Chuck Palahniuk

[jewishcarpenter]

I just finished off Survivor, and now I'm halfway through Choke. I'd recommend any of Chuck Palahniuk's books if you enjoyed Fight Club. If you didn't like Fight Club... fuck off, I did.

[Generator86]

The only one of his books that I didn't love was his latest one. I can't remember the name of it, but it had a dead bird on the cover, and it had something to do with a poem that killed people. I mean, it wasn't terrible or anything, but it wasn't as good as his others.

For some reason (cough), I always picture Edward Norton as the protagonist in his books.

[Husker Jew]

I like his stuff, but I could barely get through Invisible Monsters.

[glowbelly]

i just read survivor and invisible monsters after already reading choke and fight club, and i must say:

ALL OF HIS BOOKS ARE ESSENTIALLY ABOUT THE SAME THING.

thank you.

ps: this does not mean that he isn't a talented writer, but perhaps that you shouldn't read them all back to back.

[Hugh_Bristic]

I finished Choke a week or so ago and am still left with a feeling of emptiness and bitter resentment toward eye strain sorely wasted.

Of course the book opens with If you're going to read this, don't bother. [...] What you're getting here is a stupid story about a stupid little boy and the fact that I chose to ignore Palahniuk's counsel is my fault entirely; I just somehow - foolishly - hoped he was trying to trick me.

Obviously you shouldn't pay any attention to what I think of Choke because the genre has never been my scene. So best of luck with it all.

[sadie]

i'm not great with putting works into genres; i just call myself eclectic and like what i like.

and i liked choke. it was the first one i read by palahnuik. i'm not saying it's a masterpiece or anything. but it hooked me. and i just finished survivor, which i found interesting, as well, though it didn't grab me the way choke did.

he's good with character development and wild details. but some of his catch-phrase thingies get old.

[Hugh_Bristic]

I agree that his catch-phrases became tedious over time but I’m willing to dismiss it as an author’s literary device. It isn’t really even an issue as to why I wasn’t satisfied by the book. Perhaps I expected too much? I had anticipated that it would fuck with my head; that I would read page after page because I was impressed by the style, character development, content, etc. – or at the very least, that I would finish is because I wanted to see if the last paragraph, the last sentence, the last word would make me reconsider my earlier judgment. Only it didn’t.

This isn’t to say that nothing about the book was enjoyable. It’s entertaining to a degree… but certainly not “work to elevate the mind.” Granted, it probably wasn’t intended to wet the literary palate, but I believe any form of expression – whether it be literature, art, or film – should leave the individual with a satisfied, fulfilled feeling when all is said and done. I just didn’t get that feeling from Choke. The meal was over and I was still hungry. Know what I mean, bean?

[sadie]

seen.

the endings of both choke and survivor were disappointing, i'll admit. however, i can't think of more than a handful of endings ever that i've been satisfied with.

[glowbelly]

read david foster wallace. he's much better at pointing out the flaws of the american dream/lifestyle and he's way, way more enjoyable to read because he's FUNNY.

[Protoclown]

and his footnotes are 20 pages long

[jewishcarpenter]

Although the first third of the book takes awhile to build up I enjoyed Don DeLillo's - White Noise, another good book which I would recommend, and yes, most of Palahnuik's books seem quite similar when you read them back to back. Edward Norton shall always be stuck in my mind as the protagonist of his books except for Invisible Monsters, that one just creeped me out with the mind pictures I kept coming up with. A little Mental Theater, if you will.

[sadie]

i'll check him out, glow. and i don't mind footnotes 'cause i tangents.