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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
dark
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
An interesting concept, a short story collection as told by a group of people on a writers retreat, where they are stuck without food and heat, slowly starving to death. Each chapter we get a piece of the overall narrative, a "poem" about each character, and the story they came up with during their stay at the retreat.
This is the first Palahniuk book I've read in over 20 years, after having read a bunch in my early 20s... This is definitely a Palahniuk book. It's gross, visceral, and sexually deviant. Chuck sure knows how to explore the darkness in humans.
Overall the book didn't work for me. None of the stories really stood out, except for "Guts", I think there was maybe too much going on by tying the short story collection to the anthology feel of the writers retreat.
This is the first Palahniuk book I've read in over 20 years, after having read a bunch in my early 20s... This is definitely a Palahniuk book. It's gross, visceral, and sexually deviant. Chuck sure knows how to explore the darkness in humans.
Overall the book didn't work for me. None of the stories really stood out, except for "Guts", I think there was maybe too much going on by tying the short story collection to the anthology feel of the writers retreat.
The short story “Exodus” is probably one of the most impactful things I’ve read in my life. Chuck gets it. Of course he gets it.
Eh...calling it. Made it about halfway before putting it down. The first story is so outrageous and gross and, dare I say a bit humorous, the others just fall flat. Maybe it should have been a climax rather than the start.
As much as I got through, I didn't see the point of introducing the back stories because they didn't connect or matter in the actual story of them being trapped. All in all, this read like vignettes that were very very thinly linked together.
As much as I got through, I didn't see the point of introducing the back stories because they didn't connect or matter in the actual story of them being trapped. All in all, this read like vignettes that were very very thinly linked together.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
summary in a paragraph:
19 individuals go away to a writers retreat to cultivate a shocking and eerily captivating story
Memorable quotes/excerpts:
Author intention: man, this guy probably wanted to make you uncomfortable. He was exploring a lot of different topics with a gruesome twist. Nobody is having a good time, which is a large theme of the stories, and the story.
Target audience: if you like or, or brutality and or you will probably enjoy this. There is also some existentialism so if you like that there's some of that in here.
Review/thoughts(why did/didn't you like, what could improve):
This book was pretty crazy. I didn't really know what I was getting into so I wasn't really expecting anything. That first story really kind of sets the tone for what the rest of the book is going to be. The chapter display was unique. I liked the format, the setup of the real story, the poem, then the character story. Mrs Clark was probably the main character. I didn't like all the attention seeking mindset of the characters. It's probably meant to be that way, a sort of commentary on how people are hungry for pain and want to make others hurt as they hurt, which was touched on a lot throughout the story. It was just upsetting seeing these people make the worst out of a situation, especially when the situation was pretty neutral to begin with.
19 individuals go away to a writers retreat to cultivate a shocking and eerily captivating story
Memorable quotes/excerpts:
Author intention: man, this guy probably wanted to make you uncomfortable. He was exploring a lot of different topics with a gruesome twist. Nobody is having a good time, which is a large theme of the stories, and the story.
Target audience: if you like or, or brutality and or you will probably enjoy this. There is also some existentialism so if you like that there's some of that in here.
Review/thoughts(why did/didn't you like, what could improve):
This book was pretty crazy. I didn't really know what I was getting into so I wasn't really expecting anything. That first story really kind of sets the tone for what the rest of the book is going to be. The chapter display was unique. I liked the format, the setup of the real story, the poem, then the character story. Mrs Clark was probably the main character. I didn't like all the attention seeking mindset of the characters. It's probably meant to be that way, a sort of commentary on how people are hungry for pain and want to make others hurt as they hurt, which was touched on a lot throughout the story. It was just upsetting seeing these people make the worst out of a situation, especially when the situation was pretty neutral to begin with.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book pretty much proves to me why Chuck Palahniuk is such a literary genius (even though I still have no idea how to properly say his last name....lol). Although this book tries to live in the world of reality, the truth is the plot is completely preposterous. However, that is where the genius lies. The fact that he can take such a ridiculous pretense and make it perfectly feasible is no small task. I absolutely love the makeup of this book and how it unfolds, one character, one poem, and one horrible back story at a time....each one seemingly worse than the last. Only Chuck P. could take such vile and disgusting content and make you want to laugh out loud and puke within the same few sentences. This is a book that is worthy of being studied, in my opinion. Among many other things, there is definitely an underlining commentary on reality television and the intense quest for fame of some. And judging by the afterword, I also feel like Chuck P used this book very deliberately to prove that books (his in particular) are still the best platform for the most uncensored content, even in the face of his own film adaptation successes. In fact, by the time one character was literally choking on a severed penis, it occurred to me that there was no chance in the world this novel would ever become a movie. At least, not a good one in relation to the content of the book. And that's a pretty refreshing feeling. Even though the premise is mighty ridiculous, the gripping and intense back stories, the witty poems, and how they all play together in the heart of the story....this book really jumped out and surprised me. Everything inside screamed at me to not like this crazy story, but it's such a master stroke of intelligent writing, you cant help but appreciate its beauty.
dark
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
Hated it! I usually love everything Palahniuk writes, but this book was awful. The title is very deceiving. I figured there would be something haunting about this book. The only thing haunting was how awful it was. None of the stories flowed the writer’s retreat was just a pointless way to try and tell different short stories. Even though they were supposed to be told by different perspectives you could tell it was all written by the same person. I suppose it was supposed to be about people with haunted past. It doesn’t matter though because I couldn’t care less about any of the characters. There was no real story here. The only one that’s actually worth reading is “Guts”. Only because it’s so disgusting and horrific. I really should have DNF’d this one. I was just hoping Chuck would work his magic at some point. No such luck.
dark