Reality of The Navidson Record videos

[Diablophonic]

I haven't read the entire board, so I don't know if this has been commented on already. I also realize how sporadic this is, so I apologize in advance, but I'm trying to consolidate a lot of thoughts I've had on the reality of the videos.
I believe that The Navidson Record exists in the sense of "I think, therefore I am."
i.e., even if Zampano did create this story within his own mind, the story created itself. At the expense of sounding "God's the man!"-ish; if there is a God, does it really matter whether our existence is physically tangent to his or if we are merely a stray thought. If we are just one of his daydreams, then does it put any less significance on our own free will; for that matter, does it put more? We will continue until we end. After that, does the fact that we don't exist anymore prevent us from affecting something that knew of our existence?
Where do thoughts come from? Are they derived from a conscious will to have them? Does one sit down and say:"I will have a thought right now following this blueprint." If that's the case, then what about the desire to have a thought? Thought at some level come from an unfathomable source that cannot be suppressed.
My point is, Zampano recorded the events of the Navidson record as he saw them happening, whether on a tv screen or in his mind's eye. The characters in the story did not know if they were fictitious or not, and therefore carried out their roles without any omnipotent guidance other than their own free will. In that sense, The Navidson Record existed.
Early on, Johnny says that he doesn't know if Zampano's writings are true. He says it does not matter. I think this is the real power of the book. Even if it is fictitious, it all happened anyway. Johnny, Zampano, and Navy lived their lives in our own mind, oblivious to the fact that we could skip ahead and see how they would end up.

On a side note, if Navy is reading our copy of HoL, then wouldn't he be aware of at least the possibility that the house is reacting to his own thoughts? If so, then the fact that he ends up almost destroying himself lends credibility to the idea that one cannot control his own thoughts. Taken from Michael Chrichton in Sphere (one of my favorite concepts, by the way): a human is given the ability to create his dreams and he manifests only his worst nightmares.

Edit: I didn't know how to change font colors at the time, but the red part is probably the key idea of the post as it relates to HoL. Zampano was affected by the Navidson Record because it was real inside his head, and he couldn't stop it. Johnny was affected by the Zampano's notes because he brought the reality of the Navidson Record into his own head, and in turn couldn't stop his reaction to it.

[ October 17, 2003: Message edited by: Jerry Glenn ]

[FallingQuarters]

we were navy
we wear navy
we are navy

[crass]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jerry Glenn:
Johnny, Zampano, and Navy lived their lives in our own mind, oblivious to the fact that we could skip ahead and see how they would end up.

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But Navy could skip ahead and see how he'd end up, one of the many advantages of having a book that tells you whats going to happen to you next. So doesnt that create a paradox to what you just said? I honestly dont think you could go to far with "I think, therefore I am" in applying it to House of Leaves.

[k__rom]

I like your thoughts. In some way it puts my mind at ease. Upon finishing the book, I was convinced it was all real, even though I knew it was all a work of fiction. I've been having one of my teachers read passages from the book. He finds them to be very intense and spends a week sorting out what he just read. I think the book is as real or as ficticous as you make it. Good thoughts!

[fatwoul]

quote:

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Originally posted by FallingQuarters:
we were navy
we wear navy
we are navy

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we eat bread

we ate bread

wheatbread

whitbread

||
||
||
||
\/

we drink bread

[crass]

quote:

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Originally posted by The Disgruntled Frenchman:


Could he? Who's to say that if he looked forward he wouldn't just find a lot of blank pages? Also, if a paradox were to exist anywhere, the house seems like a pretty good place to find one, eh?

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So are you saying the books writing itself as the action happens? That would mean that the book would have its own sense of self. But also there are a set number of pages to the book Navys reading, like 708 or something. That would mean that the book knows at what point the novel will end but just not how it will end, which is stretching plausibility a bit much. I think the book was already written in full and Navy has the ability to skip ahead and see how he will end up.

House of Leaves is the perfect stoner book. Intellectual stoners like myself drool over this kind of shite. You could spend days at a time smoking pot and discussing the various theories of House of Leaves and never get tired of it.

[The Disgruntled Frenchman]

quote

But Navy could skip ahead and see how he'd end up,

Could he? Who's to say that if he looked forward he wouldn't just find a lot of blank pages? Also, if a paradox were to exist anywhere, the house seems like a pretty good place to find one, eh?