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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It only does this book feel lost in its own pretentiousness, regardless of the affect of that same nature of the characters, but it also feels cartoonishly vile and nihilistic, to the point that it doesn’t feel like this group of characters could possibly be real. It’s the kind of book that slaps you upside the head, telling you that it’s deep, when it’s actually just undercooked, immature, and full of gross situations
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing adheres slavishly to the kind of advice you expect in a creative writing class or workshop. sparse exposition, lots of dialogue and action, characters defy expectations, the stakes are higher than you'd expect, things keep getting worse. Yet, the end result fails to satisfy on several levels.
First, it's obvious the author is trying hard to get an emotional reaction from the reader. However, the only techniques in his toolbox are revulsion and disgust. It felt as though Palahniuk is saying, "See how disgusting and intense I am? Isn't this raw?" as though even a patina of sentimentality or genuine emotion, other than humiliation, will make the writing “not cool.”
Then the author violates Vonnegut's principle that you should always give the reader someone to root for. None of the characters comes even close to being likable. This is partly because Palahniuk seems unwilling to admit that these people can have even a single redeeming quality with which his reader can empathize. On the contrary, each of them feels contrived to exist solely so the reader, and more so the author, can ridicule and deride them--the kind of characters sophomores delight in discovering for the sole purpose of mocking and humiliating.
Still, in spite of the fact Palahniuk has painstakingly given each character a "limp and an eye patch," as Blake Snyder would put it, the characters all feel oddly lacking in characterization. Was it Miss America or Mrs. Clark who has the huge boobs or the giant celluloid lips? See what I mean? Very puerile stuff.
Finally, in addition to the likability and characterization problems, all of the characters feel somehow masculinized. Even the women in this book feel obsessed with physical and carnal pursuits in a way one usually associates with, not only men, but young men. This results in female characters who either sound like men or like the kinds of women men think women should be. In fact, throughout the reading, I had to ask myself whether the character who was speaking was a man or a woman, which is not obvious from the nicknames Palahniuk has given them. As I've mentioned, the characters are strangely not memorable.
Then there's the ending, which is mostly a mishmash of hipster quasi-nihilistic philosophy having something to do with the whole world killing itself to go to some grand party on the other side. Because of course they do.
The book is not without its merits, however. Many of the short stories are enjoyable on their own terms. Furthermore, the writing itself is a quick read. The pages turn easily and the language is accessible. The writing is not the problem here.
Overall, as I've said, it's apparent Palahniuk is well schooled in the philosophies and theories of modern literary craft, but he fails to do what a good writer should set out to do: reveal hidden truths about his characters or the world in which they live, choosing instead to reinforce a particular self-aggrandizing worldview that appeals to a certain type of reader.
I got through this book, but I can't say I enjoyed it.
First, it's obvious the author is trying hard to get an emotional reaction from the reader. However, the only techniques in his toolbox are revulsion and disgust. It felt as though Palahniuk is saying, "See how disgusting and intense I am? Isn't this raw?" as though even a patina of sentimentality or genuine emotion, other than humiliation, will make the writing “not cool.”
Then the author violates Vonnegut's principle that you should always give the reader someone to root for. None of the characters comes even close to being likable. This is partly because Palahniuk seems unwilling to admit that these people can have even a single redeeming quality with which his reader can empathize. On the contrary, each of them feels contrived to exist solely so the reader, and more so the author, can ridicule and deride them--the kind of characters sophomores delight in discovering for the sole purpose of mocking and humiliating.
Still, in spite of the fact Palahniuk has painstakingly given each character a "limp and an eye patch," as Blake Snyder would put it, the characters all feel oddly lacking in characterization. Was it Miss America or Mrs. Clark who has the huge boobs or the giant celluloid lips? See what I mean? Very puerile stuff.
Finally, in addition to the likability and characterization problems, all of the characters feel somehow masculinized. Even the women in this book feel obsessed with physical and carnal pursuits in a way one usually associates with, not only men, but young men. This results in female characters who either sound like men or like the kinds of women men think women should be. In fact, throughout the reading, I had to ask myself whether the character who was speaking was a man or a woman, which is not obvious from the nicknames Palahniuk has given them. As I've mentioned, the characters are strangely not memorable.
Then there's the ending, which is mostly a mishmash of hipster quasi-nihilistic philosophy having something to do with the whole world killing itself to go to some grand party on the other side. Because of course they do.
The book is not without its merits, however. Many of the short stories are enjoyable on their own terms. Furthermore, the writing itself is a quick read. The pages turn easily and the language is accessible. The writing is not the problem here.
Overall, as I've said, it's apparent Palahniuk is well schooled in the philosophies and theories of modern literary craft, but he fails to do what a good writer should set out to do: reveal hidden truths about his characters or the world in which they live, choosing instead to reinforce a particular self-aggrandizing worldview that appeals to a certain type of reader.
I got through this book, but I can't say I enjoyed it.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Who hurt this guy so badly that he ended up like this?
I received this book as a birthday gift from one of my closest friends. I began to read it shortly after beginning to read it. I abandoned it after reading the infamous “Guts” chapter to which I had such aversion to that I almost fainted. I know it may sound cliché, especially after all the hype that has grown over this particular story, but it did happen. The events described are so repugnant and appalling that they stuck a cord with me at the time. None of this happened on the second reading.
I found this book quite particular. It consists of a story in which the characters, for the most part aspiring writers, retire to a three-month retreat in an undisclosed location with no contact with the outside world. In here the characters are given a seemingly infinite amount of ready-to-eat meals and other comforts necessary for their survival by Mr. Whitter, the event’s organizer who stays with them inside a sealed building. As the story progresses most characters recur to sabotaging the conditions, mutilating or killing each other in order to create the most interesting story possible of their experience there, instead of working on their magnum opus, to later sell to the media and obtain the most profit possible.
The story is presented in chapters which consist of short stories written by each of the characters, signed in their own nickname for most do not reveal their name, in which they narrate their own lives or some anecdote of theirs. This is accompanied by a poem about them and later a chapter on what is transpiring in the retreat.
Personally I found the book to be inconsistent. The narration of what was occurring in the abandoned theater where the characters are locked bored me profoundly. The poems were passable and I am glad they did not exceed a page or two in length. What I truly enjoyed were some of the stories that the characters present and in them I found Chuck Palahniuk’s incredible ability to craft outlandish characters and situations that mystify, amaze, and disturb the reader. My favorites were “Guts”, “Slumming”, “Ritual”, and “Dissertation”.
I found this book quite particular. It consists of a story in which the characters, for the most part aspiring writers, retire to a three-month retreat in an undisclosed location with no contact with the outside world. In here the characters are given a seemingly infinite amount of ready-to-eat meals and other comforts necessary for their survival by Mr. Whitter, the event’s organizer who stays with them inside a sealed building. As the story progresses most characters recur to sabotaging the conditions, mutilating or killing each other in order to create the most interesting story possible of their experience there, instead of working on their magnum opus, to later sell to the media and obtain the most profit possible.
The story is presented in chapters which consist of short stories written by each of the characters, signed in their own nickname for most do not reveal their name, in which they narrate their own lives or some anecdote of theirs. This is accompanied by a poem about them and later a chapter on what is transpiring in the retreat.
Personally I found the book to be inconsistent. The narration of what was occurring in the abandoned theater where the characters are locked bored me profoundly. The poems were passable and I am glad they did not exceed a page or two in length. What I truly enjoyed were some of the stories that the characters present and in them I found Chuck Palahniuk’s incredible ability to craft outlandish characters and situations that mystify, amaze, and disturb the reader. My favorites were “Guts”, “Slumming”, “Ritual”, and “Dissertation”.