I don't know where or why, but I had read Guts before. It surprised me, actually, that the piece was familiar because, while I like Palahniuk and his voice and style, I think I've only read Invisible Monsters and Lullaby. He's not one of those authors where I've read every single thing he's ever written.
Guts is interesting. It's raw, for lack of a better term. Or maybe that's the perfect term. I have to say, it's a little unclear to me what exactly about it supposedly makes people faint. Sure, it's grotesque and a bit gorey, but it's far from the most disturbing or shocking thing I've ever seen or read.
Palahniuk's style is wonderful. At least in the works of his I've read, his voice always sounds like a brilliant teenager. The combination of this with his frequently taboo subjects creates an interesting feeling within his works, like a kid telling you something a kid shouldn't know. When writing essays, Palahniuk's voice still maintains a fictional quality, like he's telling you a story but it isn't a story. It has this casual feel but you still have to take him seriously.
It's very easy to relate Palahniuk to the British transgressive works we've read. The topics are similar, as is the style in which he writes them.
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