A Novel of Haunting Imagery
Really slow day in the library today. The only people that came in were middle aged soccer moms with their 2.5 children looking for the latest Harry Potter book. I decided to go hide in the corner and check a book off of my to-read list. The book was Chuck Palahniuk's latest blood and gore loaded novel Haunted. It is a collection of 23 short stories and poems all wrapped up in one overlapping story. The main story is about a group of men and women who respond to an ad for a three month writing retreat. It turns out that they actually are not allowed to leave and are held against their will. The purpose of the retreat was to provide them with an environment that would allow them to write their masterpiece. They begin to turn on each other as they struggle for control and their freedom. This story is sort of lost in the shadow of the other 23 stories, which are each written by a different character in the main story.
When I first started reading the first story, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through the entire novel without vomiting. Palahniuk chooses to lead off the novel with his story titled "Guts". It is filled with the most vividly disgusting and enthralling imagery that I have ever read. I must have shut the book and put it down at least ten different times. I couldn't leave it though. No matter how horrific the story was, I just had to find out how it all would end. To show you a little hint of the gore, here is a little quote:
"That's all this soup of blood and corn, shit and sperm and peanuts, floating around me. Even with my guts unraveling out my ass, me holding on to what's left, even then my first want is to somehow get my swimsuit back on."
"Guts" is by far the most horrifically wonderful story that I have ever read. I really don't want to give too much away for everyone so I'll stop talking about it. Just take my word for it, this is definitely a must read. All of the stories in this novel are amazing. Just make sure that you are ready for some gag inducing imagery that will stick with you for weeks, months, and probably even years.
4 comments:
That initial idea for the novel sounds really cool: kind of a meta-framework for the whole story. (Maybe the author was fed up with for-pay writing retreats, and was trying to say that you have to just lock yourself up and write. I agree with that – for me it helps to have people around who read and write but in the end I just gotta sit down at the computer/laptop/coffee shop napkin/journal. Plus I think I’ve been reading too many stories of scam agents lately.) For the most part I myself haven’t ever wrote about writing or characters-that-write because I don’t think anyone’s ever going to care, but there have been several descriptions of novels that have made me think I’m wrong and this is one of them.
You didn’t touch on this but I’m guessing there’s poetry in the book because some of the writers imprisoned were poets, which is awesome: not only can the guy write poetry but fiction too. All we need are some non-fiction and some comics in there now, but I guess we don’t have writing retreats for those yet so it’d be a little far-fetched. Of course, you never remarked on the tone of the story anyway so I can’t be sure of what the author’s intention was, but now I’m curious enough that I want to find out.
The part you quoted is pretty disgusting, but you’re right, it’s a good disgusting. Goes to show we can accept almost anything if it’s in pretty packaging.
mh
A few years ago I read a Chuck Palahniuk book called Choke. Everyone was reading Chuck's work at the time and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. And then i read the book and i thought...holy shit, what is the world coming to?
I think his over the top gruesomeness must be a theme that appears in all of his work. Choke is gross in more of a sexual way than a violent way (like the book your read seems to be). For instance, in Choke the main character gets an anal bead caught in his ass and it gets lodged in his large intestine until he cant poop for several days and eventually passes out. Horiffying.
I agree with you when you say his gruesome imagery gets lodged in the brain for a long time, but I'm not sure i want it there. I get the impression that Chuck is trying really really really hard when he writes some of the stuff that he does. He seems desperate to shock his readers...and at times he comes off as too desperate. What drives me crazy is that people think he is at the cutting edge of literature because of this shock value...when really most of his work seems pretty cookie cutter comercial. I dont really like him. sorry.
That book sounds horribly great. I looked back through your posts and saw that you also read some Robert E. Howard material and that too can be a good ol' gory mess. People take graphic violence the wrong way sometimes, and sometimes they should. It's not about what’s happening really but how it’s presented and why. Sure you can have some vile, guttural thing happen but in the end its not good if it’s not framed well or feels completely out of place. What I mean is that it should have purpose, not just be used for shock value, then it can be pretty compelling to write this sort of material. I'll have to check that book out.
Palahniuk's work has always hit me with a sharp edge of vile, beautifully crafted disgust. I can still remember his novel Choke more for the bloated psuedo-jesus with a sex toy stuck in his colon than for the theme of the book, and I think some people get turned off through that. It's unfortunate too, because underneath all the gore and internal fluids and spraying body parts is a intricate web that, I think, pretty accurately reflects the sick twisted subconscious of our consumer culture. The idea of a retreat for writing a masterpiece mirrors his novel Survivor as well, where the idea of fame and idolatry reign supreme in the mind of the narrator when compared to the moral decisions he needs to make. I think Chuck's writing has a profound method of exposing the distances our culture can push people in a drive towards social acceptance, and I can't wait to read this book. Thanks for the review.
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