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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.
yojimbo96's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Fine
leftgrrl's review against another edition
3.0
Premise seemed great but it was repeated over and over, same old gross out Chuck P stuff, some decent humor. I highlighted a few thoughts, but was it worth the time...?
It started dragging though, from midway to the end it was just tedious. I was hate reading it by the end, no real twists and I’m not sure if I understood the very end.
Did I outgrow Chuck P
or does he just suck now
or both?
It started dragging though, from midway to the end it was just tedious. I was hate reading it by the end, no real twists and I’m not sure if I understood the very end.
Did I outgrow Chuck P
or does he just suck now
or both?
cathi_p's review
1.0
This is supposed to be satire? It seems like the narcissistic ramblings of an angry white man. I've never read any of Palahniuk's other work and probably won't. I finished the book hoping there would be some epiphany of higher understanding. That never happened. I do see the connections to current events but I'm not sure what the author was trying to accomplish other than getting thoughts out of his head.
antkneeomonster's review
3.0
3.5 maybe?
At about 50% of the way through this book I remember thinking, "I'm so confused about all the negative reviews on Goodreads, this is great!"
About 10% later I was all, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOH I see."
Such a great premise, full of Chuck's trademark bent humour, it doesn't quite know what to do with itself in the second half and becomes a fitfully amusing slog. An interesting experiment but not one that is particularly successful.
Still, holy shit, that first half feels downright prophetic in 2020!
At about 50% of the way through this book I remember thinking, "I'm so confused about all the negative reviews on Goodreads, this is great!"
About 10% later I was all, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOH I see."
Such a great premise, full of Chuck's trademark bent humour, it doesn't quite know what to do with itself in the second half and becomes a fitfully amusing slog. An interesting experiment but not one that is particularly successful.
Still, holy shit, that first half feels downright prophetic in 2020!