Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

57 reviews

alma_lurie_04's review

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness

foramen_magnum's review

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors, so returning to his works is like catching up with an old friend... Even if they weren't your favorite, they make you feel nostalgic. 

Fight Club is clearly early in his career and the elements of his style are being experimented upon. While sometimes it hits his razor sharp mania, other times it feels very stream of consciousness as told by characters who just aren't always that interesting. Shock value is a trademark of his style but here it feels gratuitous, where in other books it feels immersive. Still, he makes his point, and his critique of capitalism and hyper masculinity is absolutely clear. If this is your first tango with Chuck, I'd recommend you start with Rant before checking out Fight Club, but don't count this one out entirely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Fatphobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Abortion

nb_leftist's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It seems to be a commentary on white supremacist right wing extremist movements and how they’re fucking idiotic, but I can’t tell if that’s what the author meant it as or not. I don’t think it really matters cause there’s not one specific thing that a story can mean and in the afterword Palahniuk even writes about how he kind of just wrote it. Either way it’s definitely a good piece of writing. It keeps you interested and it keeps moving throughout. I finished it in probably 2-3 hours and it felt like 30 minutes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Body horror, Body shaming, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Mental illness

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Self harm, Cancer, Body horror, Murder, Mental illness, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, Violence, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

vexant's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Chronic illness, and Blood

Moderate: Car accident, Suicide, Gun violence, and Murder

my_a's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Made me think of an American "Trainspotting" - violent and jarring punchy 1990s novel about disenfranchised young men rejecting the system and trying to make their own sense of meaning.

This was SOO much better than I'd expected. Never seen the film so I came in completely blind.

although i did figure out the split personality within the first 1/3rd of the book, but I knew there was some big twist & I'm used to reading literary fiction, analysing and questioning as I read. I wondered for most of the book if Marla was a 3rd personality.

  It was incredibly crafted with intentional and deliberate writing and author decisions throughout. It has a lot to say. 

The more I think about it since finishing, the better I think it was, the writing and the story. My rating goes up each day that passes. Is it even a 5 * maybe? I think its one of those books that is taken for granted due to its cultural impact. And it got me out of a big reading slump - tried about 4 books I DNF'ed then read this within 24 hours!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Cancer

breadbummer's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I...truly do not know how to feel about this book. I know there are tons of people out there arguing about whether this glorifies toxic masculinity or is the best book/movie ever (by *cough* cishet able-bodied white men who somehow got the idea that society wasn't specifically built for and around them *cough*); very obviously, I don't agree with that second statement, though this story has the elements of taking itself seriously and, at the same time, parodying itself. "Fight Club" really reminds me of the song 'Two Trucks" in this way: what is more masculine than explosions, lack of individuality, senseless violence, hating women, and having literal balls? All of that crammed together into a single can, that's what. For sure, it's a ridiculous story (filled with some great chemistry lessons, I might add), but it's a bit too sobering to know how many white men don't realize this. That is, even if Palahniuk IS poking fun at these types of people, how effective can that message be if no one's reading between the lines?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Stalking, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Grief, Fatphobia, and Vomit

book_slay's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Sexism

meganashlee27's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury

saa's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So here we go:

Talking 'bout "Fight Club" feels like I'm stomping all over the sacred rules, just like smashing those first two commandments of the Fight Club itself. The moment you crack open this thing, it slams you with a barrage of words that's as colorful as a damn rainbow on steroids.

A language so rich and flavorful, loaded with all those spicy bits and intriguing details that tickle your curiosity about our main dude. It's like you're not just reading, you're damn well living and breathing in his skin, existing on his terms alone.

Now, those hops between chapters? Well, let's just say they're like a funky dance that sometimes lands you back where you started, just to double-check you didn't miss a beat.

You keep reading, letting the pages swallow you whole, and then bam! There it is, the first WTF moment that practically gives you a sneak peek into the wild rollercoaster you're in for. But trust me, that's just the tip of the iceberg of WTFs; this whole book is like a compilation of mind-bending, jaw-dropping, what-the-actual-f*** moments.

So let's talk about those WTF moments, shall we?

- You've got the audacious appearance of a big red rooster (randomly spliced porn frames in innocent movies – like a big swinging… you get the idea).

- Then, there's the way he gets all possessive about those support groups. Like there's only room for one impostor in town, and guess who's playing that role? Our man, of course. Negotiating with Marla like a hustler at the market, as if his lunch's meat depends on that deal.

- Marla, oh Marla. She goes ahead and asks Tyler to knock her up just so she can abort Tyler's baby. Now that's a whole new level of WTF.

- Speaking of Marla, she's a walking, talking WTF in herself. She's like a collision of chaos and oddity.

- Self-mutilation, that's another one.

- The 'special' soup with a twisted extra ingredient, hunting for hepatitis like it's some kind of treasure hunt, soap made from Marla's mom (seriously, what?).

- Oh, and that chat with his boss, when the Fight Club's rule list is discovered. The myriad of brutal scenarios discussed there? Definitely a WTF.

- Blackmailing, now that's a monologue marvel in itself.

But hold on, the mother of all WTFs? Brace yourselves:

- The Chaos Project. I mean, what in the literal name of all that's sane and insane? It's like a garden of WTFs, blossoming into a twisted bouquet of madness.

And there's more, a whole plethora of minor WTFs that start off making you gape but soon become so commonplace you'd think they're just everyday occurrences.

And then, the grandest twist of them all – who'd have thought Tyler and our man were having a one-on-one tête-à-tête in the same noggin? It's like getting slapped with a mind-bending revelation that leaves you reeling and questioning every damn thing you just read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Murder, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Cursing

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture