It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.
I find stories written by men for men fascinating. It feels like you are eavesdropping on a conversation you shouldn’t be hearing. One of these author that writes great males characters is Chuck Palanuik. He is a modern American author who has been described as writing in the transgressive fiction is genre - a fiction that is often written for men by men. This form of literature focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual and usually pretty illicit ways. Because the characters are rebelling against the basic norms of society, these characters are often written as mentally ill, anti-social or nihilistic – and often men. There are drug addictions, crime, sex, violence and the occasional murder. All in all the subject matter is pretty taboo. Classic examples of this genre are books like American Psycho, Trainspotting, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He wrote a little book you may have heard of called Fight Club which was made into a pretty awesome movie too. Although I love Fight Club, this review is about a lesser known novel he wrote called Diary.
Diary is a novel written in form of a “coma diary” telling the story of Misty Marie Wilmot as her husband Peter lies senseless in a hospital after a suicide attempt. Once the bedraggled and exhausted Misty was an art student dreaming of creativity and freedom; now, after marrying Peter at school and being brought back to once quaint, now tourist-overrun Waytansea Island, she's been reduced working as resort hotel maid. Peter, it turns out, has been hiding rooms in houses he's remodeled and scrawling vile messages all over the walls in blood like red paint. And, if the story line isn’t weird enough for you already, she starts painting again as if possessed, and discovers all sorts of macabre secrets kept by the family and town.
I like this book because I like the characters and how their behavior reveals their personalities. I absolutely love the idea that this builder, sick of building dream homes for tourists whilst he is stuck in his life on the island, hides the contempt he feels within the safe and well decorated walls of these homes. LOVE IT!!! I find the imagery of this act horrifying and hilarious all at once. Palanuik does irony so well...just as in Fight Club that one of the characters breaks in to hospitals to steal fat that has been liposuctioned from wealthy women and makes it into soap he sells back to them at ridiculous prices. This act of hiding these messages in secret rooms inside is so genius to me. The house acting as a physical manifestation of his own body and life – well manicured, presentable and stable – and then a hidden chamber within the home full of confusion, sadness, and loss.
The transgressive fiction style is not for everyone, certainly not for those with a weak stomach. I like things like this - I am a bit gross like that. But maybe if you can look beyond the sadistic behaviors and stories, you can draw out important themes from the writing. In this type of fiction you can find well executed, interesting, layered characterisation and (although exaggerated) deep social commentary. The subject matter is so unpalatable, so taboo and appalling that it makes you take notice of what the author is trying to say.
There is not much left in this world that people deem unspeakable. I think that transgressive fiction is based on the premise that knowledge is to be found at the edge of experience. Books help us to live these experiences. I hope we can find knowledge of ourselves and each other out on that “edge”.
I find stories written by men for men fascinating. It feels like you are eavesdropping on a conversation you shouldn’t be hearing. One of these author that writes great males characters is Chuck Palanuik. He is a modern American author who has been described as writing in the transgressive fiction is genre - a fiction that is often written for men by men. This form of literature focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual and usually pretty illicit ways. Because the characters are rebelling against the basic norms of society, these characters are often written as mentally ill, anti-social or nihilistic – and often men. There are drug addictions, crime, sex, violence and the occasional murder. All in all the subject matter is pretty taboo. Classic examples of this genre are books like American Psycho, Trainspotting, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He wrote a little book you may have heard of called Fight Club which was made into a pretty awesome movie too. Although I love Fight Club, this review is about a lesser known novel he wrote called Diary.
Diary is a novel written in form of a “coma diary” telling the story of Misty Marie Wilmot as her husband Peter lies senseless in a hospital after a suicide attempt. Once the bedraggled and exhausted Misty was an art student dreaming of creativity and freedom; now, after marrying Peter at school and being brought back to once quaint, now tourist-overrun Waytansea Island, she's been reduced working as resort hotel maid. Peter, it turns out, has been hiding rooms in houses he's remodeled and scrawling vile messages all over the walls in blood like red paint. And, if the story line isn’t weird enough for you already, she starts painting again as if possessed, and discovers all sorts of macabre secrets kept by the family and town.
I like this book because I like the characters and how their behavior reveals their personalities. I absolutely love the idea that this builder, sick of building dream homes for tourists whilst he is stuck in his life on the island, hides the contempt he feels within the safe and well decorated walls of these homes. LOVE IT!!! I find the imagery of this act horrifying and hilarious all at once. Palanuik does irony so well...just as in Fight Club that one of the characters breaks in to hospitals to steal fat that has been liposuctioned from wealthy women and makes it into soap he sells back to them at ridiculous prices. This act of hiding these messages in secret rooms inside is so genius to me. The house acting as a physical manifestation of his own body and life – well manicured, presentable and stable – and then a hidden chamber within the home full of confusion, sadness, and loss.
The transgressive fiction style is not for everyone, certainly not for those with a weak stomach. I like things like this - I am a bit gross like that. But maybe if you can look beyond the sadistic behaviors and stories, you can draw out important themes from the writing. In this type of fiction you can find well executed, interesting, layered characterisation and (although exaggerated) deep social commentary. The subject matter is so unpalatable, so taboo and appalling that it makes you take notice of what the author is trying to say.
There is not much left in this world that people deem unspeakable. I think that transgressive fiction is based on the premise that knowledge is to be found at the edge of experience. Books help us to live these experiences. I hope we can find knowledge of ourselves and each other out on that “edge”.
