Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Fight club by Chuck Palahniuk

133 reviews

foramen_magnum's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors, so returning to his works is like catching up with an old friend... Even if they weren't your favorite, they make you feel nostalgic. 

Fight Club is clearly early in his career and the elements of his style are being experimented upon. While sometimes it hits his razor sharp mania, other times it feels very stream of consciousness as told by characters who just aren't always that interesting. Shock value is a trademark of his style but here it feels gratuitous, where in other books it feels immersive. Still, he makes his point, and his critique of capitalism and hyper masculinity is absolutely clear. If this is your first tango with Chuck, I'd recommend you start with Rant before checking out Fight Club, but don't count this one out entirely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

nb_leftist's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

It seems to be a commentary on white supremacist right wing extremist movements and how they’re fucking idiotic, but I can’t tell if that’s what the author meant it as or not. I don’t think it really matters cause there’s not one specific thing that a story can mean and in the afterword Palahniuk even writes about how he kind of just wrote it. Either way it’s definitely a good piece of writing. It keeps you interested and it keeps moving throughout. I finished it in probably 2-3 hours and it felt like 30 minutes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sobake_cih's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It’s one of my fav books since my teens, so I’m very biased. But reading it now so many years later gave me so much more to think about. A truly iconic book.

It’s a lot more dark and twisted than the film, and many issues in society and the world in general mentioned and discussed in the book are very present to this day, even though it was published almost 30 years ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

extru's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I read the book after watching the movie. In book we have some extra informations which is great! The film has some changes but they're not big. I recommend watching Fight Club and also reading the book:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

vexant's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Car accident, and Murder

bseigel's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

pulcotinette's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

Didn't like the writing style (it was too dry for me) but the story in itself is incredibly compelling. It calls to the reader in a personal way, and the ideas it develops are attractive in this writing. As another review says, you have to read between the lines and take a step back from what you're reading to really get the book. 
I loved the movie (that i saw first) and didn't find the book as compelling (because of the writing style). I also had Edward Norton's voice in my head reading this, and I think he nailed the narrator. I think the movie greatly helped me understand the point of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death and Sexual content

my_a's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.75

Made me think of an American "Trainspotting" - violent and jarring punchy 1990s novel about disenfranchised young men rejecting the system and trying to make their own sense of meaning.

This was SOO much better than I'd expected. Never seen the film so I came in completely blind.

although i did figure out the split personality within the first 1/3rd of the book, but I knew there was some big twist & I'm used to reading literary fiction, analysing and questioning as I read. I wondered for most of the book if Marla was a 3rd personality.

  It was incredibly crafted with intentional and deliberate writing and author decisions throughout. It has a lot to say. 

The more I think about it since finishing, the better I think it was, the writing and the story. My rating goes up each day that passes. Is it even a 5 * maybe? I think its one of those books that is taken for granted due to its cultural impact. And it got me out of a big reading slump - tried about 4 books I DNF'ed then read this within 24 hours!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

breadbummer's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I...truly do not know how to feel about this book. I know there are tons of people out there arguing about whether this glorifies toxic masculinity or is the best book/movie ever (by *cough* cishet able-bodied white men who somehow got the idea that society wasn't specifically built for and around them *cough*); very obviously, I don't agree with that second statement, though this story has the elements of taking itself seriously and, at the same time, parodying itself. "Fight Club" really reminds me of the song 'Two Trucks" in this way: what is more masculine than explosions, lack of individuality, senseless violence, hating women, and having literal balls? All of that crammed together into a single can, that's what. For sure, it's a ridiculous story (filled with some great chemistry lessons, I might add), but it's a bit too sobering to know how many white men don't realize this. That is, even if Palahniuk IS poking fun at these types of people, how effective can that message be if no one's reading between the lines?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia, Vomit, and Grief