the finale

Comment on the perspective from which the book is told and how the author's choice affects your relationship with the book's content.

Chuck Palaniuk writes with a style unlike any other I've ever read. This book is detailed, disturbing, and is narrated with comments that no one would ever make, but as I read them, I realize that he is completely right. Palahniuk thinks about things that no one else thinks about, and he inserts these thoughts into his writing. In a way, he voices the things that are left unspoken or buried in someone's mind because they don't want to accept the truth, as illustrated on page 100: ""Any call for world peace," Mr. Whittier would say, "is a lie. A pretty, pretty lie." Just another excuse to fight. No, we love war. War. Starvation. Plague. They fast-track us to enlightenment." His comments are painfully true and leave the reader thinking along the lines of: "Wait.. that makes sense..." It's a whole new reading experience.
Palahniuk also doesn't write from the view point of a certain character in the book, but rather an invisible one that is still living the story, just not interacting with the characters. He says, "We all had our eyes on Miss America," or, "We all leaned forward to hear him better." He uses first person, but in a different way. He never says "I" during Haunted, except when someone is telling a story, because then he writes it from their mouth and not his own. This made me feel as though Palahniuk really had insight as to what was actually going on inside the writer's retreat. I was able to understand the thoughts racing through the heads of those endangered and the diminishing sanity of the people within, all because this story wasn't told in complete third person. Most books, if told from the third person point of view, do not give the reader a peek into the minds of its characters. By including himself in the perilous plot of starvation and death without actually being physically there in the story, Palahniuk could tell the reader just what it felt like from two view points. In first person, he tells what really happened. The reader knows everything: the thoughts of the characters, the glances they share, the unspoken agreements and the feel of tragedy within the walls of the old building. In the third person comments he makes, he narrates what some of the other characters are doing that the others know nothing about. This is helpful because as the reader, I feel the emotions of the trapped people, but also get insight to what they don't know, such as how they are all working against each other to worsen their conditions without realizing it.
Writing in this way is truely a feat to have accomplished, so I have to praise Chuck Palahniuk for pulling it off nearly flawlessly. He is a remarkable author and I don't think I have never been so perplexed yet felt so knowledgeable while reading a book. Only he could make 73 total people faint while reading aloud from his book at various book signings across the country. Yes, that's how detailed, disturbing, and ultimately intriguing this book's writing is.