Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

28 reviews

tgyll's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

3.5

Let me first start off by saying this: Chuck, my dear sir, you don’t need to worry about any of us talking about fight club because half the time we’re sat there saying “what the actual fuck just happened”. Another thing I want to talk about is how this book falls into a very niche category, among which American psycho and A Clockwork Orange also come to mind, which I think should colloquially be known as “Satirical criticism of society written by men frequently misunderstood by men”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

frannieman's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Blood, Violence, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual violence, and Self harm

12_gon's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-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

5.0

'gotta admit! love to fight club, but we only fight club outside... '

Palahniuk tunes Intersectional Feminism to young men lost in the dissonant notes of white male rage and mommy issues. As the reader wanders through the protaganist's self-harm adventure stealing the pain of others and discovering the highs of sleep-deprived mania, we meet Marla and Tyler.

See, Tyler is how the quiet, polite boy ignored by his mom, turns into the schizophrenic mass shooter. Tyler tells the protaganist about Caste Necropolitics patriarchy CAPITALISM$$$ "You see reader, us guy bros who like know about Ruby Ridge, can see past the bedtimes and sobriety the (m)asses are so fond of hehe.. like communism could just work if us genetically superior MEN(!!!) just destroyed everything! Then us group of guys undergoing psychosis cause we haven't slept in a bit, can solve the Jewish CAPITALISM$$$ question... OwO x3"

Like terrorism, but way cooler cause our Turner Diaries is the Communist Manifesto BAYBEE!

The book's appeal to me has evolved over the year's. I enjoy Palahniuk's embrace of psychosis and the "sad clown" ending of Tyler winning terrorism. A lot of people pretend they read the book, when they just watched the movie and probably didn't think about it much. In the book, when you don't sleep, self-harm (beat yourself up hehe [cause Fight Club]); you become abusive to the point of homicide. You know, the bad guy. Palahniuk is pretty literal, and meth psychosis is well-known in the seedier parts of the LGBTQ community. Ask around. The prose is very accurate, but not precise. Which I find the fear of failure mirrors poetically in Realistic Horror. The absurdity mirrors survivor's guilt. It'll grow with you.

Sucks for Bob though. RIP... hmmm... you ever think the guy with tits, no balls, and who spent the first two weeks in-utero as a female fetus like every human does might be a woman? Well I'm not going read his chromosomes or diary, so yeah.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm, Addiction, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence

alexandryareads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Suicide attempt

zoebill96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, Cursing, Gun violence, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Terminal illness

stephsbookedout's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Hate crime

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

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