‘Haunted’ … Supernatural in the Mundane
So, after a long few weeks of finding time here and there, on the ambulance, in my office, and such, I finally finished Chuck Palahniuk’s Haunted. Jeff gave it to me when I stopped by on my way home from the Outer Banks, and I had a few audio books to polish off before I could dig in — not to mention Dawkins’ The God Delusion book club reading and discussion.
Initial impressions? Creepy, original, and dark as hell. It’s a true horror book, in that the only supernatural elements are those the characters in the book attribute to each other and their surroundings. Plus a bit of the storytelling in the included 20 short stories can tend to push some hyperbole, all in the effort of planting images of the mundane macabre firmly in your psyche. While your psyche is saying “No WAY man, get that sh1te OUT of me!” …
I’ve got to recommend it, it’s an excellent read, especially if you’re a piecemeal reader like me. I cannot recommend it if you have faith in your fellow fictional human, or are at all squeamish, or enjoy your squamish cells. The way Palahniuk can describe the skin sloughing off a decomposing corpse, it’s sheer poetry. Let that be your ruler to measure your desire-to-read by, I guess.
Apparently, there’s a story in this book (“Guts”), which, when read aloud to a group of people invariable causes one or more to pass out. This, I have to see! There’s some info on this on the Wikipedia page, but read this only if you’re okay with spoilers …
And before I wrap up the free-form wandering book review, I have to mention that the last short story included in the book is strangely out of place, full of science fiction and religious overtones. I have to wonder why that one was included. Anyone have any ideas?
The short stories were written separately from the main premise, the container that strings the short stories together. The last short story tied in the the Nightmare Box stories, both had to do with the illusion of life’s importance. It’s as if the Nightmare Box gave the same vision as the astronauts saw when descending into Venus’ atmosphere – the reaction, the way they gave up on life was the same. It was the dichotomy of the whole book being the ridiculous of reality in the spotlight, the fame each of them was seeking…. at least that is what I got from it.
I liked Exodus, the last story. It gave me a sort of atomic age sci-fi feel, kinda like a Heinlein novel. I could imagine the posters and propaganda about emigrating in a 50’s nuclear style.
Glad you liked it. We must see it when it is on the big screen. Oh yes, it is coming. I can’t wait to see how they do ‘Guts’…
“…corn and peanuts…”
Imagine this book made into a movie, that’s the ultimate irony. I’m sure it’s not lost on the author.