A_MacLaren

I know you haven't quoted an author by name here, but if everyone with a smarter style and larger vocab than Chuck fucking Palahniuk is pretentious then you haven't left yourself many options. You sound like Steven King.

That's right, I went there.

strangedaze

- zing. i wish i was more up on my stephen king-ography so i could insert my own king-ism here.

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eggo

When people ask me why I do this, why I write such gross stuff, I tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk. (Stephen King)

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KyleColorado

I've read "Haunted" (in which "guts" is one of the 13 short stories that are intertwined in with the main story), and there are parts in the novel that are much more disgusting than this. Much more. If you've read it, then you know what I mean when I say "Chef Assassin and Comrade Snarky". An ongoing theme in the book is how powerful words can be.

If you find yourself feeling visceral emotions, like disgust, from ink on a page, isn't that proof in itself that his writing is effective?

But also, Originally quoted from Hodge:
Actually, in the afterword, Chuck explains that guts is a true account of three people he knew. Apparently someone really did lose most of their large intestine to the swimmingpool pump.

I'm a fan of Chuck's writing, but yes, he does at times "over-inform" the reader. His enthusiasm for facts sometimes gets in the way. But when that's not the case, I find his writing very appealing.

"Lullaby" , "Diary" , "Fight Club" .. I think his minimalism makes it easy to overlook how creative and engaging his stories are.

I suppose it's all a matter of taste... : )

Hodge

Couldn't have been in the way he described it. What he described in the end about not being able to eat certain things for fear of them coming back out undigested would only happen if your small intestines had been ripped out, because your large intestines only serve to dehydrate the fecal matter before it comes out.

You also probably wouldn't survive with only six inches of large intestine, not to mention the MASSIVE blood loss a kid would have if something like that happened.

One of the keys to writing good non-fiction is learning the art of embellishment.

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KyleColorado

I'm sure you're right about that. Still, I feel bad for whoever that kid was. (laughs)..

Ahh.. I'm laughing at that. I'm going to hell. Good thing I'm an atheist. Phew.

Crazy_dude6662

i didnt like it personally.
i didnt have a reaction. its an urban legend full stop.

it didnt scare me, it didnt make me laugh, it made me think why did i waste my time on this?

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Randomperson

I've yet to read a bad piece of work by Chuck Palahniuk. And I've read all his books, with the exception of half of Fugitives and Refugees. Guts was an awesome story, but my favorite in Haunted had to be Obsolete at the end. That one really got me thinking. Palahniuk doesn't litter his stories with useless descriptions about how green the grass is or other shit like that unless it serves a purpose, I think that is why I like his works so much.

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strangedaze

Instead he litters them with useless how-to details that are interesting at first but get tedious after awhile That's a judgment call, though. What'd you think of Diary? I was wholly disappointed. Fight Club was definitely a good read. I wonder why Chuck seems to be moving towards the horror genre.

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Randomperson

It was certainly odd, but I enjoyed it. The how-to details never really get tedious for me, so it works out well. Fight Club was good, but Choke and Survivor are better in my opinion.

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wshaw

I very much agree; there is an incredible level of invention in his books. He can sustain the minimalism because he packs in more ideas per page than any other writer around at the moment. And actually Guts is a really well structured story, teasing the reader - even more-so in the context of Haunted where you get hints of the story before it's delivered.

I sympathise with anyone who doesn't go for the grossness. It is gross. But it's also great writing.

strangedaze

my personal (and of course highly subjective) answer to that would be crazydude's:

i like the direction he's taking literature in, but he rarely wows me with his writing.

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BrandonH

Wow. My buttocks clenched up tight while reading the last part of that story. It was like my ass was scared. literally. thanks chuck.