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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
If the word "enjoy" were fitting, I’d say I enjoyed this book. However, I don’t think it is an appropriate word to use while talking about "Haunted".
"Haunted" is not enjoyable. It is shocking, ugly, disgusting, and unbearable. It shows the human mind in its most terrifying state. How greed and the need for attention can transform people into monsters far removed from reality.
I love Palahniuk's writing style, his ideas, and his unrelenting between-the-lines critique of society and all that it entails.
"It’s nothing personal when bombs explode."
"It almost didn’t seem to matter, how the picture looked. What made it art, a masterpiece, that seemed to depend on where it hung… how rich the frame looked… and what other work it hung beside."
"'What will you do today?' asks the Missing Link. 'How will
you justify it?'
That Mountain of dead animals and ancestors on which you stand?."
After the first few pages (read: after I read "Guts") I feared "Fight Club" was a stroke of luck, a one-time success, and that "Haunted" would be a huge disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a sensitive reader, and "Guts" is (sadly) not the most disgusting I’ve ever read. My problem was, it reminded me too much of "Woom" by Duncan Ralston which was, to me, a pointless concatenation of disgusting things one as myself doesn’t want to read about. Fortunately, the other stories were different. They weren’t tame by any means, but you were at least able to see the point Palahniuk was trying to make. Because, if I understand correctly, Palahniuk wrote "Guts" just to be able to share those three very disturbing (apparently true) instances.
All in all, the idea and format of this book were innovative and fun. It was a journey in itself to learn about the different characters and their past. What they did to themselves, what they did to others. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this book to anyone, you’d just have to feel ready for all its shades of disgustingness. You should be aware that Chuck Palahniuk's books are not for everyone. For me, I can say I kept thinking about this book while I was not reading it. I wanted to keep reading and reading, and it was worth it, imo.
As always with short story collections, some stories are brilliant, some not so much so.
"Haunted" is not enjoyable. It is shocking, ugly, disgusting, and unbearable. It shows the human mind in its most terrifying state. How greed and the need for attention can transform people into monsters far removed from reality.
I love Palahniuk's writing style, his ideas, and his unrelenting between-the-lines critique of society and all that it entails.
"It’s nothing personal when bombs explode."
"It almost didn’t seem to matter, how the picture looked. What made it art, a masterpiece, that seemed to depend on where it hung… how rich the frame looked… and what other work it hung beside."
"'What will you do today?' asks the Missing Link. 'How will
you justify it?'
That Mountain of dead animals and ancestors on which you stand?."
After the first few pages (read: after I read "Guts") I feared "Fight Club" was a stroke of luck, a one-time success, and that "Haunted" would be a huge disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a sensitive reader, and "Guts" is (sadly) not the most disgusting I’ve ever read. My problem was, it reminded me too much of "Woom" by Duncan Ralston which was, to me, a pointless concatenation of disgusting things one as myself doesn’t want to read about. Fortunately, the other stories were different. They weren’t tame by any means, but you were at least able to see the point Palahniuk was trying to make. Because, if I understand correctly, Palahniuk wrote "Guts" just to be able to share those three very disturbing (apparently true) instances.
All in all, the idea and format of this book were innovative and fun. It was a journey in itself to learn about the different characters and their past. What they did to themselves, what they did to others. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this book to anyone, you’d just have to feel ready for all its shades of disgustingness. You should be aware that Chuck Palahniuk's books are not for everyone. For me, I can say I kept thinking about this book while I was not reading it. I wanted to keep reading and reading, and it was worth it, imo.
As always with short story collections, some stories are brilliant, some not so much so.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Comenzó bien pero después lo sentí ya muy tedioso. Individualmente algunas historias son geniales. "Guts" sigue siendo de mis favoritas.
Efectivamente Palahniuk se empeña en tratar de escribir lo más repugnante pero no siempre le funciona. En "Sonado a golpes" encuentro similitudes con su obra más conocida "The Fight Club".
Todo pretende ser una crítica a la sociedad, especialmente el capitalismo, y sus terribles vicios actuales. Aquellos personajes encerrados en el teatro son la sociedad y el mundo. Whittier es Dios. Como todos ellos, estamos aquí con el único propósito de sufrir y morir.
"Si la muerte significa simplemente dejar el escenario durante el suficiente tiempo como para cambiarse de ropa y volver como un nuevo personaje... ¿aminorarías la marcha?, ¿o aceleraríais? " dice el Señor Whittier cuyo objetivo es crear fantasmas, fantasmas que quizá regresen a vengarse después de la muerte si es que hay algo después, fantasmas que no lo dejen solo.
Efectivamente Palahniuk se empeña en tratar de escribir lo más repugnante pero no siempre le funciona. En "Sonado a golpes" encuentro similitudes con su obra más conocida "The Fight Club".
Todo pretende ser una crítica a la sociedad, especialmente el capitalismo, y sus terribles vicios actuales. Aquellos personajes encerrados en el teatro son la sociedad y el mundo. Whittier es Dios. Como todos ellos, estamos aquí con el único propósito de sufrir y morir.
"Si la muerte significa simplemente dejar el escenario durante el suficiente tiempo como para cambiarse de ropa y volver como un nuevo personaje... ¿aminorarías la marcha?, ¿o aceleraríais? " dice el Señor Whittier cuyo objetivo es crear fantasmas, fantasmas que quizá regresen a vengarse después de la muerte si es que hay algo después, fantasmas que no lo dejen solo.
challenging
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After the dizzying first tale, I kind of dragged myself through this absurdly dark, gross, and somewhat uneven book. It was one of the hardest hard reads I’ve had. Just completely depraved in a way that’s not entertaining and tenuously artistic. Some of the stories are thrilling and compelling. Others feel plain-old vulgar and boring. The interspersed Writer’s Workshop sections were sometimes too misery porn to be engaging. It’s cool that they use a first-person POV. Anyhow, 60% of the way through this I started something else, figuring there was no shot I’d get to the end. I picked at it for another month or so between other things. What finally got me over the finish line, surprisingly, was that I felt like I needed a palette cleanser from the heart wrenching first chunk of Crying in H-Mart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism
Moderate: Incest, Abortion
Minor: Cancer
this was definitely like nothing I've ever read, and I don't see myself reading much more like it. not because I didn't enjoy it, but more because I don't know that much like it exists (at least published.) it landed right there in the middle of liking and not liking. it's a collection of short stories told by characters that are trapped in an opera house of sorts; these characters are all worsening their experience (by self-injury, group-sabotage, etc.) because they want to have the best-selling story when they're saved. in between chapters that focus on these characters, is a short story told by each of them. some are disturbing and difficult to read, some are just plain gross, and some offer a nice break from the difficult-to-read ones. for the most part, the stories have an underlying message or theme about humanity and the ugliness of it.
I had to put it down to take a break at several points. I debated writing an actual review for this (what I chose, obviously) or just writing the phrase I said most while reading this book: "what the fuck"
I had to put it down to take a break at several points. I debated writing an actual review for this (what I chose, obviously) or just writing the phrase I said most while reading this book: "what the fuck"
challenging
dark
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
god these people are awful. probably not the best choice of book to read on a plane ride with an hour max of sleep. fire read tho.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated