House of Leaves [Book Review]

Imagine a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

My relationship with Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves began with a conversation in which I claimed—several times, quite proudly—that I don't get scared by scary books.

Horror movies? No thank you. When it comes to scary movies I am admittedly a complete wuss. Like for real. I still occasionally complain about my traumatic viewing of Shaun of the Dead.

But a book? At one point in high school I really tried to get into the whole horror fiction genre, but it didn't do a thing for me. I was often bored and more often just grossed-out by the "scary books" I attempted. But I've never been scared by a book.

Until House of Leaves.

Me saying that this novel—if you can even call it a "novel" (more on that in a minute)—is scary doesn't really describe the experience of sitting down with its daunting 700+ pages.

Reading House of Leaves made me feel at times both deeply disturbed and extremely exhausted; it can be thought-provoking and also downright annoying; this is a book that made me literally jump out of my seat with fright (ask Kelsey, she was there) and it made me laugh out loud; reading Leaves can be described as an extremely unsettling and lonely experience.

I really recommend this book very highly, but my recommendation comes with a disclaimer:

Reading this book is WORK.

Danielewski toys with the very conventions of modern prose. Half of the narrative is revealed through expansive footnotes and appendices. Entire plot interpretations hinge on the author's use of varying typographical fonts and text colors. At one point reading this book required me to hold it up to a mirror.

Yes. It's that kind of book.

You really should seriously consider reading it. But like I said, it's not a leisurely endeavor. I didn't dare attempt to tackle Leaves on the hustle-and-bustle of the subway—most of my reading was exiled to quiet corners of my apartment where I could temporarily isolate myself from distracting sights, sounds, and human beings.

But it's a rewarding story. And it is—in addition to many other things—quite scary.

Honesty

So I have unceremoniously returned to my blog after a months-long hiatus. This is the part where I should talk about how I've rekindled my passion for blogging—how I'm back for good. But that wouldn't be fair to you or me. We deserve better. Who knows how long I'll keep up the blogging this time. Let's face it, I'm a mystery. I could write another post tomorrow. Or I may wait until the wind changes.

You know, like Marry Poppins.

Only I spend less time riding in English fox hunts that take place inside of chalk drawings. In fact, I hardly ever do that.

And this truly (more or less) gets at the theme of this post.

Honesty.

This sign was posted on the service entrance of my apartment building. Wow. Check out that honesty.

I'd like to salute whoever took the time to create and display this sign. It really is such a human gesture. It's as if the sign is saying, "You know what? Life isn't perfect. Sometimes things don't work the way they're supposed to. You can try your luck, it could be your night. Or you might have to walk around the building and use the main entrance."

No empty promises. No platitudes. No half-hearted apologies.

No "Sorry for the inconvenience :) -The Mgmt"

Honesty.

The Bechdel Test

So today /Film (that's "slashfilm") posted this article on their blog, which describes something called The Bechdel Test, after comic strip illustrator Alison Bechdel.

In Bechdel's 1985 comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For she presents "The Rule," which shockingly illustrates the underrepresentation of women in Hollywood films. For a film to pass The Bechdel Test it must only pass three simple rules:

1. The film must have at least two female characters with names.
2. These two female characters must at some point during the movie talk to each other.
3. They have to talk about something besides a man.

Seems pretty easy, right? Actually, a staggering number of movies DO NOT pass this simple test.

The website www.bechdeltest.com keeps a running tally of movies that pass and fail The Bechdel Test. Here are some movies—both recent and older—that fail this basic test of female representation in film (Oh, and all of these movies were either nominated for or won an Oscar):

The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire, Avatar, District 9, Up in the Air, The Fantasitc Mr. Fox, Star Trek, Up, The Dark Knight, Kung Fu Panda, The Wrestler, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Nemo, Ice Age, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, A Beautiful Mind, Shrek, Fight Club, Toy Story I and II

In fact, bechdeltest.com keeps track of which IMDB Top 250 films have been graded. Out of the 97 submitted to the site, only 25 have passed. Clearly this is a problem even in the very "best" of our movies (notice the quotes).

I wonder what this says about the state of Hollywood and how it represents our collective attitudes toward women. Why is it that women, who represent half of all moviegoers, are so much less likely to see themselves represented on the big screen?

I wonder what lessons we teach young girls (and boys) about themselves by overlooking women so blatantly at the cinema—which after all is one of our most powerful modern cultural authorities?

Please enjoy the original comic strip and show it to your friends.

Also, you can watch this great video about The Bechdel Test.