p320 "me"

[mollerz104]

On page 320, it says, "He might have spent all night drinking had exhaustion not caught up with me." I understand that tense changes get thrown in sometimes, but this is the only "typo" with a first person pronoun, and it stood out to me all the more because neither Truant nor the editors footnoted a comment about it. Any theories on what it means? I imagine Danielewski meant it to be there, of course, but it makes me wonder about a possible Tom-Zampanó, or Tom-Truant connection. I've read some of the speculations about "who-is-whom?" but I want to zero in on this one instance of strangeness, because above anything else, this one un-commented-upon "typo" made me feel very Truant-y.

[ellenthe]

I just found the same typo a few minutes ago. Maybe it's a suggestion that Zampanò made it all up: he could have kept Tom drinking all night, but he was exhausted from all the writing and he didn't feel like writing a piece about Tom getting drunk so he just made him stop. That's how it occured to me, anyway. Maybe not. It is an odd typo however so I think there has to be some kind of meaning to it, the difference in letter positions on a keyboard between him and me are not something you could easily mess up using a normal typewriter.

[mollerz104]

Maybe it's a suggestion that Zampanò made it all up: he could have kept Tom drinking all night, but he was exhausted from all the writing and he didn't feel like writing a piece about Tom getting drunk so he just made him stop.

That is a super interesting interpretation that didn't occur to me. I don't think that's the case, that it's an admission by Zampanó that he just wanted to stop writing (He doesn't break the 4th wall, unlike Truant), but I love the idea. The thought I've been turning over and over is a possible Truant-Tom connection. Karen and Navidson ended up outside without exiting the on their own accord, so who knows? Maybe someone else who disappeared within its cavernous depths also ended up back in the outside world. The transcripts of Tom's conversations with "Mr. Monster" are riddled with curses and pessimism, like Truant's writing, and also, Tom has a substance addiction...rather like early-editing Truant. If Truant and Tom were the same person, as Truant-Tom transcribed the story, he may have accidentally inserted the "me" when the topic turned to his own actions, rather than the "him" that Zampanó may have actually written. Not married to this theory, but like I said, the "typo" is unique, and I feel compelled to chase down whatever rabbit trail might lead to a satisfying answer. Not that I expect we will ever arrive at a perfect and universally-accepted answer, though.

EDIT: Of course, this theory would be easily struck down by the fact that Truant, in his introduction I believe, states his doubt that the film, and many of Zampanó's cited sources, ever existed.

[Ellimist]

Here's some good discussion on this that may bring insight:

http://www.houseofleaves.com/forum/s...r-significance

http://www.houseofleaves.com/forum/s...-wrong-pronoun

Related... loooooong discussion of typos in the book - may help. http://www.houseofleaves.com/forum/s....php?2043-typo

[fearful_syzygy]

Yes, and some more, in case you're interested. Not that any of these threads provide any kind of definitive solution to this mystery, you understand.

[Emöjk]

I just found the same typo a few minutes ago. Maybe it's a suggestion that Zampanò made it all up: he could have kept Tom drinking all night, but he was exhausted from all the writing and he didn't feel like writing a piece about Tom getting drunk so he just made him stop. That's how it occured to me, anyway. Maybe not. It is an odd typo however so I think there has to be some kind of meaning to it, the difference in letter positions on a keyboard between him and me are not something you could easily mess up using a normal typewriter.

That's always been how I read it and I truly cannot understand how it could be interpreted differently.

[Crayon]

I caught this typo as I was reading, and I completely agree with what has been said so far. I think it is interesting to note though that while Johnny will catch several of Zampano's typos (more like freudian slips to my mind though) but says nothing of this particular one.