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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
A really interesting book, the kind that deserves a second read once you're done.
Really good. I *personally* didn't find it funny (even darkly so), but I couldn't put it down. I already want to re-read it.
People love to hate Chuck Palahniuk. It is the intelligent thing to do. Or maybe it's just the intellectual thing to do. Whenever anybody gains the sort of cult status that Mr Palahniuk has, it is inevitable that the collective body of intellectuals will come to an agreement (probably during a secret meeting during which they all wear robes)that they don't like him. Here is one of my problems with intellectuals: their taste is too calculated, too coordinated. They wrap themselves in intelligent identities and get all fucking matchy matchy with who they decide fits in with this season's shade of snobbery.
Why do I like Chuck Palahniuk's writing? It's not just because he revels in the macabre, the gross, the disturbing. While I do appreciate his readiness and willingness to explore that stuff, since it keeps things fresh and original; what I appreciate most about his writing is that he keeps it vibrant and colorful. The darks are darkest and the lights are lightest. His plots and twists sometimes feel contrived, but every time I realize I am feeling mildly disappointed by a plot twist as it was happening, I keep reading and find that the whole plot thing isn't really what make his books enjoyable for me. What really captures me every time is the rich, fucked up depictions of humanity in its various forms, the portraits of dysfunction, and the illustrations of pain and pleasure. Like an HDR photograph with saturation and sharpness turned way way up, there is something fascinating and exciting there. Put a bright light on a wrinkled old face in a pitch black room and just sketch the darkest black of the deep creases. Ignore the rest. It is still a true portrayal of something. It is perhaps incomplete, perhaps blown way up or tinkered with to make it pop, but it is an illustration of something, and can be far more entertaining and moving than an accurate, nuanced portrait, with gentle shading and muted colors.
Rant was satisfying for me in so many ways. One thing that really endeared me to this book was the slow reveal. The entire book was the gentle tugging at a curtain that eventually showed the entirety of something. Another thing about this book that makes me really love it is that even after all is revealed, you can still be entirely unsure what it adds up to. The author didn't want you to be sure of your opinion about this book. He didn't want you to know what it was really all about. He just wanted to show you a series of sketches, presenting them without a clear agenda or direction. In the end you probably have an idea about what this might be about, but there's no way you're sure. Being sure about what happened in this book is like being sure about life. If you are sure then you're probably an idiot.
Great book unless you hate fun.
This is the third book I've read by Chuck Palahniuk, and through reading other reviews I see that his work can produce polarized opinions, and I can see why. I actually read one of his newer books first, Doomed. I enjoyed it overall, but not as much as Rant or Snuff. The main character in Doomed initially had NO redeeming qualities and just when she became the most irritating, Palahniuk introduced some plot twists that redeemed her. A little. However, Rant was fantastic, and I see that I'm one of those who is enjoying his older works the most so far. This book is told in the fashion of an oral biography, and therefore Rant is unable to contribute to his own story which immediately makes the story fascinating. So many people offer there opinions of Rant and how he affected the world around them. With some characters, the idea is not lost on them that with Rant unable to contribute to his own story, Rant's affect on the world around may or may not have been ultimately over-dramatized. Palahniuk introduces dystopian themes into his stories that I enjoy and help cause many plot-twisters. Honestly, I'm still trying to piece several parts of the story together. This book makes me think long after I put it down, as it touches on so many different subject areas; despite my own struggle to piece everything together, I see few authors being able to piece so many potentially conflicting themes together so seamlessly.
This is going to make one hell of a B-movie some day. Felt like a cross between J.G. Ballard and "The Warriors," with a little H.G. Wells thrown in. I couldn't totally give in to some of the more bizarre plot twists, but Palahniuk's sharp philosophizing here - especially his ideas about how chaos theory relates to Jesus's birth - made it worth the read.
Sometimes, often, Palahniuk is grotesque just to be grotesque. That being said, he wrote this book in an interesting format. The scenes, people, concepts are gross and hard to look at at times. A bit like a wreck. Which makes us, the readers, rubberneckers of course. Unable to put the book down or turn away. He certainly nails the desire and drive to blow apart ennui. Well, and the stolidness of ennui, as well. Although he doesn't dwell in that, just puts it out there to see. No less than the wrecks, this is interesting to see. This book is certainly not for everyone. But my son thought I'd like it. Wonder what that says about me? Or our relationship?
A breath of fresh air in the slowly staling Palahniuk landscape! The world and the characters were enthralling, just like old-school Chuck, and I don't think I put it down once until I'd finished. Brilliant, funny, charming, and intelligent.
When I first posted this book as one I was reading, a friend commented, "This one weirded me out." It weirded me out, too, in a similar (and yet completely different) way than Palahniuk's INVISIBLE MONSTERS wierded me out. The similarities lie in both books' focus on seemingly reprehensible characters. Mostly, Palahniuk characters are twisted, cursed, self-absorbed, sociopathic, chemically-dependent, and seemingly irredeemable. The differences lie in the fact that, while Daisy and Manus and Brandy Alexander of IM were creepy characters with nasty habits, "Rant" Casey's life is lived not on the edge of filth and disease, but smack in the middle of it. There were more than a couple of passages that turned my stomach before I turned the page.
But, at the same time, this is a book that I could hardly put down. Told in an oral history format, with characters offering snippets of monologue laced together on a common chapter-by-chapter theme or episode, the pace of the novel is lightning quick, and doesn't want for plot twists and turns. And, like any good Palahniuk novel, the seedy surface is a skein over deeper thematic meditations.
I have to admit, my mind started to wander a bit over the last forty pages or so, as the novel drifted into HG Wellsian territory. This development seemed a bit out of left field, but was compact enough that it took little away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
Rumor has it that the author is planning a sequel or two based on this story. He's set it up in such a way that he might be able to mine a hundred novels out of it, but I, for one, hope he doesn't. The true joy of this novel was watching a cursed piece of humanity like "Rant" Casey grow from a child to the revered "man" he becomes. Now that that story is told, why go back to the scene of the "crime?"
But, at the same time, this is a book that I could hardly put down. Told in an oral history format, with characters offering snippets of monologue laced together on a common chapter-by-chapter theme or episode, the pace of the novel is lightning quick, and doesn't want for plot twists and turns. And, like any good Palahniuk novel, the seedy surface is a skein over deeper thematic meditations.
I have to admit, my mind started to wander a bit over the last forty pages or so, as the novel drifted into HG Wellsian territory. This development seemed a bit out of left field, but was compact enough that it took little away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
Rumor has it that the author is planning a sequel or two based on this story. He's set it up in such a way that he might be able to mine a hundred novels out of it, but I, for one, hope he doesn't. The true joy of this novel was watching a cursed piece of humanity like "Rant" Casey grow from a child to the revered "man" he becomes. Now that that story is told, why go back to the scene of the "crime?"
I love reading his books but for some reason never finished this one. (It was even my pick for book club!)
I borrowed this from the library and bought the trade paperback. Chuck rocks.