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2.78 AVERAGE
2.78 AVERAGE
So, I bailed at 16%, so it's probably not enough to give a full account of the book by any means, but from what I read I felt there was a lack of context to whole thing. Just a couple of little rich boys doing whatever they pleased while their parents went on jobs killing famous people as directed.
There was nothing there to get me attached to these characters and what might become of them at all.
That said I lasted longer than I did with Pygmy, which was about half a page.
I used to love Palahniuk and so did love his book of writing advice, but I am just no enamoured with his fiction of late.
There was nothing there to get me attached to these characters and what might become of them at all.
That said I lasted longer than I did with Pygmy, which was about half a page.
I used to love Palahniuk and so did love his book of writing advice, but I am just no enamoured with his fiction of late.
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent
The endless series of vignettes got tiring pretty quickly. The story never got going.
Read the author's note first. In fact, I'll save you the time: it's supposed to be a parable about addiction and its effects on the person and their loved ones.
I wish I read that note first, because for all of the weird bits honestly seemed like Pahlahniuk being transgressive for the sake of being transgressive, and entirely missing the mark of being interesting. It takes half of the book for the plot to appear, and another quarter for it to start to really move, at which point it feels like a rehashing of Fight Club complete with a British version of Project Mahem and an even harder to decipher deeper meaning.
The best I can say is that at least the writing flowed, but there are thousands of good books about addiction -- this isn't one of them.
I wish I read that note first, because for all of the weird bits honestly seemed like Pahlahniuk being transgressive for the sake of being transgressive, and entirely missing the mark of being interesting. It takes half of the book for the plot to appear, and another quarter for it to start to really move, at which point it feels like a rehashing of Fight Club complete with a British version of Project Mahem and an even harder to decipher deeper meaning.
The best I can say is that at least the writing flowed, but there are thousands of good books about addiction -- this isn't one of them.
This is one of those rare books that I couldn't force myself to finish. I hated the style it is written in. I didn't like the characters at all.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book reads less like a novel and more like a deranged collage of his greatest hits, smeared in viscera and stripped of purpose. What begins as a sluggish parade of filth—gore, bodily fluids, and grotesquerie aplenty—quickly devolves into a tiresome exercise in shock-for-shock’s-sake. Yes, Palahniuk has always reveled in the transgressive(Haunted-Pool anyone?), but here the provocation feels hollow, a blunt instrument swung wildly at themes capitalism and nihilism already bludgeoned to death in his earlier, sharper works. The “subtlety” he once wielded in Fight Club or Choke is replaced by a sledgehammer, leaving readers numb rather than unsettled.
The narrative aspires to echo the dark, twisted tone of works like Wasp Factory, yet it overshoots every target by embracing a shock-jock aesthetic that borders on caricature. The book leans into baseless sexual obsessions and an undercurrent of forced homoeroticism—a tired callback that feels less like genuine subversion and more like a desperate grab at edginess. Palahniuk’s trademark ability to make you feel for broken souls is still present, but it’s buried so deep in the muck that it feels accidental.
When the story finally seems to find its footing, it doesn’t so much settle as it does stumble into an abrupt tone shift. The swerve into apocalyptic absurdity—doesn’t just strain credulity; it snaps it in half, abandoning any pretense of coherence for a finale that reeks of recycled tropes. Is this a commentary on environmental collapse? A screed against consumerism? Or just Palahniuk suturing together half-formed ideas from his past into a Frankensteinian “satirical blob”?
If this book is a statement, it’s one best met with a shrug—or a gag reflex (and not for the depravity depicted).
The narrative aspires to echo the dark, twisted tone of works like Wasp Factory, yet it overshoots every target by embracing a shock-jock aesthetic that borders on caricature. The book leans into baseless sexual obsessions and an undercurrent of forced homoeroticism—a tired callback that feels less like genuine subversion and more like a desperate grab at edginess. Palahniuk’s trademark ability to make you feel for broken souls is still present, but it’s buried so deep in the muck that it feels accidental.
When the story finally seems to find its footing, it doesn’t so much settle as it does stumble into an abrupt tone shift. The swerve into apocalyptic absurdity—doesn’t just strain credulity; it snaps it in half, abandoning any pretense of coherence for a finale that reeks of recycled tropes. Is this a commentary on environmental collapse? A screed against consumerism? Or just Palahniuk suturing together half-formed ideas from his past into a Frankensteinian “satirical blob”?
If this book is a statement, it’s one best met with a shrug—or a gag reflex (and not for the depravity depicted).
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes