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slayer02348's review against another edition
3.0
Flashes of brilliance but mostly a mess down the stretch.
leviathandreamer's review
2.0
I really didn't want to start this review with ''I loved Fight Club...'' but what the hell. Even the author himself broke the first rule of Fight Club in this book several times, so I might do as well.
This book also obviously attempts to be a follow-up - or let's say, a spiritual successor to Fight Club. However, what FC managed to express in a gritty, poignant and cynical, but painfully relatable way, the Adjustment Day is just all talk and no effect, and it made me feel absolutely nothing.
The central theme shows promise, but let's be fair, it's awfully easy to take the piss out of the current situation, and Palahniuk, although trying very hard to be shocking and as offensive as possible, does really nothing new and exceptional in terms of storytelling. It's confusing and messy, violent, angry and crude, so basically everything we loved about Fight Club - but here it doesn't mean anything. Although I can agree with what emanates from the book - that everyone's at fault, we're delusional, politics sucks, essentially - the overal execution is just weak, because the author's trying too hard, when it could be a wonderful short novel instead of useless 300+ pages of rambling about the same shit all over again.
What was also a big turn off for me was the fact that although there was a numerous cast of characters, none of them offered a new, interesting or at least somehow different perspective from the others. What's the point of having numerous POV's then? In the end, it's just one view - the author's. Which I wouldn't mind per se, but even if we attempt to perceive the book solely as a satirical commentary (which works, but then again, it's a very easy target and I'd expect more from Palahniuk), the execution just falls flat.
Adjustment Day annoyed me, but I didn't hate it that much. There were quite a few scenes I enjoyed (I mean, I didn't particularly like reading about what put the ''rapist'' in ''therapist'', but you catch my drift) and the plot was somehow entertaining enough to keep me reading. And although I have yet to dive into some of P. earlier works, I certainly hope he won't continue the ''rambling of an old man'' trend he started in this one.
This book also obviously attempts to be a follow-up - or let's say, a spiritual successor to Fight Club. However, what FC managed to express in a gritty, poignant and cynical, but painfully relatable way, the Adjustment Day is just all talk and no effect, and it made me feel absolutely nothing.
The central theme shows promise, but let's be fair, it's awfully easy to take the piss out of the current situation, and Palahniuk, although trying very hard to be shocking and as offensive as possible, does really nothing new and exceptional in terms of storytelling. It's confusing and messy, violent, angry and crude, so basically everything we loved about Fight Club - but here it doesn't mean anything. Although I can agree with what emanates from the book - that everyone's at fault, we're delusional, politics sucks, essentially - the overal execution is just weak, because the author's trying too hard, when it could be a wonderful short novel instead of useless 300+ pages of rambling about the same shit all over again.
What was also a big turn off for me was the fact that although there was a numerous cast of characters, none of them offered a new, interesting or at least somehow different perspective from the others. What's the point of having numerous POV's then? In the end, it's just one view - the author's. Which I wouldn't mind per se, but even if we attempt to perceive the book solely as a satirical commentary (which works, but then again, it's a very easy target and I'd expect more from Palahniuk), the execution just falls flat.
Adjustment Day annoyed me, but I didn't hate it that much. There were quite a few scenes I enjoyed (I mean, I didn't particularly like reading about what put the ''rapist'' in ''therapist'', but you catch my drift) and the plot was somehow entertaining enough to keep me reading. And although I have yet to dive into some of P. earlier works, I certainly hope he won't continue the ''rambling of an old man'' trend he started in this one.
cleanburninghell's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lydiahess's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
magicianactor's review
4.0
Unless I missed something, Palahniuk doesn’t explain what happens to the non-white/non-black/non-gay until about 250 pages in. For some reason that was ALL I could think about until it was explained. I’m glad it did eventually come out but I would have enjoyed the book more had we known sooner. Still, I LOVE THE FIGHT CLUB REFERENCES and this is a joy to read. Scary, like others have mentioned, how relevant the subject matter is today.
david_agranoff's review
2.0
I kinda accidentally read this. I am a mild CP fan, having read all his novels early on, and having met him and having a really cool conversation with him at the 2005 Stoker awards I always root for the guy. That said it had been a few years I was waiting for hold book to come in at the library and just saw this sitting on the new release shelf. What the hell. I had heard nothing about it, knew nothing going and dove in.
CP is most well known for his classic of social satire from 1996 Fight Club, or at least the movie that came a mere three years later. If he was never to write another book these would be two perfect bookends. Fight Club deconstructs a period of Gen-X assimilation and shows men desperately trying to express their inner bottled rage. 2018 when this book is released is a very different world. The internet and social media platform gives assholes a shield to hide behind as they express resentment and hatred that has building up as the world kills off old regressive thinking. The Alt-right can create a screen name and use it as an avatar to express racist ideas that in the past were being smothered out in shadows. Far right extremism expressed in things ranging from birther-ism to outrage over female Ghostbusters is the world this novel is reacting to.
Adjustment Day is about a one day revolution when all the hopes and dreams of the Alt-Right come true. Short of the disappearance of people they disagree with the country is re-organized into smaller sections of areas designed around race, culture, sexual orientation and so on. The novel has some funny moments of world building inside the new nations of Blacktopia, Gaysia, and Caucasia. This is where the satire gets biting and intense. CP has never ever worried about offending people in fact I think it is a game to him. There is lots of humor that comes from the various stereotypes that come from this cultures that the novel plays with. Some of the things that made me uncomfortable was the jive-talk in Blacktopia and forced breeding program in Gaysia.
Much is made of the gender of these revolutionaries early in the novel, the idea is that these massive changes happen when society has a too many idle young men. Capitalism and the system are planning to start a war in the middle east to decrease this population but too late. These men seeking a new world have a list they put up on line the "Least Wanted" for they want to see killed. I think this part is an interesting reaction to the internet mobs that we often see start out of online debate.
You might have noticed something. I made it this far into the review and have yet to mention a single character. Here in lies the problem with this book. There are many ideas at work, good ones. There are many statements being made, good ones. There are plenty of interesting questions and situations at play here that do a good job of highlighting the bad ideas being many of the extreme right. All that is true. But is there a story? Not much of one to be honest.
Without a story to hook me, I didn't really find myself wanting to rush to this book. There is one interesting character, a woman named Shasta and an alt-right guy who obsessed with her, but after CP introduces her in the 50 pages she is forgotten. This novel is a soapbox without a strong enough narrative, and for that reason I was pretty bored by the end.
CP is most well known for his classic of social satire from 1996 Fight Club, or at least the movie that came a mere three years later. If he was never to write another book these would be two perfect bookends. Fight Club deconstructs a period of Gen-X assimilation and shows men desperately trying to express their inner bottled rage. 2018 when this book is released is a very different world. The internet and social media platform gives assholes a shield to hide behind as they express resentment and hatred that has building up as the world kills off old regressive thinking. The Alt-right can create a screen name and use it as an avatar to express racist ideas that in the past were being smothered out in shadows. Far right extremism expressed in things ranging from birther-ism to outrage over female Ghostbusters is the world this novel is reacting to.
Adjustment Day is about a one day revolution when all the hopes and dreams of the Alt-Right come true. Short of the disappearance of people they disagree with the country is re-organized into smaller sections of areas designed around race, culture, sexual orientation and so on. The novel has some funny moments of world building inside the new nations of Blacktopia, Gaysia, and Caucasia. This is where the satire gets biting and intense. CP has never ever worried about offending people in fact I think it is a game to him. There is lots of humor that comes from the various stereotypes that come from this cultures that the novel plays with. Some of the things that made me uncomfortable was the jive-talk in Blacktopia and forced breeding program in Gaysia.
Much is made of the gender of these revolutionaries early in the novel, the idea is that these massive changes happen when society has a too many idle young men. Capitalism and the system are planning to start a war in the middle east to decrease this population but too late. These men seeking a new world have a list they put up on line the "Least Wanted" for they want to see killed. I think this part is an interesting reaction to the internet mobs that we often see start out of online debate.
You might have noticed something. I made it this far into the review and have yet to mention a single character. Here in lies the problem with this book. There are many ideas at work, good ones. There are many statements being made, good ones. There are plenty of interesting questions and situations at play here that do a good job of highlighting the bad ideas being many of the extreme right. All that is true. But is there a story? Not much of one to be honest.
Without a story to hook me, I didn't really find myself wanting to rush to this book. There is one interesting character, a woman named Shasta and an alt-right guy who obsessed with her, but after CP introduces her in the 50 pages she is forgotten. This novel is a soapbox without a strong enough narrative, and for that reason I was pretty bored by the end.
gummifrog's review
3.0
This book just... felt so much like somebody *trying* to be clever. It was often grotesque, gross to the point of me having nausea, which I suppose is a testament to the high quality of writing. Which, I mean - Chuck Palahniuk is a very well established author, and his writing is amazing! But the plot of the book wasn't to my liking, the disjointed format wasn't effective and only served to confuse, and some of the book dragged so much into philosophical slog. Is it a satire? Sure, but only in the most derivative form of the word, in a way that really felt... more sincere than a satire should feel. However, I thought the ending was great, and another testament to Palahniuk's writing skill - it was a great way to wrap up a world that felt so lurching and uneven.
booksandcatsgalore's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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
3.0
dillarhonda's review against another edition
What if a group of young, underemployed men banded together to overthrow the United States government and manifest a society based on an obscure book? What if they separated white Americans from black Americans, sent those of other ethnicities back to their “homelands,” and reserved California for LGBT folx? This, essentially, is the plot of Chuck Palahniuk’s latest novel, Adjustment Day. In a fragmentary fashion, Palahniuk explores the potential for violence in the American male and takes his imaginings to uncomfortable extremes. With thousands of men assassinated by an army of lone wolves, the social value of men increases and, says Palahniuk, women “toe the line for anything wearing pants.” Unsurprisingly, the few female characters are consigned to be raped repeatedly by societies new chieftains. I would call the world of Adjustment Day uneasily familiar; a grim satire and clarion call for social massive social change.