House Of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
If you recognize the book in the picture, or its name written underneath… Odds are we are going to be friends sooner or later.
During yesterday’s workshop, we discussed many ways to notice the Surreal in our everyday life. While waiting in queue, visiting familiar places, and even what home meant to us.
By the way, shoutout to liminal spaces enthusiasts!! Still, I am saving this subject for another piece…
I wanted to add my 2 cents on this subject, with a topic you may not know… Which is Ergodic literature.
In a nutshell, “Ergodic” pieces require the reader to go the extra mile in order to fully understand it. (Or in the case of HOL, many, many miles. Those who know… just know ^^)
Now I have been a fan of ergodic literature for a very long time, leading my naive self to the world of internet culture, subreddits, ARGs… But we will talk about that in another piece, also.
It’s a rabbit hole, really. Or rather an underground, multi-universal system of rabbit holes and tunnels and pathways, all leading to different corners of a construct mirroring itself… Yeah.
Anyway, anyone can read an ergodic book from A to Z and still be happy about it. But if you want to dig deeper into the piece, God knows you can.
I’m talking h!dden symbols, colors that may or may not bear different meanings, various ways to write, upside domu, on the margins, in scribbles… I mean look at this other snapshot of Danielewski’s book. What a wonder!
Much like the Surreal, ergodic pieces trick the reader into believing they are reading “yet another book”. While slowly, it makes them feel like something is wrong. Something is missing. And their odd feeling just keeps intensifying until the very end. Which is why it is such a treat for horror writers!
Indeed, you might (or might not) have noticed that in my first piece Ursula’s Garden, some letters were in bold. If you read it normally, you would still have a full-circle story afterward.
And yet, if you felt a little bit more sneaky, you would have discovered this hidden poem:
Many things can haunt you.
A mere stranger
The faded memory of a past life
A secret with a missing clue
It may feel like sorrow or pain
Regret or nostalgia
But mostly,
A ghost is an idea.
(And ideas are sacred)
Now I am still a baby writer and have the longest way to go, but this is a fun way to play, especially with experimented readers.
And I recommend trying it yourself!
You will never see literature the same way after that, my friend.
Thank you for this great workshop, it has been a pleasure!
(And please, for everyone's sake... Write weirder pieces.)