• In total there is 1 user online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 1 guest (based on users active over the past 60 minutes)
    Most users ever online was 789 on Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:08 am

Johnny's Stories

#69: Aug. - Sept. 2009 (Fiction)
User avatar
Krysondra

1F - BRONZE CONTRIBUTOR
Intern
Posts: 158
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:56 am
14
Location: Austin, Texas
Been thanked: 1 time

Johnny's Stories

Unread post

Based on the ending and Johnny's propensity for telling stories to the ladies, how much can he be trusted as a narrator throughout the book?
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never say a common place thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..." ~ Jack Kerouac
User avatar
poettess
All Star Member
Posts: 136
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:53 pm
14
Location: Michigan
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 7 times

Unread post

The thing about Johnny is you can't tell if he is having some parallel and horrifying instance with the Navidsons or if he is making the whole Navidson story up as a psychotic delusion. Since his mother obviously had some sort of mental problem, it stands to reason that he is going down that same path. Some of the parallels in the stories could be due to the house eating at Johnny in the same way as Navy, or it could be that they point to the fact that he made the whole thing up. Think about the matches and the book scene.... Since there has been no line drawn between the house and Johnny, I find it easier to believe the latter suggestion.
User avatar
Krysondra

1F - BRONZE CONTRIBUTOR
Intern
Posts: 158
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:56 am
14
Location: Austin, Texas
Been thanked: 1 time

Unread post

I never thought about it like that before. However, there is some support for that theory, reminscient of the Exploration tape speeches.

I've lost sense of what's real and what's not. What I've made up, what has made me. (497)
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never say a common place thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..." ~ Jack Kerouac
Post Reply

Return to “House of Leaves - by Mark Z. Danielewski”