# Guts by Chuck Palahinouk



## Jaime Lannister (Mar 31, 2006)

Words can't begin to describe the absolute rawness of this story.  It's extremely graphic but sucks you in like I can't begin to describe.  Check it out:

http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html

WARNING: Extremely, extremely, extremely graphic.  Did i mention it's very graphic?  Seriously, kiddies turn hit the back button and go read e.b. white


----------



## A_MacLaren (Mar 31, 2006)

See, this is why I don't really like Palahniuk. I know people will tell you it's the artists job to push the limits, but Jesus Fucking Christ.

I don't understand. It's very clever, it's very graphic, yes, I am shocked/disgusted/horrified, but there are some things I can't handle and _refuse_ to handle, and this is one of them. 

It seems that he's a bit of a one-trick pony. I know he has a lively sense of the grotesque, but I don't see the difference between this and any other idiotic urban legend other than a punchy style filled with one-liners.

I read _Lullaby_, and I liked it, but for the love of god, Chuck, cheer the fuck up. I know your Dad was murdered, but that was a long time ago. Maybe you can let yourself feel good about something. Buy a puppy or some shit, I don't know.


----------



## strangedaze (Mar 31, 2006)

> It seems that he's a bit of a one-trick pony.



Too bad someone said it before I did  I'm not a fan of Chuck, but in a way I am. I like the space he's opened up in the writing game, and I like his creative dark humor and whatnot, but I intensely dislike the way he writes. Meh.


----------



## Avarice (Mar 31, 2006)

ya its interesting but its graphic, i prefer ellis for graphic, palaniuk just seems like a geek.


----------



## A_MacLaren (Mar 31, 2006)

I never understood the comparisons made between Ellis and Palahniuk. Ellis seems a lot...well, smarter.

'I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean S-M-A-R-T!


----------



## Bobochanti (Apr 1, 2006)

I don't know what you guys are talking about, Palahniuk is an awsome writer. Yes his past few novels have been pretty bland (especialy "Haunted"). As far as the short story "Guts" goes that was probably one of the few highlights of "Haunted". It's really (to me at least) darkly funny. That's why I love his work, he has my sense of humor.


----------



## ButteredKazoo (Apr 1, 2006)

I loved it. It's pretty disgusting, but I've read worse. I didn't know this was in _Haunted._ I have the book on my shelf, untouched, but I'm finishing up another book right now, so I'll probably pick it up afterwards. Personally, I like Chuck and his style, and I think he's a great writer.


----------



## Worlds (Apr 2, 2006)

Im a fan of Chuck. But yeah, I can understand why some of you dont like him. He isnt the most talented writer, sure. His style doesnt lend to that, and maybe he cant write like bradbury or whatever. Still, I find his style interesting and I like his stories and some of the ideas he presents. In my opinion though, he hasnt and probably never will top Fight Club. I love that book. On a side note, I also love Ellis, but after reading Less Than Zero, American Psycho, Rules Of Atrraction, And the Informers, I found them mostly to be the same thing. With the exception of Psycho(which I think is a continuation and the future of the types of people he presents in his other books) his books are essentially the same thing. Teenagers and young people bored shitless so they do drugs and sleep around and sometimes get violent. So I guess Chuck and ellis are both one trick ponies, but they are good ones.


----------



## Avarice (Apr 2, 2006)

ya ellis gets boring, all the mentioning of designer suits that fades into nothing. I hate chucks writing style, find it rubbish, but I've just watched fight club and feel very nihilistic so I'll prob buy the book off amazon, mainly because his story lines are perfect for the mood of society.


----------



## strangedaze (Apr 2, 2006)

I pretended that Less than Zero and the Informers were the same books. AP was different, but still sort of the same. I find his writing style very palatable, unlike Chuck's.


----------



## Hodge (Apr 2, 2006)

"Guts" is a disgusting story, but fortunately very unrealistic. Losing that much colon would probably kill you, and it wouldn't leave you unable to digest foods like pot roast (the stomach and small intestines do that), but it would make you have to crap every five minutes and it would be like diarrhea every time since the large intestine removes water from your waste product.


----------



## blademasterzzz (Apr 3, 2006)

Trust me, if you think he has a unique gift of writing dark, horrendous stories... go read some fanfiction. Any fanfiction.


----------



## Anarachysjustpeachy (Apr 6, 2006)

I've already read this. It's raw; gritty. I don't really care for it that much, even though it's a well presented essay. I have Diary in my bookbag right now. It's an amazing piece of writing if you ask me, but hey, what do I know? I've always been a King fan myself.


----------



## deftdelivery (Apr 25, 2006)

I love Chuck Palahniuk.  And I love him because of his accessibility and refusal to indulge himself with page after page of trivial details.  He pulls you into the reading because he is a minimalist writer; he gets INTRIGUING images into your head instead of 48 paragraphs about the smell of the grass in Kansas.  Sure, he's not nearly as gifted with syntax and sentence structure as other writers, but his ideas prove that he doesn't have to be.

I would much rather read about something that disgusts me and chills me to the bone than something I can't get into because the writing style is so pretentious and over-my-head that I would never understand it anyways.

Long live Palahniuk.


----------



## strangedaze (Apr 25, 2006)

> ...his accessibility and refusal to indulge himself with page after page of trivial details.



- maybe its just me, but i find his novels packed with page after page of trivial details, 'research' that is semi-interesting some of the time that gets tedious and crutch-like as his novels go on. it feels like instead of actually writing a novel he is constantly bombarding us with ridiculous facts. just my thoughts on that.




> I would much rather read about something that disgusts me and chills me to the bone than something I can't get into because the writing style is so pretentious and over-my-head that I would never understand it anyways.


 
- you know, i think i agree with you here. i always say it when chuck comes up, but i love his dark humor and creativity. i just cant stand the way he writes. i had a decent time with fight club, but some of his other books disappointed me. have you read all of Haunted, or just Guts? I didn't even bother looking into it, since it got some poor reviews. im looking forward to his next major work, because thats where hes either going to win me (and his critics), or solidify himself as someone perpetually on a decline. 

cheers,

sd


----------



## A_MacLaren (Apr 26, 2006)

> I would much rather read about something that disgusts me and chills me to the bone than something I can't get into because the writing style is so pretentious and over-my-head that I would never understand it anyways.



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 (Apr 26, 2006)

> 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.



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


----------



## eggo (Apr 27, 2006)

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)_


----------



## Kyle R (May 6, 2006)

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:


> "Guts" is a disgusting story, but fortunately very unrealistic.


 
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 (May 6, 2006)

KyleColorado said:
			
		

> Actually, in the afterword, Chuck explains that guts is a true account of three people he knew. Someone really did lose most of their large intestine to the swimmingpool pump.



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.


----------



## Kyle R (May 6, 2006)

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 (May 6, 2006)

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?


----------



## Randomperson (May 11, 2006)

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.


----------



## strangedaze (May 12, 2006)

> 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.



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.


----------



## Randomperson (May 14, 2006)

strangedaze said:
			
		

> 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.


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.


----------



## wshaw (May 15, 2006)

KyleColorado said:
			
		

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



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 (May 15, 2006)

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



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



> i didnt have a reaction. its an urban legend full stop.



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


----------



## BrandonH (May 17, 2006)

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


----------

