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ponch22's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Well, here's my first non-whole-number star rating! It feels even more nonsensical than Fight Club 2 (I seriously have little to no idea what happens in this book) but the artwork is pretty amazing.
Palahniuk writes more about our Narrator—now going by Balzathar—and Marla—now pregnant with her second child, but not Bal's—and Tyler—surprise he's the father! There's some interesting backstory into Marla's childhood and the loss of her parents but there's also a magical picture frame that leads to paradise (where Napoleon and Hitler are? ) and a deadly sexually-transmitted virus the remnants of Project Mayhem are trying to pass along to everyone . And the ending hints that there may be a Fight Club 4 in the future (but I'm pretty sure I'm not ever going to read it)
I remember being a fan of Palahniuk in my 20s—I own a lot of his novels and read most of them before Storygraph or Goodreads... Maybe I've grown as a person (or maybe Chuck's stagnated as a writer) but I am Jack's raging sense of wondering why I didn't just #DumpThatBook!
Palahniuk writes more about our Narrator—now going by Balzathar—and Marla—now pregnant with her second child, but not Bal's—and Tyler—surprise he's the father! There's some interesting backstory into Marla's childhood and the loss of her parents but there's also a magical picture frame that leads to paradise (
I remember being a fan of Palahniuk in my 20s—I own a lot of his novels and read most of them before Storygraph or Goodreads... Maybe I've grown as a person (or maybe Chuck's stagnated as a writer) but I am Jack's raging sense of wondering why I didn't just #DumpThatBook!
alienn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
montigneyrules's review against another edition
2.0
#readingchallenge2022 (another book indie read)
I am jack’s missing story-
I am under the belief where Tyler thrives is a clusterfuck of whatever nonsense he wants to prepare the world for- however this novel tried too hard to be relevant to the modern times and therefore sadly because a mindless trope of chaos. Too renegade for its own good, relying on the ‘I’ll read anything you do’ fan base, sure we read it but we didn’t’ get the story we deserved-too meta, too disgusting, too ‘shock and awe I did it’ than story-
but fantastic art work.
I am jack’s missing story-
I am under the belief where Tyler thrives is a clusterfuck of whatever nonsense he wants to prepare the world for- however this novel tried too hard to be relevant to the modern times and therefore sadly because a mindless trope of chaos. Too renegade for its own good, relying on the ‘I’ll read anything you do’ fan base, sure we read it but we didn’t’ get the story we deserved-too meta, too disgusting, too ‘shock and awe I did it’ than story-
but fantastic art work.
thematinee's review against another edition
4.0
As the old song goes: “Still crazy after all these years...”
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
5.0
I will always give Chuck a 5 because I consider him a mentor and friend. He almost certainly does not consider me a friend, and that's cool.
I went to a workshop with him for 3 months. Every week I flew from Denver to Portland to meet up with some really great people and work with Chuck and Lidia Yuknavitch.
I was thinking I'd go see him when he came to Denver this last April, but signings are weird. I never know what to say. And I've made an idiot out of myself more than once. And I was wondering if Chuck would remember who I was. Should I bring up that we were in the workshop together? Would that just be embarrassing? Would he not remember me and then feel bad for not remembering, which would make me feel bad because that's who I am? What did I wear to the workshops? Could I dress the same and maybe that'd cue him?
Then COVID happened, and the visit didn't, and I was spared the decision.
After working 12 weeks with him, I can say that he's a nice guy, and he knows a lot about writing fiction. Don't make the mistake so many others have of thinking that Chuck is Tyler Durden, because he's not. We paid...it was a small amount for the workshop, split between Chuck and Lidia. I don't know what Lidia did with her half, I think it went to charity, but I know Chuck sent his half to the Pixie Project, and animal rescue in Portland, which is also referenced a few times in Fight Club 3.
Fight Club 3 was pretty confusing for me. But I read it fast. And I think, like Fight Club 2, it's pretty heavy allegory that blends the fictions of Fight Club with Chuck's real life. It's interesting. It works. It warrants another more careful reading on my part.
I really think Chuck's works will make for interesting study someday. He leaves a lot of unresolved questions in readers' minds, and he talks a lot about reality as it is to him, not as he'd like it to be.
I was just reading something about The Matrix being allegory for the Wachowskis' transitions (from male to female? I'm not sure if that's how you say that correctly. I mean no offense). One of the Wachowski's confirmed this, which I think may ultimately hurt the movie's popularity in the long run. Not because people "don't want" a movie about that, but because left open, it can really be about anything. It could be about any eye-opening change that, once seen, can't be unseen. It can mean different things to different people, and it can also mean different things to the same people at different points in their lives. I think an ongoing critical debate would've kept that movie alive, given it new life with a completely new audience, and I think that there would've been a pretty good amount of debate of what the Matrix "really" means initiated by lots of different groups. But I think saying it's definitively about one thing or another means there's not much point debating it anymore. We can debate its effectiveness as an allegory for living as a trans person, but there's really no more debate about what it "really" means. Its intent is no longer debateable. Only its impact.
Chuck's works are different. They work on a simple, story level, but his place in the cyclical world of books and stories is mostly unexplained. His motivations for writing most of his books are stated here and there, but you'll notice he mostly talks about the germ of the idea and its development, not a "lesson" he was trying to share.
Anyway, this book is his most abstract, and I'll admit I had a harder time following it than I did any of his others. But I blame myself. For now. It needs a deeper dive. And I wonder if this is part of his legacy. Does writing some things that are a little more obtuse, alongside those things that are more direct, keep things interesting and relevant?
I went to a workshop with him for 3 months. Every week I flew from Denver to Portland to meet up with some really great people and work with Chuck and Lidia Yuknavitch.
I was thinking I'd go see him when he came to Denver this last April, but signings are weird. I never know what to say. And I've made an idiot out of myself more than once. And I was wondering if Chuck would remember who I was. Should I bring up that we were in the workshop together? Would that just be embarrassing? Would he not remember me and then feel bad for not remembering, which would make me feel bad because that's who I am? What did I wear to the workshops? Could I dress the same and maybe that'd cue him?
Then COVID happened, and the visit didn't, and I was spared the decision.
After working 12 weeks with him, I can say that he's a nice guy, and he knows a lot about writing fiction. Don't make the mistake so many others have of thinking that Chuck is Tyler Durden, because he's not. We paid...it was a small amount for the workshop, split between Chuck and Lidia. I don't know what Lidia did with her half, I think it went to charity, but I know Chuck sent his half to the Pixie Project, and animal rescue in Portland, which is also referenced a few times in Fight Club 3.
Fight Club 3 was pretty confusing for me. But I read it fast. And I think, like Fight Club 2, it's pretty heavy allegory that blends the fictions of Fight Club with Chuck's real life. It's interesting. It works. It warrants another more careful reading on my part.
I really think Chuck's works will make for interesting study someday. He leaves a lot of unresolved questions in readers' minds, and he talks a lot about reality as it is to him, not as he'd like it to be.
I was just reading something about The Matrix being allegory for the Wachowskis' transitions (from male to female? I'm not sure if that's how you say that correctly. I mean no offense). One of the Wachowski's confirmed this, which I think may ultimately hurt the movie's popularity in the long run. Not because people "don't want" a movie about that, but because left open, it can really be about anything. It could be about any eye-opening change that, once seen, can't be unseen. It can mean different things to different people, and it can also mean different things to the same people at different points in their lives. I think an ongoing critical debate would've kept that movie alive, given it new life with a completely new audience, and I think that there would've been a pretty good amount of debate of what the Matrix "really" means initiated by lots of different groups. But I think saying it's definitively about one thing or another means there's not much point debating it anymore. We can debate its effectiveness as an allegory for living as a trans person, but there's really no more debate about what it "really" means. Its intent is no longer debateable. Only its impact.
Chuck's works are different. They work on a simple, story level, but his place in the cyclical world of books and stories is mostly unexplained. His motivations for writing most of his books are stated here and there, but you'll notice he mostly talks about the germ of the idea and its development, not a "lesson" he was trying to share.
Anyway, this book is his most abstract, and I'll admit I had a harder time following it than I did any of his others. But I blame myself. For now. It needs a deeper dive. And I wonder if this is part of his legacy. Does writing some things that are a little more obtuse, alongside those things that are more direct, keep things interesting and relevant?
traviscanread's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
lipsandpalms's review
3.0
It was interesting but it felt more like fight club fan-fiction than an actual story. For once, other characters get to be the star of the show. We learn some backstory for Marla and learn about the real life adventures of Cloe. One thing I don't understand is why Chuck retconned Marla's mother's involvement in Fight Club. In the original book, she would send extra fat to Marla that Tyler was turning into soap. In this book it's explained that she's mauled by a bear during Marla's childhood. Did Chuck forget this little detail?
Fun read but I can't say it was as thought provoking as the original or even Fight Club 2
Fun read but I can't say it was as thought provoking as the original or even Fight Club 2
ktjawrites's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love Fight Club 2+3 as much as Palahniuk’s other work, but I just couldn’t. Go re-read Fight Club or any of his other books instead, and you’ll be better off.
effys's review
2.0
This went down a really weird route and honestly I really have hardly any idea what the hell I just read. Like it made some amount of sense but I feel like it dives in halfway through a plot with no beginning and a dissatisfying end.
rebelstorm's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Either I don't understand this comic book or this is just... not good.