Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Fight club

I had to think out my rating for a second. Spoilers for anyone who like me was unfamiliar with the twist but this book does feature a violent character with DID. I dislike any media that demonizes DID such as Split because it does a lot of harm. Although they say Tyler is his alter-ego, they never clarify which terms to use, DID, schizophrenia, or what the narrator confirms suffering from in the beginning: insomnia. Since this is a work of satire the point of the novel isn't a murder mystery or a look how scary ppl w/ mental illness are I will give it a pass. The point of the novel is how poorly our society treats the lower class, how men who aren't taught good coping mechanisms, and how a society that doesn't try to help one another is going to lead to violence. So I liked this book because of the anti capitalist sentiment. And the idea that our culture creates men entrenched in toxic masculinity. It's basically a "we live in a society" book. So because this book is very theme/metaphor oriented as opposed to plot oriented I won't write it off for a bad portrayal of psychosis/dissociation.

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yasmin_raev's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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purecomedy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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jazsever's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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angelicathebookworm's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What I enjoyed the most about Palahniuk’s novel is that it’s a satire, a social commentary on the effects that consumerism has on the people of society and it could ultimately lead to. It contains many relevant hard truths such as that of masculinity and what that looks like in contemporary society. Despite not knowing much about the characters and not really getting any opportunity to empathise with them, they are distinct which is especially important in a novel that’s as complicated as this one. That’s especially true for the character of Tyler Durden who is the embodiment of the Id, the part of the unconscious mind that is free to do anything and everything if you allow it to.

I should preface this section by saying that what you’re about to read is not of my personal criticisms but rather aspects of the novel that have, and will continue to, split the opinion of readers. These are things that you should definitely consider before deciding whether or not to read this book. First of all, the writing style is not to everyone’s taste. It’s choppy, repetitive, and downright confusing but it is absolutely necessary within the context of this particular novel as it mimics the thought process of our unreliable unnamed narrator. Also, the storyline is quite erratic and messy as our narrator jumps from scene to scene which, again, is quite confusing. There are also some quite graphic descriptions threaded throughout which is another thing to consider. While I agree with these particular descriptions of the novel’s plot and writing style, I actually enjoyed all of these aspects but I can still see why many readers disliked them. I should probably add that I’d watched the film before I’d read the novel and I believe that that meant I was less confused with what was going on and therefore able to enjoy the novel more than I might have done.

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