House of Leaves: House - 3; General Public - 0

Samples of the multi dimensional walls have been taken, showing that the test tubes contain all three rock classifications. Personally, I think the house has taken the concept of metamorphic' rock to the next level. However, it appears to be a vacuum; a type of well-crafted, multi-chambered/hallwayed black hole. I HAD wondered if this was going to turn into an inside out Jumanji, but to no avail.  Occasionally, the text is plagued with xxxxx's - seemingly Truant's editing but could be reminiscent of Truant mirroring Karen's separately guilty past - both have exes abound.

Truant seeming has his own dreamlike labyrinth in the shape of a boat; 'a vessel [...] endlessly descending into dead ends, turning around to find other ways which in the end lead me only to still more dead ends' (p.403).  Yup, pal - but at least you have the luxury of waking up.  After reading various old manuscripts, Truant starts to replace 's' with 'f' - rather than amusing, I find that more irritating than trying to read upside down, with a mirror, or trying to find the reason for the minced up DIY catalogue/dialogue from a few days back.

There is a nice comparison to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner', Dante and even the Bible's 'Jonah and the Whale' (as opposed to Moby Dick).  The plot thickens as Karen returns to the house. Mwa hahahahaha!

( Spoilers Aplenty )

Quote of the Day
Bearing in mind that Truant has quit all of the noxious substances, yet is in a progressively worsened state for reading the 'academic' essay, he comes across a flyer under the wiper of his car.

Wanted
50 People
We'll pay you
to lo(s)e weight!

Truant: You want to lo(s)e weight, I thought to my(s)elf, well boy do I have something for you to read.

Villains of the Twenty First Century

House of Leaves - Karen

So, who IS Karen Green? Former model, mother to Navidsons two children.  Fear of commitment, but so desperately needy of her partner - who is possibly emotionally unavailable too.  Affairs to redefine herself, claustrophobia to keep others at bay.  Is the narrator implying that this shape-shifting house problem has manifested largely by her?

'There are only 8,160 frames in Karen's film and yet they serve as the perfect counterpoint to that infinite stretch of hallways, rooms and stairs.  The house is empty, her place is full.  The house is dark, her film glows. A growl haunts that place, her place is blessed [...] On Ash Tree Lane stands a house of darkness, cold and emptiness. In 16mm, stands a house of light, love and colour' (p.368).

Maybe the house signifies an absence of God/Divine Universal Presence/Whatever and that hell is not some fiery place but a black chasm of one's own making, black mirrors reflecting our misdemenours and misgivings.

( Spoiler-ish )

For some reason, I envision Karen to be very much like the lady on the Orbital video 'Halcyon', whiose track has a hypnotic, slightly echolaic pattern (just as Daisy did at her most traumatised). 'Halcyon' is dedicated to the Hartnolls' mother who was addicted to Halcion (triazolam) for many years. I can almost imagine Karen as this zombie figure, trying to live up to the cultural and social expectation of society, but privately caving inside.

I once wrote a story that was effectively a reworking of Echo and Narcissus, how a girl had to reclaim her own voice, rather than be an echo of other people. Daughter, sister, mother - a person made up of links to other people and in the midst, a disappearing self.  It felt cathartic.  Years later, I fed all copies through the shredder - no regrets.

I am on chapter XIX (p.418), which I suspect will be largely about Karen and her reconnaissance mission to save her former partner. I will start reading again later today.