Thinking beyond first impression is the only way you get through this house. Patience is the only way you escape a maze. Need to get a copy of House of Leaves before you can embark? Click "SHOW MORE" on the video description above for a list of retailers! Like the music you've heard in this video? It's all original and composed for the House of Leaves project by indie musician Cory Croft & the Band of Phantoms: Cory Croft & the Band of Phantoms - 'Leaves' EP: kzread.info/dash/bejne/lYaHydt-ZpqWpM4.html Cory Croft & the Band of Phantoms - Bandcamp: goo.gl/XZuwUP

@jolast1165

5 жыл бұрын

Stella work Nick!

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

I always thought it was Zam-PAH-no and Da-LIE-al. Not ZAM-pehno and DEAL-iel. I guess it's funny how different this book casts its grip on the readers mind, even down to the pronunciation of the otherwise absurd character names. Sometimes I go over the tattoos I have from this novel and wonder which of his readers most closely shares that of Z's intended vision; the image he had in hie head of Johnny, of Navidson, of the House.

@amandaalvis5958

5 жыл бұрын

O.k. then. I was proven wrong..I can take that. Turns out that Pelican Black was yours....color me surprised. Got a question though? How did you set the date of it back in 2017? Usually, it gives the correct date. I also checked the site and now, Pelican Black is now down. The site says that it does not exist anymore. Just asking how you pulled that magic trick....

@BG_NC

5 жыл бұрын

Amanda Alvis it was an old channel of his he renamed and repurposed. I'm actually sad it's gone now though

@NightMind

5 жыл бұрын

@@amandaalvis5958 Old side channel for a one-off video repurposed to be PB. ::3

The funny thing is, Johnny being this smart, well read kid whose life is a wreck as an adult is the least unbelievable part of all of this for me. I’ve seen that a LOT

@riphopfer5816

Жыл бұрын

Johnny and I live nearly identical lives.

@riphopfer5816

Жыл бұрын

About this, you’re correct. Johnny and I live nearly identical lives. Most of us tend to die off or settle down by 40, but goddamn if I’m not still at it.

@Kropothead

Жыл бұрын

Gifted kid syndrome, man. It hit me hard.

@gretchenstubbs4378

Жыл бұрын

​@@Kropothead Same here, I got a early start lol. Dropped out in tenth grade after being a straight a student for years, honor classes too. Although I have found out with hard work you can go back to being that "gifted kid".

@c0wb0yfriend

9 ай бұрын

i live in LA and i know like 30 ppl who are like that including myself 😂

1:04:57 The way I read it, this was her last letter, the day before her suicide. She didn't forget her husband was dead. She just intended to join him. "but you my dear child, you should stay awhile. Do that for me"

@V3xxe

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, that's how I read it after looking at the letter.

I believed Johnny even between his admissions of being chronic story teller because I thought it was going to be “the pretender finally learns what it’s like to be in the situation” because it seemed like such a karmic conclusion. That he’s spent all his time making up these stories, fate has finally led him to a true story to experience. But the fact that he stays the same all throughout just blew my mind.

Imagine living in a house that's equally proportioned from outside to inside. This post by YGGSDRASIL Gang.

@HeyJudie

5 жыл бұрын

I usually expect my houses to be smaller on the inside than the outside. That's just me though.

@GmodPlusWoW

5 жыл бұрын

Funnily enough, that was foreshadowed VERY early on. For the house is on Ash Tree Lane. *...ASH. TREE.* I wonder if Nick will address this at the end of Part 3?

@retiinas

5 жыл бұрын

Imagine being sure whether or not your mom tried to strangle you. This post made by Truant gang

@sturmdragomir8716

4 жыл бұрын

@@HeyJudienot since the doctor changed gender

@elizabethyoung5304

2 жыл бұрын

Yggsdrasil is from Norse mythology and every mythology has a variation of it. Yggsdrasil is The Tree of Life. That's all I got right now 😢

If you really want to get an understanding of just how much was fair game for Johnny in terms of rewriting Zampano's work, take a look at the card just behind the cover of the book. The note card has Johnny's font, and it reads "Perhaps I will alter the whole thing." You cannot trust any part of the story.

@FairyBogFather

5 жыл бұрын

Omg I just commented the same thing! Sends chills down my spine.

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

I have read this story back to front (literally) and front to back, and I'm amazed that I never noticed that. I knew Johnny was an unreliable narrator, but I assumed all of the stories he tells aren't deliberate acts of malice on his part, they're delusions, hallucinations. Schizophrenia has a strong genetic factor. Johnny is simply his mother's son.

@tanuki01

5 жыл бұрын

Does Johnny even exist?

@NatetheNerdy

5 жыл бұрын

Johnny talks about needing to find a German translator for a section. Then, at the end, we can read a letter from his mother where she discusses talking to Johnny in German. He talks about how he makes up stories and things to impress people, mainky girls in bars. There is no House of Leaves, Zampano never existed. The entire book is Johnny telling us a story to see if we'll believe it. At least, that's my headcannon.

@tanuki01

5 жыл бұрын

NateTheNerdy I think Zampano made Johnny up. The entire dead blind man is just how he obfuscated his authorship of Johnny’s stories

God, that "I'm reading from a script too" moment blew my mind more than the actual reveal.

One of the biggest wham moments I experienced when reading even before Johnny's "slap": All through the Whalestoe letters, Pelafina raves about how wonderful her son's letters are and how they keep her going. With all the square metric ton of writing Johnny adds to the manuscript, _he never quotes a letter of his own nor even confirms that he actually replied_ . I kept expecting a reveal that he _never_ wrote her a letter and she was just crazy and deep in her own hallucinations that he wrote letters when he never did. Actually, he did write the one she kept in a locket but maybe he never wrote any more! _Maybe it's ALL bullshit!_ I love how the book yanks the rug out from under the reader - along with the carpet, the floorboards, the foundation and ten feet of dirt. Truant is the most treacherous unreliable narrator ever written. Perhaps I missed this. Maybe he _does_ mention that he wrote her letters but _why would he leave them out?_ Perhaps I made it up in my own mind. But the magic of *House* of Leaves is how the walls shift when you're not looking.

@deoxix

5 жыл бұрын

Hmm, curious. I thought about that while reading but i just assummed they were letters he sent a long time ago and since her mother got possession of them he was just never able to recover them later. That does make me think a bit...

@tanuki01

5 жыл бұрын

Maybe Johnny never existed and this is all Zampano creating the character of Johnny Truant as a vehicle for the Navidson record

@hanonondricek411

5 жыл бұрын

@@tanuki01 Very, very possible! I know all theories are in play at every given moment!

@yitz7805

5 жыл бұрын

in which case he's just identical to the irl author@@tanuki01

@BenjamminFranklin.

Жыл бұрын

When discussing the amulet with the letter inside I believe Johnny talks about how it was the only letter his mother saved.(we still don’t actually see the letter. Either it never existed or it was sold when he pawned the amulet(if he even pawned the amulet. That part of the book still confuses me.)) In his mothers letters after the breakdown concerning the “NEW” director(who was actually the old director.) She mentions how she’s sad she didn’t have the letters the director told her Johnny had sent. Johnny had her letters, but she didn’t have any other letter except the one inside of her amulet which Johnny either sold or lost. I don’t really know. Just providing my two cents here.

Top 10 Best Anime Betrayals.

@kingfranpetty

5 жыл бұрын

Yellow is the color of lemons, sunshine, happiness, dead leafs on the fall chilled winds, and lies.

...last video, I commented "Half the time I eagerly await Johnny Truant's notes, and the other half I'm like 'shut UP Johnny, you're more overbearing than Charles Kinbote'. I guess these Pelican Black videos are true to him in that regard." lmao I hit that nail right on the head. "I believed in him, I was feeling everything with him"? Like Shade's password to the unreliable narrator, the key into this echo chamber of lies is PITY.

@washout7595

5 жыл бұрын

I didn't read this book in the same way Nick is presenting it. When it suggested in the footnotes, "See Chapter" I skipped to that chapter and read it, or if it was exhibit whatever I would read it, and then ultimately go back to where I was. When Johnny mentions his last sexual encounter I stopped reading and said to myself, "Johnny, Johnny. Telling lies?" For some reason at that point when he talked about Ashley I began to think, "This is like a Penthouse Forum letter. Did he really have sex with all these women, even engaging in a three-some, and with people he barely met, or is he injecting his fantasies into his memories of what happened since he later proved that he was having a hard time telling reality from fiction?" From that point on I detached from Johnny. All I could think was, "Johnny, Johnny, telling lies." It was only towards the end of the book that I started to believe him again and even now I don't know why. So I can very much agree with this sentiment you have. Johnny gave us much needed breaks from Zampano's meandering but at the same time, Johnny also made it worse. Which, of course, was the point.

@QuikVidGuy

5 жыл бұрын

@@washout7595 I could have sworn he originally said the hammock story was about Clara and then later said it was Ashley

I always found what was happening in The Navidson Record intrigued me far more than whatever the heck Johnny was ever up to. Also, the way you structured this video made Johnny sound genuinely annoying and boring at times (as I found him to be in the book), but I loved how you brought it all back around towards the end. Honestly great work!

I recall "Delial" is pronounced more like "Delilah", with that long 'i" sound because someone wonders if it's a warped word of "denial".

@GmodPlusWoW

4 жыл бұрын

So kind of like Belial, except with a D?

I always thought Johnny's interjections were odd, hell I skipped most of them the first time I read the book when I noticed they all seemed to be about the same crap but I never thought about how odd it was Johnny even put them in the book, I am really looking forwards to the next video 'cause clearly there are parts of this story I never thought to think about and just accepted them as part of the story without asking why.

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

Same. It's funny, I was eagerly hoping NM would go into the Navidson Record, but I am thoroughly enjoying his deep dive into Johnny's story, barely touching the movie transcript.

@MissionComplete_0906

5 жыл бұрын

I was the same... I ignored Johnny after a while. He just told sex stories and I wanted to know about the House, Navidson.. But I still fell for it

Anyone who can get through this book and produce hours of analysis is aMAZEing. Good job, Nick!

@Kavilion

5 жыл бұрын

I c wat u did there

Shadows are often mistaken for something else in the mind of a child. House of leaves is a children's book for adults. you will make mistakes, and you will miss things that then slap you in the face. page 60, "The five and a half minute hallway." page 512 "I live in a five and half minute hallway" and somewhere in the book, or not but in this video. "the five and half minutes felt like forever." or something like that. too perfect. perfection. lies, but with meaning. and purpose.

@expendableindigo9639

5 жыл бұрын

Mother is god in the eyes of a child.

@mandala314

3 жыл бұрын

@@expendableindigo9639 Mother is the word for god in the hearts and minds of all children

That was pretty genius Nick. You had me hook, line and sinker.

@NightMind

5 жыл бұрын

Welcome to Echo's Chamber.

@growlie2676

Жыл бұрын

I was hooked, until we got to the Minotaur then you lost me. A Minotaur? Really? Seriously?

@jamesf4423

5 ай бұрын

@@growlie2676yes… it’s in the book. If you know the mythology behind the Minotaur it makes perfect sense

Well done Nick! I know a lot of people in the last video's comment section had some reservations about the pelican black stuff, and I saw one or two suspecting that you were going to pull something like this. Doesn't change the fact that the execution was spot on. Looking forward to more.

The way you delivered the way Johnny said about his mother's letter's was so masterfull, full of emotion and brilliant that made me cry (literally. Personal reasons). I'm loving this series, please do more like this

The thing you have to remember about echos is: only the first sound you hear actually comes from a voice. Only the first sound you actually hear comes from a voice. This observation should be obvious to anyone, and yet if you hang out in an Echo chamber too long, even the most blatantly false reflection will start to trick you into believing she's real. And why not? Echoes are such pleasant things. Echoes are such enticing lies. They're so convenient. Too convenient. When the first sound dies...another just happens to come along, happens to reinforce your voice with a footnote of sound. What an interesting person she must be, to agree with me? I wonder what tragic circumstances trapped her in this darkness with you, but gifted her with such deep insights the likes of which only you should know about yourself? I wish I could see her, this clever study of my mind. You wish you could hunt down this deceptive researcher of your thoughts. Sadly, she refuses to attend. She's perpetually absent. And that's the way it will always remain. When she's finally done speaking, she will no longer exist. But the great achievement is fooling you into believing she ever existed at all. His greatest achievement is fooling you into believing he ever existed at all.

Okay, that? That was brilliant. EDIT: More details; I honestly thought Black Pelican was a friend of Danielewski who obviously wasn't the best actor but expanding on the book's universe. I did *not* expect him to be a friend of *Nick's.* You have to be a real good actor to come off as that sincerely bad. Great work.

NO I DON'T WANNA RELIVE THOSE LETTERS DON'T DO THIS TO ME

@Uzur9

3 жыл бұрын

@@darrinrasberryph.d.1458 I just did. : )

Ima be honest, I was kind of disappointed in part one, with so much emphasis being placed on the "johnny" videos. It just seemed like a cop out, and I was looking forward to a classic NightMind full-dive, like Marble Hornets, or This House Has People in It. But after finishing this part, you've got me. This video changes my whole perspective on the book, and solidifies that after i finish the book I'm reading now, I'll go back and reread HoL, even though i just finished it for the first time like a week ago, when you put out the first video. Thank you for this, its really amazing, just wow.

@NightMind

5 жыл бұрын

Welcome to Echo's Chamber.

@foureyesisafish7968

5 жыл бұрын

@@NightMind What does this mean?

@wellesfan2092

5 жыл бұрын

Read the book.

One idea: The monster in the labyrinth being protected, sheltered away from the public, but hidden through shame and pride, is the Shadow (in a Jungian sense; the aspects of ourselves we are ashamed of, and which to hide, but through whose acceptance and integration we can become whole). I think in this way, Zampanò's maze can be concealing his own work, his own shadow, but because of the universal nature of the Shadow, it personally reaches and touches Johnny, and the aforementioned scribe (Zampanò's assistant who Johnny spoke with).

The ending question is one I've been pondering for years, since I first read House of Leaves. I keep circling around one or two theories, myself, and am waiting with very baited breath for yours, Nick. See you in the third video.

God damn it Nick. I thought I knew this book, you're ripping this all up

Very glad to see my suspicions about PB being right. You do not disappoint. Can we really know for sure Johnny isn't lying when he says he is? When it is implied the story he's been so meticulously crafting is but a fabrication? Maybe parts of it, maybe all of it, maybe there is no old man in the first place. Can we truly trust him when he's been lying to us this entire time? There's a pattern here. Johnny's mother attacking her son and the ambivalence of whether or not she really did it, whether it was a repressed memory Johnny had, or a lie she made up to make it easier for him to let go. Johnny himself admitting he lied to us (damaging our trust) and the ambivalence of whether he's been truly lying from the very start, or this is a lie he made up to make it easier for us to let go. An echo needs a point of origin. How much of J's lies have a backing on real events, twisted and 'renamed' to suit his needs? To lie you have to conjure up a story. But stories, even imaginary ones, need a basis. The basis of true events. Perhaps misshapen and deformed, perhaps belonging to someone else (another story, another person etc). But stories, like echoes and like lies themselves, have a point of origin.

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

I still believe that both Johnny's mother as well as Johnny have schizophrenia. I do not think he is deliberately lying to us, I think he just earnestly doesn't know fact from fiction anymore.

@tanuki01

5 жыл бұрын

Was Johnny ever real?

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

@@tanuki01 I believe he was, yes. Well...in the diagesis of the book, anyway. He's still a fictitious character. But that's a cool theory.

@tanuki01

5 жыл бұрын

Wobbles and Bean I honestly think he wasn’t. Nick’s right. He’s too … inconsistent (?). Besides, it’s not Johnny Truant’s House of Leaves. It’s Zampano’s

@Lemonadder

5 жыл бұрын

@@tanuki01 I think the better question is who is behind the mask/echo of Johnny. Johnny was real for someone, even if the Johnny, as we know him from his stories, is full of inconsistencies. And if we take into account that maybe, just maybe, parts of his story are true, then the echo becomes the Navidson Records themselves. Whether it is the guilt-stricken mother writing the story of the child that died too soon, or Johnny writing the entire thing, HoL in its essence deals with loss, guilt, love and coping. EDIT: I found it. Check the Bits segment (not sure what page, depending on the version of the book you have, mine is 543). In one of the Typed segments: ''Perhaps in the margins of darkness, I could create a SON who is not missing; who lives beyond even my own imagination and invention.'' This proves that Johnny is not real, at least not 'alive'. Further down the Typed segments, there's one that goes ''grant an old man a chance to play.'' So... is Johnny a character of Zampano's creation? EDIT2: I wonder... is Zampano Johnny's father? Is he the sole writer of HoL? Including his son (dead or never truly existing) in it out of loss and loneliness? As a means to cope?

The thing that has always annoyed me is this belief that people with schizophrenia are “violent” people when that is far from the truth. They are more likely to be victims of violence than actual perpetrators of it. There is still a negative stigma against it that it’s really sad.

When I first received the book, I was looking in-depth at the cover and cover pages (I love reading, but I'm always most drawn to color and pictures haha). Anyway, after reading the book and watching this video, it makes me think of the notecard that is pictured in the opening collage. It's written in Courier New, which we know signifies Johnny's commentary, and reads, "Perhaps I will alter the whole thing. Kill both children..." We have no idea how much Johnny altered, or how much Zampano altered for that matter. So spooky! Thank you for your content, Night Mind! Keep up the rad work.

@tanuki01

5 жыл бұрын

Lela Nesheim does the original story even exist? Does Zampano? Does Johnny? Once you know the narrator is a liar, can you trust any of the anecdotes?

@UkuleleLauren

9 ай бұрын

I accidentally saw that early on and was frustrated thinking I’d spoiled something major for myself! But then by the end of the book, I was confused as to why that never happened (I’d wrongfully assumed it was Navidson’s words). This makes so much sense that it was Johnny altering the story!

Damn this one hit me hard. My stepdad basically gave me the guest speech, my mum is repressive and controlling, and dad always used me as his lifeline from mental illness, alcohol abuse & violent anger issues. Stupid miserable childhood making me sad while I'm trying to enjoy online spooks.

One of my favorite things to do is get some tea watch nightmind and turn off the lights. I love the style of these videos so excited.

I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I knew Nick wouldn't let us down! I knew he wasn't falling apart! Oooooh boy Catdaddy you had me worried! I can't get this smile off my face!

@NightMind

5 жыл бұрын

Every creative decision I make is very heavily weighed in my mind. Even moreso when it comes to a property I dearly love and respect. I made an entire puppet show set to cover Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared. A video series on House of Leaves only ever could've gone one way on Night Mind.

@Drayle88

5 жыл бұрын

@@NightMind Night Mind got me into Horror, got me into ARGs and the desire to create outside of my comfort zone. You inspired me. And to know, to be validated, that my trust was well put and not in vain is a gift. Thank you.

@itswhatyoumakeit6950

5 жыл бұрын

Lol, Catdaddy, I love this! 😁

@itswhatyoumakeit6950

5 жыл бұрын

@@Drayle88 that is so cool. I am feeling a nudge myself, watching all this talent and then there's ....me. lol we are creators so I started with adult coloring books LOL 😁😉🙃

I’d like to apologize for my comments following part I. Obviously, I was speaking out of ignorance and pessimism. Part II is beyond what I thought an analysis of the book would be. I feel just as overwhelmed as the book made me feel, as if I’m stuck in a labyrinth, in a good way, and am eager to reach a resolution. I have watched this part twice now and I’ve gained an entirely new perspective on the meaning of the Minotaur and the role Johnny plays in the overall story. Thank you Nick, both for your hard work and your patience with the pessimism I expressed after the first video! You have created a labyrinth, no doubt. I anxiously await an escape...

The Pekinese is also Johnny, right? What with the being grabbed around the neck by a clawed woman thing.

@Kintsugi23

5 жыл бұрын

Keep in mind too the claws of the creature in the House and the claw-like marks found in Zampano's apartment. More echoes. What if Pelafina is the Minotaur?

@Kintsugi23

5 жыл бұрын

Lmao I was only about halfway through the video when I wrote that, yes Johnny's mother is 1000% the Minotaur

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

@@Kintsugi23 I always thought the Minotaur was Johnny's manifesting schizophrenia. Sufferers of the disease often describe their minds as a labyrinth.

@HeyJudie

5 жыл бұрын

@@Kintsugi23 When you have a family member who is schizophrenic, that fear can definitely come. It did for me. I'm pretty sure I'm not... but... who knows... maybe I'm so good at narrating my own life that I've fooled everyone along with myself. The elephant in the brain.

I have to say that as a dyslexic reader these videos really help me understand the book.

I told everyone as I read it the most unrealistic thing in this haunting story is how much sex Johnny is having!

@valkyrie5579

5 жыл бұрын

multieyedmyr I don’t know, some people just seem to have a gift when it comes to that. It doesn’t seem that unrealistic to me, but the fact that Johnny is an experienced liar, and all the unnecessary detail he goes into about it point to it all being fabricated. I’m definitely not one of those people though, even if I did have “the gift” I’m not the kind of person who’d want to use it all that much. My friend who lives with me though... He definitely has it lol

After reading HoL I can confidently confirm that me calling it the "Crackhead Book" was a correct assessment.

I thought Johnny had dissociative identity disorder and that is why the whole thing was a hot mess and he-- in moments of lucidity-- knew he was lying. Now you've really got me wondering what's up your sleeve. I knew I was missing a lot because Danielewski could out-fox me 10,000x a day, but I didn't realize how much. Ed: great video, btw.

*STANDING OVATION* Not only have you made me feel even better about this series, but you meta-bamboozled us at the same time! If there's now anything else I can say about this book, It's that there isn't a minotaur lurking in that maze, but an Ogre. And just like an onion, it has layers. Except this ogre is built on layers of deceit and lies, often on a meta level because all of the layers tie into each other so much; it's even to the point where you can't even tell when one layer stops and another starts. Regardless, you have fooled me, and I have learned a lot in a good way because of it. I can't wait to see what you have in store for Part 3 so you can finally put all of the REAL pieces together!

@kingfranpetty

5 жыл бұрын

Yellow is the color of lemons and lies. After all, every villain is lemons and all good devils dance in the shining sunshine.

@Kavilion

5 жыл бұрын

ProcopiousJones What are you talking about? How did he fool anyone?

@Kavilion

5 жыл бұрын

Makes a lot more sense now that I’ve finished the video.

I think I need to reread everything again just the get me bearings after this.

This is not for you.

The september passage wasn't a shock to me, because as soon as the water heater happened, I stopped trusting anything from Johnny Truant and also the book in general (also, the recovery seemed too convienient, too easy). Maybe it was also the reason why I didn't trust Pelican Black to begin with (aside from the obvious "It was Nick's second channel"), however, I was expecting "it was a lie all along" to only show up in part 3, not part 2, so you got me there, I can't wait for the rest ^_^ .

Once again, cat daddy, you’ve done it once again. I guessed that Pelican Black was your doing. But I didn’t guess you’d dive into a meta explanation of it, I thought you’d let us decide it’s fate. You consistently surprise me, Nick, and I am happy to be along for this ride. Hats off to you. Again.

@dominiclorenzo3145

5 жыл бұрын

Also, quick side note, did you ask us to decide when to release part II and III just to show us that patience is how to get through the maze? Did you have both parts done, plan the twist reveal in part II, and make us CHOOSE to be tortured by suggesting you weren’t quite done yet, so that we’d ask for part II and III a week or so apart? You’re sly dude. Jesus. And I kinda hope I’m right lol

So I've been mulling House of Leaves over since this video, and I think it's resulted in a theory. Johnny's story is more or less accurate to what he presents in the book. There are some exaggerations here and there, to be sure, but the core is true. Johnny was raised by a mentally ill mother who had to be institutionalized, and then he bounced around in various abusive foster families. He's a troubled young man, haunted by his past, terrified by the idea that he could end up like his mom, self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and casual sex. "The Navidson Record" is a story Johnny wrote as a sort of allegory for his life. The various characters and themes in the story are symbolic of people and events in his life. The footnotes are a sort of diary to help better spell out which events from his life helped to inspire ideas in "The Navidson Record." The house, the Minotaur, the hallway; all are allegories for Johnny's fear of his growing mental illness, his trauma from his abusive upbringing, his guilt about his mother's fate. Zampano never really existed. Between Johnny losing his father at a young age and being abused by his foster father, Johnny wanted a father figure in his life so invented Zampano. Johnny was afraid to claim full ownership of "The Navidson Record" because of its vulnerable and personal nature, so he did what he does best, spun a story about it. "Oh, me and my buddy found this in this cool old guy's place after he passed!" Sounds just like some of the other crazy stories Johnny and Lude have told girls to get in their pants. Tl;dr "The Navidson Record" is Johnny's semi-autobiographical story, written to help him cope with a traumatic past and burgeoning mental illness. Zampano was invented by Johnny partly to serve as a father figure and partly to help explain away how the story came to be.

@Super.Whimsy

5 жыл бұрын

Rachel Mazurek I really like this theory. My personal opinion is that Johnny’s mother’s letters were written by him as well. Like most of his additions, they paint him as an object of desire to an extreme degree, while encouraging a reader’s sympathy. Is it possible The Navidson Record was the story Johnny went to Europe for?

@QuikVidGuy

5 жыл бұрын

does Lude even exist

@leeeegolego2999

5 жыл бұрын

I love your theory and will keep it in mind - I still fully believe the whole thing was written by Pelafina, Truant is the Dead baby at the end and Z is a representation of Truant’s real dad.

@leeeegolego2999

5 жыл бұрын

Macaroni and Cliches if Truant does in fact exist, I still think Lude is just a reflection he made of his worst side to not carry all the guilt of his lifestyle.

I see those intentional errors that you included. Nice touch. Or should I say nice light?

@DulcetRawr

5 жыл бұрын

my favorite was changing dissembling to disassembling, it was just so meta

Yeah, I cried. This is not a horror story. This is not the insane ramblings of a madman. This is not for you.

I figured something was up when the editors threw shade at the beginning. They say they've never met any of the writers except for one phone conference. I was surprised that HoL wasn't some sort of course that moved to the editors as well. The echo doesn't effect tight asses, I guess. My other thought, at the beginning is Zampano was writing everything and just letting his freak flag fly through his self-insert.

im sure it was the point, but i cannot understate how much of a complimentary piece this is to the house of leaves experience, i love how you faithfully build on the foundations of labyrinthian bullshit

wow.. it can't be soon enough, these videos have been insane, so good, so enthralling, almost like the book itself

Very powerful message. This is my favorite book and I'm loving this series. Can't wait for part 3 :)

There's a HoL theory that Zampano was secretly Johnny's real father. I'm wondering now if Zampano's theory on the nature of the Minotaur might be hinting to this. Maybe the Minotaur's deformity is a reference or parallel to Johnny's extensive scars?

@Kintsugi23

5 жыл бұрын

...okay, that nightmare about being deformed and wandering in the dark? Being "put there by an old dead man who called me son but wasn't my father"? Damn.

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

I am a subscriber of that theory. Way back in the day, when Mark Z would post replies to fans on his forum, he all but confirmed it, albeit in his bizarre, cryptic, Z'ish way. The stories Johnny tells us aren't deliberate acts of malice, he's just experiencing the first signs of schizophrenia. Just like his mother.

@Kintsugi23

5 жыл бұрын

@@WobblesandBean I had that thought as well. Mental illness seems to be a theme all throughout the book.

@Stupacalypse82

5 жыл бұрын

To say nothing of the fact that Pelafina directly references Zampano' in the Whalestoe letters via the "first letter" code.

My first realization that the some (or many, or all) of the references were made up was a specific footnote referencing a paper from my alma mater, but from a department that doesn't exist at that school, plus it's a music school that doesn't release academic papers like the one cited. It was one of many uncanny experiences I had while reading it. Kinda like the Neverending Story, where I half expected to find my own name in the novel. A sui generis experience.

Welp, I'm back. And wholly impressed. Nick, this is the analysis we wanted. That being said, I can finally dump my own personal theory of what HoL is, and who wrote all of it. (Spoiler? Not really, if you've made it this far) Johnny. Has. Been. Dead. The whole time. Zampano, was real. Pelifina wrote everything. The whole book is just a house constructed of leaves. The house is Pelifina's life; a fragile housing of eternal loss. Am I still too vague? How's this; Zampano died at war, leaving Pelifina alone to birth their son. "Johnny" died as a baby due to a birth defect that left him with holes in his brain. Pelifina, left to cope with the loss of the 2 greatest loves a person can have, goes insane. Quite literally. I believe she was instituted at "the Whale" right after pulling the plug on her son. In her insanity, she writes the Whalestoe Letters as a means to flesh out a life her son would never have. I believe the Letters came before the House. The atrocities being committed to her in the clinic were actually happening. Knowing her spirit wouldn't last much longer, she writes the House of Leaves; a beautifully heartaching story of losing love and of not knowing what love is until its too late. And then she commits suicide. House of Leaves was not written for us. Didn't you feel invasive the deeper you dived in the mysteries? Didn't certain parts make you feel like you weren't supposed to read them? It's because Pelifina wrote the House for Zampano. She wrote it for Pelifina. But most of all, she wrote it for her dead son, Johnny. This was never for you. This is my own personal theory that speaks to me. This theory brought me back to Pelifina more times than I've picked up any other book. Especially after my father passed away. This is just how HoL impacted me. It's just my theory. But I hope you enjoyed it and now have a better understanding on why I spoke out so strongly on Nick's first video. Love who you need to love. That's what I took away from the House.

@HeyJudie

5 жыл бұрын

Why does Pelafina describe herself as a blushing school girl when talking to her pre-teen son? A son who probably is having his own moments of being a blushing school boy-- his own first experiences with sexual desire and gratification. I really like your theory, but that doesn't fit. Would a truly loving mother gush flirtatiously upon reading her son's writing? Perhaps, if you want to think of it in a Freudian way. But that is kind of gross. Maybe Danielewski wrote this because his mother was mentally ill and-- as often happens-- his mother started to conflate him and his father. My own grandmother is schizophrenic and has revealed sexual feelings for her son, who she conflates with Jesus Christ quite often (due to long hair). She showed me a picture of jesus, said it was her son, and said that she had sexual relations with the person in that picture. My uncle never said he was sexually abused, and I hope he wasn't, but it worried me. Anyway your theory got my motor running and now I'm really mulling this all over. I'll reply again if I have a breakthrough.

Pre-watching thoughts: I'm very curious to see how the response to this second part will be. EDIT: Post-watching thoughts: Yup, very glad I kept an open-minded approach with your videos. Loved it, cat man.

@guitardork555

5 жыл бұрын

Narumo LuckyCarrot was there a negative or positive response to part 1? I try and avoid reading comments these days lol

@sugoiuseismoeabuse4058

5 жыл бұрын

Comments were generally negative. The fake videos as part of house of leaves were poorly received and the time spent summarizing was considered a waste of an hour.

@jamiee7367

5 жыл бұрын

Sugoi Use Is Moe Abuse well now that Nick’s revealed that the whole point of the fake videos was that they _were_ fake & intrusive, I’m _very_ curious about what the response will be now (So far It seems positive).

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

Post-watching thoughts: Well....that got meta.

@HeyJudie

5 жыл бұрын

@@sugoiuseismoeabuse4058 That's not even true...

Hey, yeah, I still hate p.267 I don't care if it's not literal it physically hurt me and I just had to stop and hold my dog for a bit👍 Seriously though, christ these videos are a lot. I tend to take things pretty literally even when I'm actively trying not to, so analysis pieces like these really help me get the details I otherwise completely ignore. Looking forward to part 3.

@internetdinosaur8810

5 жыл бұрын

I wanna throw that weird lady out of a car window as well

@QuikVidGuy

5 жыл бұрын

I was thinking something in relation to Zeno's arrow so many things in this book are presented in pairs or halves, not just objects but events and concepts, as Nick breaks down whenever we talk about one we are only getting half of the image if we focus on that one half for any length of time as being substantive in itself, we will fall into a trap of breaking down smaller and smaller details, none of which are part of an independent whole, and therefore the more we try to find a meaning, the more we're ensuring we never will because the whole point is that we're being fed nonsense in a way where we'll just accept that it must mean something. it only has meaning at all because all of its parts are bullshit when put together. the bigger picture is just that single trajectory, undivided

oh man it had never dawned on me that Johnny could've been lying all along. I thought he just wanted a reprieve from his horrid life for that segment but you're absolutely right, he just shows his nature as an unreliable narrator extends all over the book, so long as it isn't editor's text (and maybe even that too) was manipulated by Johnny!

This is when you remember that every book is it's own world, it's own story. Someone has experienced what was written in some way, feeling as trapped by their life as possible without committing suicide. It is a problem if the writter gloats, but not if they tell a captivating story. The fear of being a mental patient being taken advantage of is there, being the son of a mental patient is there. Even the people that have uncaring, stone cold eyes and heart of coal exists. But it is always the fear that they are there is always the soul thing that matters. I noticed when you said the book is a labyrinth, then reading the same story of a minotaur with different characters and view points, I noticed it was a labyrinth with no exit but the way you came in. And honestly, the talk about lying and fibbing about the entire book might as well be a lie all on it's own, to trick no one but himself. And lying to yourself is the craziest thing that you can do

To be honest, when I was reading the book (though I blamed it on reading to fast) I found the whole thing to be confusing. The Footnotes that Johnny left would never makes sense. The foot notes always seemed way to random. Watching this really helped me make sense of the whole thing. I'm so glad to have been part of this challenge.

My favourite "weird" youtuber covering my favourite "weird" book - and how could it get better? I get the notification the video uploaded right when I get out of work!

ohhhh my god this was so good. i can just see my self checking the channel every day for pt 3 lmao. a fantastic series. thank you for making this

Brilliant. From the start to the end. I wanted to discuss a couple of things that were left over (maybe clues, maybe confusing things like the "evidence against") but since there's still another part coming i'll wait fervently for the final part!

Now you can see the connections between EMH and Dark Hornets even Tribe twelve from this book. In the way Habit/Evan and The Observer/Kevin makes the webseries arg about themselves when there a deeper meaning,

Thank you so much, Nick, in particular for this part of the video series, for very personal reasons. I've rewritten this stupid comment so many times, but in essence: because I realized soon into reading that Johnny was an unreliable narrator, I thought I had completely ruined my experience of the book. I didn't ever have what felt like a mindblowing realization and I ended up gaslighting myself thinking it was some failing on my part, that I was too stupid to 'get it' and that I hadn't found enough cryptic clues or done enough reading between the lines to find what people were freaking out about. When you slammed on the breaks mid way through the video I felt an intense wave of relief and joy and vindication that I hadn't missed it, what made you find this book so compelling, and now I'm excited about picking part this whole thing anew all over again.

4 eyed cat flips the script on his entire audience and proves everyone who was criticizing him wrong

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

Not really. Even if it was deliberate, the first video was still aggravating and kind of a chore to get through. Just because it was all deliberate doesn't make it any less bullshit. I admire the hell out of this project, but I do not agree with it or Nick's thesis about Johnny.

Your readings are truly so submersive and it really makes you feel as if it's happening to you or you are part of the world that youre reading about. I truly enjoy your videos and I thank you so much for bringing these works of art and creativity to us where we wouldn't have normally been exposed to them.

Wow. I'm shaking. That's all I can say right now. Well done Nick, well done.

ROFL so i was listen to people bitch about the video you clearly made and everything else about them. And i had hope there was a point to them because i knew you. Im so glad you didn't disappoint me when i got to the end and you did the reveal i had a great big smile on my face

Jesus I actually fell for it. Well played. I almost gave up. Almost didn’t finish the second video. Really looking forward to part 3 now.

I’m on my third skim, and I think it’s weird that most people who think the Navidson Record is an allegory in the footnotes have “Rose” in their name. Like, Rose-tinted glasses.

In the early 2000's, there was a band in the UK called Johnny Truant who took their name from this book.

@V3xxe

3 жыл бұрын

Oh I vaguely remember them! Thank you for reminding me!

So, Chapter 9 talks in some parts about a labyrinth being a personal experience, and how you need to use your own method to find your way through. All of the main characters of the book do have their own labyrinths in a way, all of them made by the character a layer down. Navy has the house itself. Zampano has the movie. Johnny has Zampano’s writings. And even we as the readers have a labyrinth, the book. But the labyrinth works quite well as an allegory for our brains or minds, with new “corridors” forming as neural connections change and new ones are created. And as we all have our own labyrinths, we have our own “Minotaur” as well. Navy has Delial. Zampano’s is hard to pin down but I’d say it’s his blindness. Johnny has his parent’s deaths, and the possibility that he’s inherited his mother’s schizophrenia. And as we have our own labyrinth, we have our own Minotaurs that we find within it.

Purple. Nails. Red + blue. The minotaur and the house.

well, now we know what habits purple tape meant in Every Man Hybrid!

@expendableindigo9639

5 жыл бұрын

The nails or the neon markers they were using in the maze?

@PepperKatLancer

5 жыл бұрын

@@expendableindigo9639 the Nails and the phrase that goes along with his mother. Purple is not a real color as well. Our color vision comes from certain cells called cone cells. ... Scientifically, purple is not a color because there is no beam of pure light that looks purple. There is no light wavelength that corresponds to purple. We see purple because the human eye can't tell what's really going on.

@elektrikhd

5 жыл бұрын

That made me facepalm on myself for having missed that. I was all excited when I noticed House of Leaves in an EMH video, but didn't really get much past "oh, the houses are doing weird things" when that happened, and figured maybe it was just a nod. Although in my defense, I had read the book a year or two before that.

@expendableindigo9639

5 жыл бұрын

@@PepperKatLancer Wait how is the phrase related to EMH?

@PepperKatLancer

5 жыл бұрын

@@expendableindigo9639 Im trying not to spoil it. If I told you. It would spoil it for others who have yet to see EMH. the purple tape has a lot to do with that and who it belongs to.

Johnny made me think of a more unstable, more narcissistic Garek... "Was any of it true?" "All of it" "Even the lies?" "ESPECIALLY the lies"

I am speechless. I didn't even care about Johnny's storyline. I only cared about Zampano. I am flabbergasted.

If this series doesn't eventually persuade me to check out the book's companion album by Poe that I've put off all these years, I'm rioting

@klearnius

5 жыл бұрын

just do it, even riot to it if you want

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

You should. The two have nothing to do with each other thematically or artistically, both siblings pretty much only referenced each other's work as blatant self advertising. But still, it's a damn good album.

"And didn't memorize them" calling themself out lol. That whole end threw me for a loop. Great job!

Of all the things to come across in such a suspenseful story, I was not expecting a reference to a late night radio show I loved growing up. The biggest plot twist of all.

You, dear Sir, just blew my mind. And I will never be mad about it.

This probably won't make sense because it's been awhile since I read the book and I didn't have time to reread it all yet, but from the first time I read the story I always felt something was off about Johnny too. He was pretending to be something he wasn't. A lot of his hookup stories sounded way too outlandish to me, and really had no place in the story. It all felt wrong somehow, but I never really went that deep into thinking about it, I was too caught up in the dual stories that were being told. That's how he gets you I guess. Presenting two stories at once, always distracting you from one or the other, making you forget the strange inconsistencies until you can't deny them anymore. One distinct memory I had while reading the story for the first time was that Delial had to be the girl in the photograph, how did Karen not notice that? Why would she even be jealous of just a name? (but of course she was cheating on Navidson, and I think it's a pretty well known fact that cheaters think their SO are also cheating). Then it is revealed that Delial was of course the girl. Of course she was. The story was set up to make us believe that so that when the truth was revealed we would feel smart. But we aren't so smart. Because it's all a Denial of the facts. Everything in the story is set up too perfectly. It's all starts with the lie in the beginning, the very first moment when he gets that call to check out an old dead guys apartment. What tattoo artist would care about that? And why would he even want to piece together a story like this? The Johnny we see in the footnotes wouldn't care. He would be too busy with partying and random one night stands. The whole thing is false. The person who wrote the footnotes, this "Johnny" is Zampano. But neither Johnny nor Zampano really exist, they are both characters made up by the real author. Lies to tell themselves. Denial of truth. Because in the end they just wanted to tell their story. They just didn't know how to except in a way wrapped up in lies. It's almost like a way to protect themself from the awful truth. I guess I can understand that. I know that feeling. Which is kinda personal but I once wrote a story like that. A story about a boy who was writing a story. A story that was an echo of his own life, but wrapped up in pretty lies. But in the most meta sense, I was that boy. That was my story he was writing. It was I who couldn't face the facts. Denial.

I tried to save these vids till I finally finish the books lol five years later and I never finished I needed this analysis to get it I think now I can properly appreciate it and finish it

GENIUS! I can’t believe this completely slipped my mind reading all of this

Wow I am kinda taken a back and am speechless this was so amazing and so well done. I want to thank you Nick for showing me this novel and everything to do with this book as I was in a difficult spot and taking the challenge at the time and reading through it was a beautiful experience and honestly helped in its own way, coming back to watch these videos on top of already reading the book is absolutely lovely and even if you don't read this I want to say thank you anyways for the work you do, the inspiration I get from watching your videos and the love you put into this project along with all of your work.

Game Jacking: A Novel

@NightMind

5 жыл бұрын

Welcome to Echo's Chamber.

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

LOL right?? But as far as game jacking goes, this one gave us a hell of a ride.

@WobblesandBean

5 жыл бұрын

@@NightMind Is that like Bambi's Nightmare, only in blue serif font?

Blows my mind that this only had about 100k views, I'm likely about a hundred off them, no hyperbole. It's a very good relaxer.

cool video, still have a ton of issues with how that first video was structured on a basic level, but fun jape

Sometimes I forget about the greatest yt channels

Holy shit, man.

Wow u really went all in on this book report

I've been looking so forward to this.

Really sheds new light on the passage about convolution.

I am totally interested in this! Every now and then, I come across a story that really grabs my attention, and sometimes an explanation is all I need. Thanks!

I figured it was a ruse, I just genuinely, GENUINELY couldnt see where it was going. So when the reveal hit, when the context was given, when you showed your hand... it was like falling even deeper into a pit. You revealed a layer to the novel I didn't really know was there and I'm left excited to see where it leads!

I have read this book three times over the years, each time picking up a little more, and now I want to read it a fourth because dear god there was so much I've just learned about how much I missed even after my most recent reading. Thank you so much for this analysis.

Y'know you had me worried during the first part of this, right? Like, really worried that this was going to be bad. And then you do this! It's amazing! And you're kinda opening my eyes right now. Amazing what conclusions you'll draw that I wouldn't have seen in a hundred years. Soooo, amazing once again. And so fitting to the work you're talking about.

My body is ready. My mind, probably not.

@HeyJudie

5 жыл бұрын

My mind was never ready to face the narrator inside of it, and it still isn't.

I needed this upload right now.

"It is going to hurt." BOY FUCKIN HOWDY! I wasn't ready for this mirror.

Incredible work Cat-Daddy. I knew right away about the bamboozle. You can't fool a fellow long time labyrinth fan. To be fully honest....you did have me going there for a bit though..

I am so ready for this!!

One of the scariest parts of House of Leaves is not finding it until 20 years later. Where was I the last 20 years? Who was I. How could this possibly have escaped my rapt online attention for so very long? Playing about in ARGs since A.I.but all the same,the ~house~ on Ash Tree Lane still found me. What lives in the maze ... found. me.