Haunted by Guts

Today, Bryan picked up a copy of Chuck Palahniuk’s Haunted. He originally was looking for Survivor, which I felt was as good as (if not better than) Fight Club.

Some of you might remember that reading of his I attended, at the Harold Washington Library. There, Palahniuk read his short story Guts, and since then… I’ve carried many disturbing images in my head, ever since.

I can’t stress how physically uncomfortable his words made me. That story in particular. Somewhere along the way, I know I ended up sharing my experience with Chris and Mike… and eventually Bryan had heard me talk about this story. And he bought the book (something I’ve still not done, and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do).

During the day today, both Jane and Allison looked over the story.

This is Jane, reading Guts using Bryan’s copy. She was, surprisingly, not too terribly phased by the story. Me? I found that I couldn’t really even continue a conversation without cringing or making a weird face.

Allison I believe looked up the story, and read it online. In talking with her and Chris, it made me realize how appropriate the title was to Palahniuk’s collection. I’ve only ever read Guts, but the images and descriptions have haunted me ever since – and I doubt they’ll ever really go away.

I think Palahniuk’s original intent was to talk about how the past actions of his characters follow them into the present… but my interpretation works just as well.

Bryan ultimately decided to save his reading of the short story until after work, when he’d be on the train and could read uninterrupted. When I got home later in the evening, I got a text message from him:

Palahniuk’s short story Guts is out there, if you want to search for it and read it. But understand that I warned you. Don’t come running back to me afterwards, unless you want to hear me say “I told you so.”