Where to begin?
Stretching the Halloween celebration by an extra week, John and Edward decided to tackle the theme song to Ghostbusters to hilarious effects, eliciting audible cheers and booing from the audience and dividing the judges once again. To the shock of many and no-one at the same time, they failed to get eliminated last night, securing that at least for one more week, I’ll be posting some awfully-awesome performance from them here, come next monday.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now and for some reason or another I kept forgetting about it so I’ll delay no more. Curious thing though, even though I have this here blog and email and what-have you, I’m not really a big internet kinda guy. If I was, I would have heard all about House of Leaves years before I stumbled upon it at Borders somewhere in Ocoee FL two years ago. I was looking for a John Saul book in the horror section (of course) and this other book called my attention. After reading the back cover I made a mental note to go to Amazon.com to read customer reviews (I used to make up my mind about products that way, don’t do it as often anymore) and after finding some details about it on wikipedia, I decided to stop before anything was spoiled and buy me a hardcover copy (I rarely do paperbacks).
Onto the novel….
House of Leaves is by no means a perfect or rather flawless novel. No. But it is certainly the most ambitious thing I’ve ever come across and unless someone knows something even more daring and points me in that direction, it would remain the most ambitious thing I ever read. The story is so many things at once but most importantly, it is a big, bold F.U.C.K.Y.O.U. to all the professors that told Mr. Danielewski that he was no writer and would never be one. With such dream-crushing beating taking root in his heart, Mr. Danielewski set out to break every conceivable “rule” on how to properly write a novel and break them, twist them, spit and stomp on them, feed them through a meat grinder and then rearranged them in the most deranged way unimaginable. From cover to cover it is simply the biggest structural temper tantrum ever written. A revenge to English and Creative Writing Professors the world over. And wouldn’t you know? It works!……for the most part. Once you get past that, it is a wholly original horror story: a soul stealing, high-wire fright that will grip you and pull you in; a claustrophobic, vertigo inducing nightmarish tale that then reveals itself to be a love story at its core. It stays with you days, weeks, months after you’ve finish it. Heck, it’s been 2 1/2 years since I read it and I still think about it and can feel its cold hand reaching for my throat.
Everything about House of Leaves is maddening and intriguing, confusing and enthralling, detached and touching. The book itself is a monster-alive and waiting to take you into the dark of its realm, and this assessment is both: figuratively and literal. The main story deals with a haunted house; a monster house, and the book is the house as much as the house is the book. Never before have I read a book that accomplishes to attack both: the characters within the story and you, the person holding the book.
The story is told through so many different points of views: the main narrator Johnny Truant, Zampano, Johnny editors, Zampano’s editors, extra/outside editors, friends and colleagues…. through first person narrations, notes, third parties, pictures, drawings, etc. A high and complex concept that’s mind-boggling, specially thinking about the process of putting it all together and make it flow. And to top it all, it also dares to suggest that everything is in fact, real. Actual events that took place. This is The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity (take your pick) in book form, the only different is that (as much as I love BWP…..PA not so much)House of Leaves is supremely more entertaining and effective.
The Plot. (and don’t worry; nothing I hear say will be a spoiler, trust me)
In short: A blind man named Zampano wrote an essay about a documentary film made entitled: “The Navidson Record” by one Will Navidson about what took place in his house. The Navidson Record (like BWP and PA) was released into theaters by none other than Rob Weinstein of Miramax films!! (this was published in 2000 people) adding to the whole “factual events” vibe. After Zampano is found dead in his LA apartment, Johnny Truant and his friend Lude break in and go through the man’s stuff and Johnny finds the essay. He takes it home and becomes obsess with it and about completing it, alluding that the essay may have driven Zampano mad and to suicide and that Johnny is next.
That’s basically the secondary story. The main story of course is the Navidson Record itself. What’s found in the film and what happened to Will Navidson and his family inside their home. THIS is the selling point of the novel; the reason the story is sooooo amazingly gripping, so addictive; why you can’t put the book down once you start reading it.
In spite of all the structural mindfuck, that does adds a lot to the story and helps it become even more disturbing as you read along, the Navidson family’s tale is the reason the book is the devil’s candy. Unfortunately, what keeps House of Leaves from truly achieving full greatness, what keeps it from being a complete masterpiece from cover to cover is none other than our main narrator Johnny Truant himself. His subplot is the flaw that stains an otherwise terrific novel.
After finding Zampano’s manuscript, Johnny reads the story to us but in between readings, he also gives us detours–sometimes short, sometimes eye-rollingly long–about his life in SoCal and working at a tattoo parlor and bedding countless women and getting drunk and high with his buddy Lude, and meeting supposedly colorful characters and hearing about their adventures etc. Every time Johnny deviates from the Navidson Record it starts as something supposedly relating to his life but it isn’t. Away from the fact that he discovered Zampano’s manuscript and he wants to finish it and therefore tracks down the people who were helping Zampano along because he becomes obsess with the manuscript, nothing else is remotely connected to it. Every aspect of Johnny’s life in SoCal is irritatingly boring and absolutely pointless in comparison with the Navidson family. If it were interesting it would have been something but it only makes you crave for him to get back to the Navidson Record and you sort of start hating every time he decides to tell you about “his day.” As part of his big F.U.C.K.Y.O.U vendetta, I can see the point of this, but it makes the story suffer. Leaving you the reader to simply resign yourself to go along with it because, as I say, everything else about the book is amazing.
Taken as a whole, House of Leaves is a literature criticism, a structural satire, and a marvel of modern written concepts that deserves all the praises it has garnered and a book I encourage everyone to read because it truly is amazing, and it shows any aspiring writers that there truly are no limits to what you can do in literature when you put your mind to it. There are no challenges, no roadblocks to what you can accomplish, only your own mind. Grade: A-
National Treasure+Pirates of the Caribean+The Mummy+a pinch of Alexander=Prince of Persia.
Wow, you can REALLY tell when a movie is from Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer can you not?
Every part of the sets, locations, etc., look pristine even the “dirty” places, the trailer attacks us with so much relentless action that has 0% real violence or even danger for that matter, but 100% meet-cuteness and a buckload of fake heroism. Also everything is so theme park ready that you can just see the merchandise a mile away. Even if it is calculated commercialism, I won’t mind it as long as it is fun. So taking it from all the other franchises it has been concocted from, it has a 50/50 chance of landing on the side of enjoyable popcorn. We’ll see.
Yay! Go to your local bookstore asap! Today people!
Now PLEASE go support your local INDEPENDENT bookstore. See how I specified “independent” there and not B&N or Borders? They will always be there; your local independent store may not so go support them instead…….. Now damn it!!
Just kidding!……not really.
A total creepfest.
This movie, in my humble opinion, is garnering a handful of bad reviews and it is completely unfair.
I may be on the minority but I though The Box was entertaining, interesting, highly creepy, funny at times, unusual for sure, and it keeps you guessing all the way to the end. The concept may be too much for some and believe me, you have to stay with it trying to figure out first, what’s going on and then, where it is all going because through highly unconventional yet streamline editing, the movie doesn’t show you everything up front. And the ending will not be what you expect.
Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella do great job here. Langella is exceptionally creepy and mysterious, while Cameron is very sweet and at points heartfelt.
I really want to explain more but to tell you anything about the plot is to ruin the movie for you. Which is irritating ’cause there’s a certain plot device I really want to discuss at length. It is definitely worth seeing. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is definitely a break from the normal, stereotypical horror/thrillers Hollywood shoves down our throats 99% of the time. Grade: B+
Well, it took Robert Zemeckis 3 tries but he finally found a story that could utilize his obsession with performance capture technique in a good way. Now, I’m not saying that the computer rendering of the movie is amazing in any way, shape or form, no. What I’m saying is that his (and Disney’s, lest not forget the mouse who so prominently announces himself in the title) take on Charles Dickens beloved and often recycled, classic holiday story sort of benefits from all that 3D and it becomes quite a fun experience on the big screen.
Jim Carrey was indeed born to play Ebenezer Scrooge, and though his and Gary Oldman’s and everyone else’s physical acting doesn’t quite breaks through all of that computer technology to look natural instead of awkward, and at times a bit creepy, his voice work really shines here.
You all know the story so there’s no point explaining the plot here. The Polar Express was just odd, weird and creepy; Beowulf was less creepy but still laughable, this time around the technology is even less awkward though not natural in any way but at least watchable and therefore enjoyable. I still think that he’s going to majorly screw his planned sequel to Roger Rabbit with performance capture instead of using good ol’ 2D animation though. Grade: B+
This is the movie that was going to be a vehicle for Tom Cruise and then rewritten for Angeline Jolie….. and we the public are the winners of this switch. Gotta say though, I don’t blame Tom for dropping out if that was the case, I mean it does resembles his Minority Report a bit too close for what this trailer shows.
Either way, high chase+guns+explosions+Angeline Jolie in her badass element= Summer Movie Gold.
I don’t really get all excited about Dreamworks animated movies. For every 10 movies they put out, I like probably 3 or 4, and though this one could go either way, I’m more inclined to give it a chance because it features…….. Dragons!! Ha! And you know I can’t resist.
Steve Hall’s The Raw Shark Texts is the geekiest book I’ve read. Now, that’s not an insult in any way, what I mean is that it uses so much inventive *pc lingo* that a times it feels like someone who’s obsess with computers and technology–aka a geek–will be in book heaven here. There’s no question that Steve Hall must be a superior–and proud–geek; that’s the only way to explain what he’s come up with here. And as original concepts go, Steve Hall must be congratulated for what he’s come up with and what he dares to do, no questions, even if it doesn’t quite live up to its ambitions.
Most all fiction ask of you to take a leap of faith with it and suspend disbelief to be able to enjoy the story and feel for the characters and go along with every situation/crisis. Any talented writer can make you do that easily, but it takes a truly gifted one to make you care for not only what The Raw Shark Texts is all about, but to do this with the sort of unconventional book structure and writing style that Steve Hall uses throughout the book. Has he done it? The answer is: not completely.
Following on the footsteps of the mother of all structurally *fucked* books: Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves but nowhere near as out there and riveting as that monster of a book, The Raw Shark Texts utilizes text as drawings, pictures, blank pages, pages with only a line or two, text as sketches, to not only tell the story but to submerged you deeper into its world. To make the concept sink–so to speak, and there’s lots of sinking and water here. Yet to me, the single most unconventional thing about the book wasn’t the drawings or blank pages or text as pictures but Steve Hall’s writing style, his voice. I can’t say that it felt different because he’s British compare to most American authors I read because I’ve read British authors before and I’ve never had any problems following the narrative. Steve’s style–as narrated by the protagonist–tries to convey his sense of being lost, of being trapped within his own memories, and make you feel his desperation and need for answers and longing for the past, which is all fine and dandy if it wasn’t because at times it all feels erratic, too much geek lingo for its own good, and most importantly because he’s a cypher: instead of a fully formed human character, he feels more like a faceless device created to simply tell a story. You never quite feel for him or root for him to get to the bottom of all secrets and conspiracy and come triumphant at the end. Not matter how much he tries, he doesn’t feel human enough and he can seem like an irritating child at times needing pampering, which could be constructed as him not having memories and therefore learning everything again just like a kid. That could very well have been Steve Hall’s intention all along seeing as how this is a story about conceptual sharks and super computers, but I get the feeling that it wasn’t intentional.
The story deals with Eric Sanderson waking up with absolute no memory of who he is and then told by a letter left to him by the first Eric Sanderson to go to a doctor who would explain everything to him. Eric as it turns out, suffers from a dissociative condition called phychotropic fugue which is a reversible amnesia that twist, confuses and rewrites memories as well. But in fact, Eric was attacked by a “conceptual shark” called a Ludovician who feeds on thoughts, memories, etc., and that’s the reason he has no recollection of who he is. From there, the story goes on finding out what really happened to the first Eric, what caused the Ludovician to come after him, and how to stop it from returning, as the shark seems to be hunting him. Of course there’s lots more than just that. In a sort of Alice going down the rabbit hole, there’s the whole concept of un-space, mind controlling super computers, all manners of conceptual fish, memories as reality, surreal imagery and a whole conceptual world under our own. At times it all can be a bit fascinating even with the flaws in the story. There’s nod to The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca, and probably what I found most disappointing, the climax of the novel is a shot by shot recreation of Jaws. For a novel trying so hard to be original, to end by simply regurgitation the old and familiar instead of surprising us with something fresh and thus keeping with its own plot, is not only a cop-out but a huge let down. As if Steve Hall was trying to reach for the stars and at the end couldn’t do it and simply crashed back down. Definitely interesting and I wouldn’t mind checking out his next book to see what he comes up with as a follow-up, though I wouldn’t rush to get it. Some have suggested that this is a “blockbuster waiting to be made” which is something I just cannot see. If anything, the kind of little seen so-so movie that later obtained a cult following on dvd. Grade: C+
