I think that this story has the same ability to
hook the reader into a sort of suspense as Emergency did. The description
of the narrarator's job "lying on [his] back on a creeper with a two
hundred pound class 8 diesel truck drive-line lying on [his] chest and running
down between [his] legs as far as [his] feet."brings the reader into a
sort of mystified state of wondering what the hell Palahniuk means by this
sexual language. Where Johnson spent more time leaving the reader
suspended, Palhniuk goes ahead and elaborates on his job on a factory assembly
line. Still, both authors show a really keen ability to give the reader
little tidbits that heighten curiosity.
I thought that the voice in Palahniuk's story was
awesome. When he's talking directly to the reader, almost criticizing his
"cheesy organ music" diction and then dumbing his descriptions down
to words like "sad" it really characterizes the author. I think
this direct approach of addressing the reader is personal and causes a closer
connection to the writing. I really appreciate the self-depricating
commentary on his word choice. He goes on to comment again when he refers to
the sex toys and "whatnots" as "Orphaned," but then
corrects himself, saying, "that's not the right word either, but it's the
first word that comes to mind." Where I would usually struggle to find a
word that is perfect, Palahniuk goes a different route, admitting that there
isn't a word that he would use organically to describe the toys, and instead
creates an aside to the reader, explaining his dramatic language.
The only thing that I’m missing is the connection
that the narrator feels to the dead people.
His last lines “I could’ve lived there.
Anyone could’ve lived there.”
seem to indicate some sort of perspective gained on the deaths of the
hospice members, but is it to say that it could have been anyone? I suppose that I missed something.
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