"The sudden awareness of the immen- sity of the black void caused one of the cavers to suffer an acute attack of agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces. None of the three would later reveal who panicked, since silence on such matters is an unwritten law among cavers."

— Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves, pp. 125-125

Recommandation d'Emmanuelle

(comment on Paresse pour tous)

"So you see from my perspective, having to decide between old man Z and his story is an artificial, maybe even dangerous choice, and one I'm obviously not comfortable making. The way I figure it, if there's something you find irksome go ahead skip it. I couldn't care less how you read any of this. His wandering passages are staying, along with all his oddly canted phrases and even some warped bits in the plot. There's just too much at stake. It may be the wrong decision, but fuck it, it's mine."

— Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves, pp. 31-31

"Hahaha got 'em!

— Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves, pp. 56-56

Quick note here: if this crush-slash-swooning stuff is hard for you to stomach; if you've never had a similar experience, then you should come to grips with the fact that you've got a TV dinner for a heart and might want to consider climbing inside a microwave and turning it on high for at least an hour, which if you do consider only goes to show what kind of idiot you truly are because microwaves are way too small for anyone, let alone you, to climb into.

— Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves, pp. 50-50

Myth makes Echo the subject of longing and desire. Physics makes Echo the subject of distance and design. Where emotion and reason are concerned both claims are accurate.

And where there is no Echo there is no description of space or love.

There is only silence.

"Karen Green is a cold bitch, plain and simple. A high-fashion model, not much smarter than a radiator, who grew up thinking life revolved around club owners, cocaine and credit card limits. Watching her burble on about her weight, her children, or how much she needs Navidson made me want to retch. How can she say she loves loves a man when she's incapable of anything even remotely resembling commitment? Did I say she was a cold bitch? She's also a slut."

— Mark Z. Danielewski: House of Leaves, pp. 16-16

Jey-zus! Calm it dowwwwnnnn