just because someone gets paid to voice an opinion does not mean it is the most popular one.
“E-mail has also made it possible for people from anywhere to send you crazy, insulting emails,” says Vancheri, citing ones in which she was called ‘a broad’ and labeled a ‘liberal media douche bag.’
Pittsburgh Tribune Review critic Garrett Conti receives the same type of e-mails, but says the worst part about the job is all of the bad movies out there.
“Even worse, a lot of these terrible movies do well at the box office, and as rentals they’re sought after. Just look at the top rentals from the week of Feb. 14. "Couples Retreat" was No. 1, and that was a lackluster film. During that same weekend, "Valentine's Day" was No. 1 at the box office, and that got really terrible reviews,” says Conti
Both critics agreed though, that the good does indeed far outweigh the bad.
“The best thing is being able to see the very movies I would pay to see on the weekends as part of my job…I sit in the main newsroom and hear stories assigned about fatal crashes involving teenagers for instance and I’m thankful I don’t have to do that,” says Vanchari.
“There are two things that I really enjoy about being a critic,” says Conti, “The first is shedding light on movies that fly below the radar. The second is talking movies with people. People are more inclined to talk to me about films, and I like to hear other people's opinions because they might say something that I never thought of in relation to a flick.”
Critics are paid to write their opinion on any topic ranging from books to movies and even video games. But why does anyone value what other people have to say so much?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri believes it is trust built up between the reader and critic. “I would like to think that people feel they can trust the Post-Gazette,” says Vancheri, “I try to back up what I say, even when I sometimes think ugh, that was awful or just not funny.”
Along with trust, knowledge of the topic is key for critics-but it is not enough in this day and age. The critic must understand everything about their subject.
Lindsay Cryer, The Daily Collegian’s music editor says that the key to a good music review is in listening to the band’s previous material.
“Do background research as much as you can. Listen to their most popular stuff so that you’ll know why people did or didn’t like them before,” Cryer says.“Being a critic really isn't anything different than being a music fan. If you like music, you obviously have good and bad things to say about it. I'm just lucky enough to have mine published.”
As it is everywhere in today’s society, everyone has an opinion. Just because someone gets paid to voice an opinion does not mean it is the most popular one.
“E-mail has also made it possible for people from anywhere to send you crazy, insulting emails,” says Vancheri, citing ones in which she was called ‘a broad’ and labeled a ‘liberal media douche bag.’
Pittsburgh Tribune Review critic Garrett Conti receives the same type of e-mails, but says the worst part about the job is all of the bad movies out there.
“Even worse, a lot of these terrible movies do well at the box office, and as rentals they’re sought after. Just look at the top rentals from the week of Feb. 14. "Couples Retreat" was No. 1, and that was a lackluster film. During that same weekend, "Valentine's Day" was No. 1 at the box office, and that got really terrible reviews,” says Conti
Both critics agreed though, that the good does indeed far outweigh the bad.
“The best thing is being able to see the very movies I would pay to see on the weekends as part of my job…I sit in the main newsroom and hear stories assigned about fatal crashes involving teenagers for instance and I’m thankful I don’t have to do that,” says Vanchari.
“There are two things that I really enjoy about being a critic,” says Conti, “The first is shedding light on movies that fly below the radar. The second is talking movies with people. People are more inclined to talk to me about films, and I like to hear other people's opinions because they might say something that I never thought of in relation to a flick.”
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