Good Books for Gamers #1: House of Leaves

This is the first post in a series I hope to be setting up over the coming months; Good Books for Gamers. I'll be reviewing books which I believe should be a the top of any gamer's reading list. They won't be like "Big Jim's Big Book of Game Cheats", but hopefully they'll be books which will nurture the kind of mindset which you need to be a good gamer or at least bring up some interesting ideas for your brainbox.

First book in the series is one of my top 5 fave books of all time: House of Leaves

Released in 2000 and written by Mark Z Danielewski House of Leaves tells the story of a number of different characters:

Johnny Truant - a tattoo artist who's friend suggests he moves into the apartment in his block which has just become available. In this apartment he discovers (amongst other weird shit) a mysterious manuscript which he edits and transcribes for the reader, the manuscript is written by the previous occupant of the flat a Mr...

Zampano - a mad old man who lives alone in his flat with boarded windows and blocked ventilation systems. He is writing a critique of a documentary film called "The Navidson Record" which concerns the events surrounding...

The Navidson Family - William Navidson is a famous photographer and he is moving into a new house with his wife and children. Unfortunately, they find that their house holds some pretty fricking freaky secrets. Will Navidson films his exploits in his new home on a video camera; the results of which eventually become the documentary film "The Navidson Record".

(There are also the fictitious Editors who pipe up now and again to edit or paraphrase some of Johnny's ramblings - they are assumed to be the ones publishing the book as a whole).

So, as you can probably tell the book is pretty complex: Johnny is transcribing Zampano's critique of a documentary about a family. It's a book about a book about a book about a film. House of Leaves is a freaking onion, it has so many layers. It's a whole bushel of onions, dammit. Do onions come in bushels? I guess that's irrelevant.

The Plot
Starting from the very bottom of the narrative tower, ie: the Navidsons. The documentary "The Navidson Record" is pieced together out of old family videos filmed by Will Navidson. After a sizable description of the characters and their lives before they moved into the their new house, the story really starts when they discover that their new home is literally bigger on the inside than it is on the outside (they actually get a tape measure out to verify this). But it really, really starts when they come home from a trip to find a new door in one of the walls. A door leading to a hallway which, physically, should extend out into their back garden, but doesn't. The documentary which Zampano critiques mainly concerns the strain which is placed upon the family as Will Navidson and other intrepid adventurers explore the pitch black labyrinth of twisting hallways, shifting doorways and endless chambers which lies behind the new door. Frankly, the whole experience is incredibly harrowing and terrifying!

Zampano's written critique of the documentary is rambling and frequently goes on tangents so immense it's like reading an acid trip. At one point he begins listing the characteristics of various shotguns - right down to their measurements and specifications. 

Johnny transcribes Zampano's insane ramblings for us, but often goes out of his way to describe his own drunken, drug filled, sexed up, insomniac lifestyle. Johnny's story is told in parallel to Zampano's, often in epic footnotes (sometimes taking up whole pages themselves).

Format

What makes House of Leaves so interesting for me is the fascinating way the information is presented to the reader. The text is often distorted to reflect the characters emotions, feelings and situation at the time. For example, when Will Navidson is squeezing his way through an increasingly narrow hallway the text becomes tighter and tighter - forcing the reader to quickly skip through the text and feel the increasing pressure as the blank margins bear in on the text. 

 Similarly, as Will is climbing a rockface we have to read up the page in sections to simulate the feeling of ascending at a laborious pace.

Danielewski employs colour to add an extra layer of intrigue into his text. Every instance of the word house is in blue, every instance of the word minotaur is in red and throughout the book, strikethroughs and purple text is employed - but never really addressed. The book comes with a sizable full colour appendix containing a number of letters to Johnny from his mother and other interesting pieces.

Gaming the book

Why I think this book would be interesting to the average gamer is that it is absolutely riddled with riddles, it is covered with codes, cryptic cryptids and puzzles which, if you don't keep a keen eye, you'd miss. For example, at one point Johnny meets a band in a bar who have read his published copy of Zampano's transcript, not knowing the Johnny is the author one member says: 

"Had he made it to Virginia? Had he found the house? Did he ever get a good night's sleep? And most of all was he seeing anyone? Did he at long last find the woman who would love his ironies? Which shocked the hell out of me. I mean it takes some pretty impressive back-on-page-117 close-reading to catch that one." 

(House of Leaves, pg514)

So, you flick back to page 117 and find (in a particularly rambling footnote on his woman trouble) Johnny says:

"...a wild ode mentioned at New West hotel over wine infusions, light, lit, lofted on very entertaining moods, yawning in return, open nights, inviting everyone's song"

(ibid, pg117)

Which is an acrostic of "a woman who loves my ironies". Other puzzles reveal more about the characters, at one point Johnny's mother writes a letter which contains the code: "my dear Zampano, who did you lose?" similarly in acrostic - suggesting a hitherto unknown connection between the two characters.

This is just one of thousands of hidden gems which are burrowed deep within the book, and there is debate on whether we have discovered them all, and whether we have fully understood the ones we have discovered. There is the matter of the front cover, for example:

As you can see, the front cover is not quite large enough to cover the inside of the book. Almost mirroring the house itself in it's topsy turvy dimensions. Some have gone as far as to say that the book published by the editors IS the house - and the house IS the book. But that's getting into some pretty messed up metaphysical fuzz which I really don't want to get into right now.

My point is that the ability to grapple with puzzles such as the House of Leaves is an essential characteristic to being an effective gamer (well, OK, maybe not some FPS games, but certainly puzzle, MMO and adventure games). Even if you don't buy into the puzzle and game side of it, it's an incredibly engrossing book. Before the end you begin to wonder what part of it is real? Was there ever a family who lived in a house bigger on the inside than out, or was that made up by Zampano? Or was HE made up by Johnny as an expression of his increasing paranoia and madness? Or is it all the insane ramblings of Johnny's mother - alone in the mental asylum?
If you aren't convinced as to how enveloping the mystery is, just take a look at my copy: 

PS. that's how a book SHOULD look by the way - nice and worn. If another person lectures me about "breaking the spine" of a book, I might just go biblical on them.

The Looking Glass Club

[EDIT - I now realise the start of this post is a bit of a rant, if you want to read about The Looking Glass Club then scroll down past it!]
I have returned, fresh faced from the land of Londonium. I have not returned empty handed, though, oh no. I come bearing gifts of a new found distaste for the "scene". I know, I know, I once was one of the kids who hung around the park - baggy trousered and bedecked in black. I was cool and I despised the establishment, yeah those adults! They never listen to us! Fight the powa'! But since then, I've... well, I've got some freaking perspective!
Travelling on the tubes the past couple of days I have begun to despise the posers in square glasses without lenses, who grow moustaches - not because they are superawesome and make you look like a manly man, but because it is ironic to do so. Those parodied on Family Guy and other comedies as going to coffee shops to type on their laptops, because whats the point in writing if noone sees you doing it? With trousers with rolled up legs showing their ankles, they slope around with an air of aloof mysticism carrying battered books or notepads. I am at once in awe and at odds with them - bedecked in battered trainers and a jumper as I am.
[EDIT -Rant over!]


Phew, well now, lets get to business shall we? A couple of days ago a new thread popped up on uF (here it is, in fact) concerning a book just released by a British writer named Gruff Davies. Now, apart from having the manliest name ever created Gruff has provided an interesting challenge for us ARGers and puzzle-lovers. If we can solve the puzzle of his book, we could win up to £1million.

Before I set out for the land of the drainpipe trousers, I ordered myself a copy - hoping it would arrive before I had to leave for the trainstation, it didn't and instead the journey down was occupied by my second read-through of Eldest (of the Inheritance Cycle) in preparation for the next, and final, installment which will be out later this year, with any luck.

However, as I pushed open the door to my flat early yesterday evening a package from Mr Davies was waiting for me. Inside the cover was a business card advertising the competition tied to the book: 

Are you smart enough to win up to £1 million?

Read the novel

Solve its secrets

Available now from major online stores: Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Find out more, visit:

http://www.thelookingglassclub.com/

The copy is signed by the author and whilst it isn't all that thick in itself - the typeface is much smaller than I anticipated so the book is a much more daunting task than I first thought.

Having said that, I delved into the first chapter later that night and I believe I was gripped. It took me a page or so to get a handle on Gruff's style of writing, accustomed as I was to the simpler style of the Eragon books (I really have been powering through them), but once I had my teeth stuck in I really was just dragged along by the story. So far I have gleaned that the story concerns the main character Zeke (or "Steel") who is tasked with protecting Skyler; a pregnant twenty something with amnesia. The start of the book is frantic and confusing, not in a bad way, but in a way which I believe is perfectly constructed to mirror the tension of the chase into which we are thrown.

Now, to the meat of the post - the competition. Along with the book itself are a series of challenges set to the reader, to be solved by the end of this month (so you best get ordering if you want in). Full details can be found on the LGC website, but as a short summary: solve the first puzzle to be put into a draw for a Kindle, solve the first four puzzles to be put into a draw for an iPad, solve the entire book first (that is, before anyone else) and win up to £1million. The puzzles come in the form of an except from "Tony's Diary" and seem to come at the end of each chapter. The book begins with what appears to be a yes/no morse or binary code, since then I've conquered the first chapter and reached the second puzzle, a fiendish word square which, at first glance might be dismissed as a simple substitution or rotation cipher, but when you look closer there are far too many triple letters for it to be so bland. The puzzle is accompanied by the line "an amphibious mammal swims in this sea".

So, fancy a challenge? I'll certainly be aiming to finish the book by the end of the month - if not solve it, if only to pay off my student loans! Head to the website to order a signed copy, you can also download the entire book - FOR FREE in pdf form (although, you won't get all the puzzles). Also follow Gruff Davies on twitter @gruffdavies. Right, best be off, these iPads won't win themselves you know...

[EDIT2] Try not to do as I did and transcribe by hand half a page of no nos and yes yes's before realising you can copy/paste from the pdf. It really does damage your calm...

Amazon E-Readophilia

Taking a look at this article over at BoingBoing.net. Quick summary from BBC:

"A self-published guide giving advice to paedophiles that is for sale through online retailer Amazon is stirring up controversy on the internet, with some threatening to boycott the website.
The availability of the Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct has led to questions over scrutiny on the site."

Now, I'm not sure where to stand on this. In no way can you condone the actions of paedophiles, however, the little liberal in me wants me to stand up for free speech and fight against censorship. I think in the end the little liberal, let's call him Colin, will win out. I can't mentally justify support for Amazon censoring this author's work, its a very rocky road and I dread to think where it would lead.

The fact is, must all abide by the laws of free speech otherwise the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.

Ghosts of Ascalon

In yet another tangent, I'd like to give a short review on a book I've just read: "Ghosts of Ascalon" by Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb.

Its a book which I have had mixed feelings about right from the start - for reasons as follows. I love fantasy hack and slash literature - dragons, swords, spells, bows, elves, orcs and goblins and all that. Its great. I am convinced that I would be far better off if society crumbled and I was left with nothing but a makeshift bow and arrow constructed from my guitar strings and the bendy bit of plastic which holds my telly together. I also love Guild Wars, and am eagerly awaiting Guild Wars 2. On the other hand, I am deeply deeply ashamed of my geekiness. I think only my girlfriend truly knows how deep the nerd-hole goes, and I work very hard to keep it that way.

With that in mind, a fantasy fiction novel bridging the gap between the game I love and its sequal is something which I lust after and fear in equal measure.

Having finished the book, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am a huge GW fan and there were so many moments when I could go "LOL I KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN!" and clap enthusiastically like Stewie does when they say the name of the film in the film. The book does a great job of reconciling the tensions between the two major enemies in GW1 - the charr and the humans. Both sides are seen in a light which the first game just doesn't quite capture (primarily because you see everything from the view of a human, in the book you see the dark side of the human empire and the very human side of the charr legions). And has so many twists and turns you really get to feel for the characters.

Another nice thing is that the writers don't fanny around with undue description and flowerly language. There are no Tolkeinesque passages of "and then they sang the song they always sing, when they did the dishes" bloody Tom-Freaking-Bombadill, man, never even got halfway through that book. GoA really just gets stuck in from page one.

What is one of the greatest assets of the book, unforunately could also be seen as a criticism. Sometimes events can seem rushed, as if they are only there to fill the space between the beginning, middle and end. Perhaps, to slip in a character who might induce squeeing amongst GW fans such as myself.

However, on the whole I enjoyed it. I got a bit worried when I was 10 pages from the end and all seemed to be lost - I could see a very bleak start to GW2 when it comes out next year *fingers crossed*, but the writers Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb did a great job of really rounding it all off nicely. It guaranteed that I will be literally gnawing at my desk in about 6 months squeeing myself into oblivion about the prospect of playing GW2.