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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
Nope. Just no. The fastest DNF award in 2020 goes to this one.
Plenty of mind-bending, plenty of gut-wrenching, plenty of sex and drugs and violence, only a couple of yawns.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Another book read by Chuck P - this one was a group of short stories. Some were shocking, a couple were smart, a few I skimmed. I’m not really a short story girl because it’s hard for me to stay hooked, but there were a couple of memorable moments in this one.
I read "Knock-Knock" and "Eleanor," both of which I felt were hard to read and written just for shock value. The first had so many slurs that it was ridiculous (though there was a reason they were there) and the second one seemed to sort of make fun of people who use words incorrectly because they may not be book smart. Not saying these are bad stories, just not for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mixed bag.
favs:
>smoke-so. fucking. good. thats all
>expedition-never thought i’d see chucks take on gothic and it was such a treat. very edgar allan palahniuk very c.p. lovecraft while still retaining the very specific palahniuk brand of satire. would read 7 books of this
>red sultan’s big boy-one of those palahniuk titles that makes me want to crawl inside his skin and live in his brain for a day, like fight club and lullaby.
>toad prince-stephen king meets green gables meets teeth (movie)
>cannibal-quite literally deranged. so funny.
>mister elegant-cute funny perfect length i dont know that this is what ppl had in mind when they said representation matters but its really something !
>eleanor-somehow chuck created an abstract painting using words
>torcher-didnt care for the story in this one tbh but the writing style was really good in this one
>aardvark-best of the fables. story was alright but the writing was so nice here too
>romance-personally didnt love this but objectively i think its quintessential palahniuk in a bite size format
>loser-again quintessential palahniuk. few writers can immerse readers in an acid trip as well as this
>tunnel of love-one of the prettiest written ones. gave me one of my fav chuck quotes of all time.(tba) the way the story ended abruptly was so so sooo good the most perfect and purposeful cliff hanger ive ever experienced
>loser-the plot twist being hope and happiness is too funny. unexpectedly optimistic commentary
didnt like:
>fetch-worst story so far so tedious and boring with no pay off maybe ill reread it later to give it a second chance but at first read its not enjoyable luv
>phoenix-too long with no pay off like there were four different metaphors going on and they just never came together. only redeeming quality is many quotable quotes
>facts of life-Meh
favs:
>smoke-so. fucking. good. thats all
>expedition-never thought i’d see chucks take on gothic and it was such a treat. very edgar allan palahniuk very c.p. lovecraft while still retaining the very specific palahniuk brand of satire. would read 7 books of this
>red sultan’s big boy-one of those palahniuk titles that makes me want to crawl inside his skin and live in his brain for a day, like fight club and lullaby.
>toad prince-stephen king meets green gables meets teeth (movie)
>cannibal-quite literally deranged. so funny.
>mister elegant-cute funny perfect length i dont know that this is what ppl had in mind when they said representation matters but its really something !
>eleanor-somehow chuck created an abstract painting using words
>torcher-didnt care for the story in this one tbh but the writing style was really good in this one
>aardvark-best of the fables. story was alright but the writing was so nice here too
>romance-personally didnt love this but objectively i think its quintessential palahniuk in a bite size format
>loser-again quintessential palahniuk. few writers can immerse readers in an acid trip as well as this
>tunnel of love-one of the prettiest written ones. gave me one of my fav chuck quotes of all time.(tba) the way the story ended abruptly was so so sooo good the most perfect and purposeful cliff hanger ive ever experienced
>loser-the plot twist being hope and happiness is too funny. unexpectedly optimistic commentary
didnt like:
>fetch-worst story so far so tedious and boring with no pay off maybe ill reread it later to give it a second chance but at first read its not enjoyable luv
>phoenix-too long with no pay off like there were four different metaphors going on and they just never came together. only redeeming quality is many quotable quotes
>facts of life-Meh
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really disappointing. A lot of these don't really qualify as stories in my mind, being more like character studies that don't go anywhere. There is an over-reliance on shock factor in places, again without leading to anything. I have no interest in reading any of it again.
I read this as part of a banned book challenge. I chose it partially because I have enjoyed other Chuck Palinuk books. This on other hand was full of depravity without many other redeeming qualities was hard to swallow. I can understand why people would have a strong enough reaction to this book to ask for it to be banned. So if you want to explore disgusting things, pick up this book. Otherwise, avoid it.