I made a really grave mistake of reading reviews of this book on a certain other site, and it created a very humorous reaction in me. I personally have found this book lacking in something as I've gotten older, but reading people just completely whiff on House of Leaves raised my esteem for it almost overnight.
For reference though, this was my favorite book when I was 19. I was staying with some friends in Omaha during summer vacation and picked up a copy of the book from Barnes & Noble based on its reputation alone. I proceeded to read through the entire book over 2 nights. When I tell you I was addicted to reading this book, I mean it.
That's probably House of Leaves biggest strength, is that it has a hook unlike any other. The hook is the format, the way the story is told, it's so fascinating that you might almost think that the story comes second, and to a certain extent you might be right. Danielewski's follow-up novel Only Revolutions I did find completely impenetrable, more of a chore to read than the addictive page-turner of House Of Leaves.
The Navidson Record is really what holds this book together, as the document of the house is infinitely more fascinating than Zampano and certainly more interesting than Johnny Truant, and the building tension presented within the Navidson Record is such a well-constructed haunted house story that you almost start resenting the constant interruptions from Truant.
I suppose that is kind of an idea presented herein; a text being hijacked and misinterpreted by an in-universe character, along with Johnny's footnotes having their own footnotes of a professional editor correcting him. It's one of the more interesting ideas presented by House of Leaves that unfortunately I find doesn't really go anywhere. The book is a smattering of great ideas but I really think the haunted house is what's the most interesting. Mark seems like he'd be a fantastic genre writer.
Still, I find the book an easy recommendation because it's such a fun and creative art collage, and it's fun to see a book try and break conventions in a way only a book really can. This would an incomprehensible audiobook, a really confusing film, but it makes for a one-of-a-kind book. Plus, Mark's sister Poe made a really great companion album for it, if you want something fun to listen to.
also read this at 19, the sex scenes were the worst, the Australian girl one was the one in particularly silly, 'her breasts bouncing around like giant pacman' what are pacman tits? are they bright yellow? Like pacman isn't even known for bouncing around, he moves in a straight line that's the entire point of the game. Danielewski can come off pretty porn brained in some parts of the book, and not in a meta/ironic way like american psycho or something, just pure vapidness. did help get be back into reading though so i'll give mark that.