Chuck Palahniuk

I love Chuck's writing. Although his best book would be Survivor, something about Fight Club just makes me love it more. And no it's not Brad Pitt and the movie! But I'll go out on a limb and say Bret Easton Ellis can create a better novel of contemporary existential angst and horror than Chuck. But that's just me.

 

I finished reading Rant a few weeks ago. I loved how it all came together in the end.

 

I literally just finished "Rant." An hour ago.

It was my favorite work of his. "Haunted" and "Choke" were also favorites.

I felt that "Lullaby" wasn't quite as good. "Survivor" was pretty good, as was "Fight Club" and "Invisible Monsters."

I feel that Palahniuk is best complemented by reading Vonnegut-- they're similar authors with vastly different styles. Both are satirists and nihilists, and both are side-splittingly funny, but in very different ways. Read "Cat's Cradle" by Vonnegut and you'll see what I mean.

By far, my favorite thing about "Rant" was Rant's relationship with his parents. I couldn't stop thinking about it even when I put the book down. Rant was one of the only characters I genuinely liked-- everyone else, with the possible exception of Denny in "Choke" isn't very likable. It's one of the best things about Palahniuk-- you don't have to like his characters, but you will care about them.

The film they made of "Choke" was okay. It was just wimpy. Where Palahniuk is unflinchingly brutal, the movie was innocent. I think that the film they make out of "Haunted" will suck. The book is amazing, but the style is irreconcilable with film. I don't even want to think about the "Lullaby" movie. And yes, all of those are currently film possibilities.

"Lullaby" wasn't my favorite mostly because it was too short. I do have to reread it...but that'll happen after I run out of books. I have "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," (Vonnegut), "Diary" and some other Vonnegut book to read and then I'll be rereading.

 

I agree with a previous poster that Palahniuk is talented, but repetitive. I've read Choke, Rant, the first few chapters of Haunted (I thought it was pretty boring. Basically just short stories written for shock value and another chance to say "fuck the man!") and I read the first half of Fight Club before deciding that it was EXACTLY like the movie, and not worth reading since I already knew exactly what was going to happen. Might as well just watch the movie again instead of reading the book.

I was impressed with Choke, but after reading part of Fight Club and Rant, I realized that he basically just repackages his brand of anarchism/individualism in each story. Yes, I realize that he's not a true anarchist, I just chose that word for lack of a better one. He just tells of characters that have been rejected by the establishment, or are rejecting the establishment, in order to be their own individual. Except that in every case, he insinuates that unless you revel in the chaos of the anti-establishment, you are in fact a part of the establishment.

Maybe that was a terrible description of my feelings towards Palahniuk... he's very hard to put into words. But basically, I feel like he puts too much value into attempting to shock readers, turning insanity into inanity. He never really expands his philosophy, and it ends up just looking like the work of an extremely talented, but childish and immature writer who has discovered the joy of sticking it to the man.

 

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I would agree with you, but then I went to a book club type meeting about his literature and people much smarter than me gave me some things to think about when I read his books. I never read critic's reviews put on books, but in Chuck's case it's a good idea.

For example, before then, I'd never thought to see his writing through the lens of Gen X and the latchkey kid mentality. His books are about his generation's experiences with their parents-- all of the characters just want a dad.

And even outside of that, he has different themes. Give him another shot, and finish the books-- he tends to hit them home at the end.

 

I've only read Fight Club and Choke. I liked Fight Club, but Choke was kinda weird for me.

 

He's an amateurish writer that has limited range and relies heavily on simple and transparent technique that he overuses, cliches, sources (sometimes inaccurate ones) and shock value. He has had both real great ones and real stinkers.
But he is creative and usually a fun, light read with a bit of thinkspiration to it.

Oh, and comparing him to Vonnegut is absolute blasphemy.

 

yea. I read lullaby twice and I'm reading invisible monsters now

 

I need to actually READ his books. I loved the movie, "Fight Club" and I know the book is probably ten times better.

 

Depends on how much and what type of a reader you are.

Really, the book is rather amateur. It is a quite a bit disjointed and relies way too heavily on being cool and dark.

Jim Uhls did an amazing job of turning it into a great script.

Survivor, Rant, Choke and Invisible Monsters by Palahniuk are all way better.

 

I think Chuck Palahniuk is great, definitely one of the best writers who's had mainstream success; but I still think he's a strong example of how writers can get watered down for mainstream appeal. Murakami and Daniewelski are also like this, to me; they're both really great and interesting but they don't have that sharpness that fully expressive art does. So it's hard for me to totally embrace these guys when there's actually a shitload of great underground writers who have everything that's good and real about guys like Palahniuk but none of the fake, softened-for-mainstream stuff to it.

 

Everyone has recommended him to me, but I just havent gotten around to getting one of his books. Any suggestions about which one to get first?

 

Rant - if you want a fun and fucked up read
Choke - if you want a dryer fun and fucked up read
Survivor - if you want a fun and fucked up read about religion/celebrities in our modern world
Invisible Monsters - if you want a fun and fucked up read that's cut up and pretends to be legitimate literature (and does make some legitimate points - but it spells them all out like a Hollywood movie, and I expect more sophisticated teaching from my books)

Personally, I'd suggest Rant or Invisible Monsters

 

anyone else think 'snuff' sucked?

i think if it was his very first work, it never would have gotten published. page upon page of stupid immature observations with no real plot and a weak (super weak) and predictable climax

but i really enjoyed choke and survivor. choke movie wasn't that bad either. great cast.

im currently reading haunted. it's really very good, even though it seems like it's going nowhere. just a bunch of gory shit strung together to build tension.

diary is next.


also, never compare the genius of vonnegut to palahnuik. never ever.

 

I thought Haunted was absolute trash. I couldn't finish it.

Diary is a lot more mundane and stereotypical bestseller than most of his works, but it has some rather neatly strung together observations and facts I suppose.

:cheers2:

 

Chuck Palahniuk is a terrible writer.

Some of his ideas are interesting but his style is awful.

Ive only read Fight Club but it was such ugly writing I wont read another book by him.

The Fight Club movie was awesome, in my top 20 movies of all time.

 

I also cannot stand to read Chuck Palahniuk's books. I really really wish I liked them because he clearly has some really odd and unique ideas for books. However something about his writing style just bothers me. I read about 2/3 of Fight Club and gave up. I love the movie, and clearly the story was good. The way it was written though just didn't work for me. I also read Rant and I honestly think Rant Casey is an amazing character. I loved the beginning, but about half way through it all just started to irritate me. I got about 4/5 of the way through then had to give it back to the person I borrowed it from, but definitely wasn't heartbroken that I didn't get to read more. Saw the movie Choke, really enjoyed it, and think it is a great story. But I haven't even tried to read the book because Chuck simply doesn't work for my brain.

 

Choke the movie was fucking hilarious

 

Meh. I read Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Haunted and Choke...I probably won't read anymore of his stuff...

Haunted was just plain awful (and definitely relied on "shock value")