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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
dark
tense
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:
No
As I became desensitized, I lost interest in the individual stories and the overall story arc. He doesn't really dive deeper into the whole "let's torture ourselves for the fame and blame Mr. Whittier because all people just want to see things to happen" thing.
I read this because I heard it made people throw up at live readings; with that in mind, I was extremely underwhelmed.
Exactly one of the short stories is worth reading, and it's the very first one. "Guts" is urban legend material, disgusting and just barely believable.
It's a shame the rest of the book isn't like that. After the strong first chapter, the book turns into a stupid satire of reality TV where a group of writers starve and dismember themselves for viewers' sympathy, occasionally interrupted with short stories about flat characters having forgettable conflicts. The stories are really varied in quality, and the framing device does them no favors.
I abandoned this book with about 35 pages left. It's so unengaging that I didn't even care to find out how it ends.
Exactly one of the short stories is worth reading, and it's the very first one. "Guts" is urban legend material, disgusting and just barely believable.
It's a shame the rest of the book isn't like that. After the strong first chapter, the book turns into a stupid satire of reality TV where a group of writers starve and dismember themselves for viewers' sympathy, occasionally interrupted with short stories about flat characters having forgettable conflicts. The stories are really varied in quality, and the framing device does them no favors.
I abandoned this book with about 35 pages left. It's so unengaging that I didn't even care to find out how it ends.
dark
mysterious
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
Let me preface this review by stating that I am the type of reader that will try to get in as much reading time as possible. This means closing the door to my office at lunch and reading, on the bus, subway, commuter train, before bed (staying up too late to read) and just about anywhere else I can read. Now I have read a few books where this doesn’t happen but I will still finish them.
This book, I couldn’t even finish reading it. Let me backtrack a moment… This book is written by Chuck Palahniuk which I guess wrote Fight Club which apparently I am the only person who didn’t know there was a book that spawned the popular movie (even my mom knew that). I don’t even recall how this book came across my radar but somehow it did and fortunately I checked it out from the library and didn’t pay anything for it.
Enough rambling! So the story opens with oddly named characters (Saint Gut Free, Missing Link, Mother Nature, etc…) being picked up to go to a writers retreat hosted by Mr. Whittier. Within this story is roughly 20 short stories that tells the background of each character. For example, Lady Baglady was a rich socialite who ran into an old friend who was ‘slumming’. The friend convinced her that slumming was the new rich thing to do. So Lady Baglady and her husband sleep on park benches, have sex outside and don’t shower. There is more to her story but I don’t want to spoil it for those who want to read this book. After each short-story, the book shifts back to the main plotline of these individuals at their writers retreat.
I think I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t take it anymore. There was a shock value in reading this but I am okay with that, I can handle it. However, I found everything to be pointless and boring. I wasn’t even excited to read it; it felt more like a chore.
If the short stories had been published on their own, I may have been more apt to continue reading the book but the premise of writers retreat was lame and not going anywhere in my opinion. I might go back and just finish reading the short stories but probably not any time soon as there are a ton of other books out there that I would rather spend my time with. In reading other people’s reviews on Barnes and Noble’s website, it appears to be a mixed vibe with most people either loving or hating it.
This book, I couldn’t even finish reading it. Let me backtrack a moment… This book is written by Chuck Palahniuk which I guess wrote Fight Club which apparently I am the only person who didn’t know there was a book that spawned the popular movie (even my mom knew that). I don’t even recall how this book came across my radar but somehow it did and fortunately I checked it out from the library and didn’t pay anything for it.
Enough rambling! So the story opens with oddly named characters (Saint Gut Free, Missing Link, Mother Nature, etc…) being picked up to go to a writers retreat hosted by Mr. Whittier. Within this story is roughly 20 short stories that tells the background of each character. For example, Lady Baglady was a rich socialite who ran into an old friend who was ‘slumming’. The friend convinced her that slumming was the new rich thing to do. So Lady Baglady and her husband sleep on park benches, have sex outside and don’t shower. There is more to her story but I don’t want to spoil it for those who want to read this book. After each short-story, the book shifts back to the main plotline of these individuals at their writers retreat.
I think I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t take it anymore. There was a shock value in reading this but I am okay with that, I can handle it. However, I found everything to be pointless and boring. I wasn’t even excited to read it; it felt more like a chore.
If the short stories had been published on their own, I may have been more apt to continue reading the book but the premise of writers retreat was lame and not going anywhere in my opinion. I might go back and just finish reading the short stories but probably not any time soon as there are a ton of other books out there that I would rather spend my time with. In reading other people’s reviews on Barnes and Noble’s website, it appears to be a mixed vibe with most people either loving or hating it.
This book is about a man who hosts a writer’s retreat, locks all of the attendees in a building, and the disturbing events that occur. This book is told in three ways: through the telling of the plot in traditional chapter format, through poems about the people at the retreat, and through short stories written by the retreat’s attendees. This book was kind of a slog for me to get through. I think Palahniuk’s writing style is just not fully for me. I was into some chapters and I liked a few of the short stories, but mostly I was unengaged, pushing myself to keep reading. This book is funny, it’s hard to describe, but there’s a lot of dark humor, kind of in a karmic “you’ll get what’s coming to you” way. This book wasn’t 100% for me, but maybe it is for you if you like the idea of a story told through poems and short stories, you like reading about body horror and exploring the dark side of people’s behavior, and most of all if you already know you like Palahniuk’s writing style. This book discusses lots of sensitive topics and includes violence/gore, so if you’re sensitive to anything, I’d recommend looking up the trigger warnings before reading.
Gosh... I love his writing style and the stories are so well-thought out, but it took me forever to finish this book and I don't know how I feel about it.
There are so many characters that I had trouble keeping track of them all and their personal stories and nicknames. I thought about keeping a note of them, but by then I was halfway through and didn't want to go back to re-read.
There was A LOT that happened in this book, and I kept waiting for the end, because I was sure that it had to be big and epic to keep up with the rest of the book, but I hate to say that I was pretty disappointed by the end. The last short story fucked the whole book up for me, and then I feel like the chapter afterwards was a little pointless, like it took some of the "oh shit this ending"-feeling away that I had just experienced.
Wouldn't read it again, but I'm not mad about the fact that I read it. Will definitely keep on reading Chuck's books, he is a master at what he does.
There are so many characters that I had trouble keeping track of them all and their personal stories and nicknames. I thought about keeping a note of them, but by then I was halfway through and didn't want to go back to re-read.
There was A LOT that happened in this book, and I kept waiting for the end, because I was sure that it had to be big and epic to keep up with the rest of the book, but I hate to say that I was pretty disappointed by the end. The last short story fucked the whole book up for me, and then I feel like the chapter afterwards was a little pointless, like it took some of the "oh shit this ending"-feeling away that I had just experienced.
Wouldn't read it again, but I'm not mad about the fact that I read it. Will definitely keep on reading Chuck's books, he is a master at what he does.
Gross. Made me lose my appetite for a long time. A good read if you're not wanting to eat anymore.