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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
Breakfast Club meets The Prince meets Are You There God? It's Me Margret
Although not his best work, still a fun and entertaining parody. Don't know what others on the comment list are looking for, but I look to not be bored, and Chuck never disappoints me in that area. He examines all the nasty stuff few others ever dare go, so it's not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. It's rough and dirty, with a few flashes of wicked sharp satire. Reading his work is like developing a taste for absinthe- strong, powerful, sometimes unpleasant, but a mind-bending experience. He makes you see things in a different light.
This was fun. Any longer and it might have gotten boring. At some point he says something like, "reading is like being dead, because most books are so predictable." This is definitely not predictable. It's gross, funny and sometimes irritating but definitely original and comprehensible (though some of the "logic of hell" didn't make sense). I did the audio version. The girls voice was perfect.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was really pleased with this book from C.P. After his last book, Tell All, which I really felt like was his worst effort, I was a tiny bit worried that the magic might finally be gone from his novels. Silly me. As it turns out, it was just a poor one-off. This is a wonderfully sarcastic caricature of a book about 13 year old Madison who has died of a marijuana overdose (or has she?) and landed herself eternally damned in Hell. This is more of a Hell that is reminiscent of what we might see in a South Park episode than actually ....well.....Hell. And that's what makes it so entertaining and awesome. I mean, telemarketers calling at dinner time around the globe, all coming from damned souls in hell? Hilarious. And all the hilarious landmarks scattered about. I mean, the Lake of Tepid Bile, Great Plains of discarded Razor Blades, the Swamp of partial-birth abortions, the River of Steaming Hot Vomit, the Sea of Insects and my personal favorite, the Great Ocean of Wasted Sperm. I mean, genius. And the seemingly endless ways to get yourself damned, from farting in elevators, to honking your horn, to saying Fuck 701 times......funny stuff. In C.P.'s hell, it seems no one has made it to heaven! That is side splittingly hilarious comedy, right there. There are just so many things to love about this book, it's hard to talk about them all....from the Breakfast Club parallels of her band of 5 when she first arrives in Hell, to her speedy rise to demon glory by taking down the likes of Hitler, this book never stops entertaining. I loved how it was also intertwined with two key elements on earth. One, her death, and what really happened, and two her time at a boarding school that played a significant role in the latter. These two ongoing flashbacks....as well as her out of touch rich and famous parents.... slowly unlock the key to what really happened to our dear Madison. And then we get to the end... at least of this chapter...where we're thrown a curve ball. Madison, who spends the entire novel writing dear abby letter to Satan (god, so funny) finally comes face to face with the prince of darkness himself, only to be told something that makes her question everything about herself and her existence. That's the short short version of it all. Really smart, brilliantly written novel that reminds me of why I became such a huge C.P. fan in the first place. I didn't realize this was bound for a sequel until I read it. I absolutely can't wait for the next volume. Thumbs way up.
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Not bad. I would like to see the next book continue the adventure in a new wacky realm (Purgatory? Heaven?) and prove this was worth the time.
if it was possible to rate this book any lower i would.
on every single level it was actively bad.
on the least horrid and rancid side , the actual craft of novel was poor and there was literally nothing and everything happening at once. the character motivations made not one ounce of sense ever and it was just overall boring and bad.
on a worse note however , this novel was literally so creepy and just flat out weird. chuck tried soooo hard to be subversive and allicite a reaction by ... let me see ... saying slurs and being a creep.
he might have tried his hardest to be insurgent , but in reality he was just a white dude in his 50s saying literally every slur that you know ( and a good few you do not ) and talking IN DETAIL about the sexuality / sexual escapades / sexual descriptions of our main character WHO IS A 7th GRADE GIRL
he talks about how she does not know what french kissing is , then in the next scene (ish) she is using her friends decapitated head to get off a demon. he describes her goosebumps (because she is walking around outside naked in the swiss alps at 12) as individual "tiny clitoris". she is 12 years old by the way.
the author is an absolute freak who thinks himself a nabokov but in reality is humbert
on every single level it was actively bad.
on the least horrid and rancid side , the actual craft of novel was poor and there was literally nothing and everything happening at once. the character motivations made not one ounce of sense ever and it was just overall boring and bad.
on a worse note however , this novel was literally so creepy and just flat out weird. chuck tried soooo hard to be subversive and allicite a reaction by ... let me see ... saying slurs and being a creep.
he might have tried his hardest to be insurgent , but in reality he was just a white dude in his 50s saying literally every slur that you know ( and a good few you do not ) and talking IN DETAIL about the sexuality / sexual escapades / sexual descriptions of our main character WHO IS A 7th GRADE GIRL
he talks about how she does not know what french kissing is , then in the next scene (ish) she is using her friends decapitated head to get off a demon. he describes her goosebumps (because she is walking around outside naked in the swiss alps at 12) as individual "tiny clitoris". she is 12 years old by the way.
the author is an absolute freak who thinks himself a nabokov but in reality is humbert
This was my first Palahniuk novel which was (as Palahniuk fans have told me) a mistake. I heard Palahniuk speak about this novel before it was published, and was excited to read it (plus, I had a free copy, so that didn't hurt my excitement).
I thought this book was boring (how much can happen in hell, honestly?) and I disliked the voice of the protagonist. For some reason, I'm of the mind that this read would have been much more effective if the protagonist had been an 18-year-old male instead of a 13-year-old female. I found her defensive nature extremely grating ("yes, I know what XYZ" is became a very redundant phrase very quickly), and lacking the gravitas that an older character with more experience might have brought to the story.
I also guessed part of the "twist" early on in the book, so what might have been a shock just fell flat. The Gross Factor was also heavily employed, and, while disgusting, it didn't really affect me so much otherwise.
Maybe I'll attempt Fight Club some day, but I think I can do without another Palahniuk for a bit.
I thought this book was boring (how much can happen in hell, honestly?) and I disliked the voice of the protagonist. For some reason, I'm of the mind that this read would have been much more effective if the protagonist had been an 18-year-old male instead of a 13-year-old female. I found her defensive nature extremely grating ("yes, I know what XYZ" is became a very redundant phrase very quickly), and lacking the gravitas that an older character with more experience might have brought to the story.
I also guessed part of the "twist" early on in the book, so what might have been a shock just fell flat. The Gross Factor was also heavily employed, and, while disgusting, it didn't really affect me so much otherwise.
Maybe I'll attempt Fight Club some day, but I think I can do without another Palahniuk for a bit.