Elisabeth Jeremko

Chapters V through VIII exemplified to a greater extent that Danielewski wants the reader to work. In reading Jorge Luis Borges' "The Postulation of Reality", where he says, "…he does not write reality's initial contacts, but its final elaboration in concepts…"(Borges, 60), this reminded me of how Danielewski presents his story. Of his three methods, I think Danielewski would be using the third and most complex form because he invents circumstances which toy with the concept of a logical reality, adding mystery with the mental sickness aspect. Not only does he go back and forth between the Navidson Record (complete with footnotes of criticism and tangents) and Johnny Truant, but in this section we have begun to delve into the appendices. When I was deciphering the letters to Johnny from his mentally ill mother, I had the sensation of decoding something that would be a grand discovery. The letters were perhaps the most moving aspect of the book yet. We see the reemergence of the idea of "shadow" and "darkness" and "silence". This leads me to think maybe these words reflect forms of mental instability or sickness that isolate these individuals from their loved ones. Johnny Truant's mother describes how she used reams and reams of paper in writing her letters, where these letters contain various references to other languages, Greek mythology, and literature. It seems similar to Zampano's recruitment of outside sources and mode of recording. I want to keep my eye on this parallel between Zampano and P..

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1) What form of "classical postulation of reality" from Borges would match Danielewski's House of Leaves?

2) What is the significance of the pages long listing off of random names on pages 64-67?

3) Who is Billy Reston exactly? Is he actually staying at the house?

4) What propels Tom to leave?

5) Is there any significance to Navidson's foot fungus on page 83? Johnny Truant's mother had mentioned toes in her letters…any correlations?