Victoria Gornopolskaya

Chapter I-IV: House of Leaves

When I began reading this novel I was very intrigued by the way it was written. The introduction immediately caught my attention with the conversational and humorous style in which the narrator spoke as well as the suspenseful and dramatic tone that was used to illustrate the events that occurred. I loved the way Johnny Truant discussed his desperate wish to somehow go back and not answer Lude’s 3 A.M. phone call because of the life changing events that followed. I could picture Zampano’s apartment just as it was described and that one book lying on the floor that caught the narrator’s attention and seemingly destroyed him. I cannot wait to read more and discover the journey that took place and the secrets that were discovered throughout this novel. In the 1^st four chapters I learned about the narrator’s personal life as a womanizer. His drunken story telling ability was entertaining although it didn’t help him get the girls he was after. The impressive pit boxer and birds story was more creative than anything anyone I know would be able to prepare on the spot. As the Navidson’s Record unfolded, though a bit unclear and scattered, I was captivated by the mystery of the house that is apparently bigger on the inside than it appears to be on the outside. I fear for what will happen to the children in the room with the strange “walk-in closet” that appeared overnight. Navidson, with his remarkable film-making talent and dangerous curiosity about the strange house, is the perfect character to explore the mystery of it all. I hope to learn more about him and his family as well as the horror that fell upon them in the house.

Questions:

Is there a specific meaning the blue coloring of the word “house” each time it is used?

Was the measuring equipment used by the men really inaccurate?

How did Zampano discover all of this information if he was blind?

-Victoria Gornopolskaya