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A review by tcgarback
Not Forever But For Now by Chuck Palahniuk
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Critical Score: B
Personal Score: B
I got a signed copy of this one at his book tour’s LA event (what an outrageous evening that was), but I didn’t have the interest at the time to start reading it. Despite all the atrocious Goodreads reviews that have accrued in the time since, I got interested—due in no small part to reading two other Chucks beforehand.
I can see why many people hate this book, but I don’t. It’s a bit of a departure for Chuck in its sexual violence. For the first time, he’s infused some Dennis Cooper vibes into his characters, but with no stylistic similarity whatsoever. The narration is pretty annoying, but meaningfully so. Or maybe just artfully so.
What’s more of interest to me is the vague and beguiling exploration of queerness in this novel…not sure what Chuck was getting at, or if it was just satire (trolling) for the sake of satire (trolling). That’s the weakest part of this project. By the end, its themes are all over the place, which isn’t atypical for Chuck, but I never had a sense of what he was getting at with all that alternate history stuff with Stonewall and Judy Garland, and that frustrated me because Chuck so rarely explores queerness.
The sentimental ending was another head-scratcher. It felt undercooked, undeserved, ingenuine, and impulsive.
I loved the setting. I loved the particularly disturbing content in the first half, while the second sorta fell off into repetitious tedium.
The last act is rushed and silly, but at least it’s got some plot in it.
And I don’t love the title.
That about sums it up. I loved this at first and slowly fell out of love with it, but never hated it, unlike a ton of unhappy Chuck fans out there…I’d love to know what Chuck feels about the reactions.
Critical Score: B
Personal Score: B
I got a signed copy of this one at his book tour’s LA event (what an outrageous evening that was), but I didn’t have the interest at the time to start reading it. Despite all the atrocious Goodreads reviews that have accrued in the time since, I got interested—due in no small part to reading two other Chucks beforehand.
I can see why many people hate this book, but I don’t. It’s a bit of a departure for Chuck in its sexual violence. For the first time, he’s infused some Dennis Cooper vibes into his characters, but with no stylistic similarity whatsoever. The narration is pretty annoying, but meaningfully so. Or maybe just artfully so.
What’s more of interest to me is the vague and beguiling exploration of queerness in this novel…not sure what Chuck was getting at, or if it was just satire (trolling) for the sake of satire (trolling). That’s the weakest part of this project. By the end, its themes are all over the place, which isn’t atypical for Chuck, but I never had a sense of what he was getting at with all that alternate history stuff with Stonewall and Judy Garland, and that frustrated me because Chuck so rarely explores queerness.
The sentimental ending was another head-scratcher. It felt undercooked, undeserved, ingenuine, and impulsive.
I loved the setting. I loved the particularly disturbing content in the first half, while the second sorta fell off into repetitious tedium.
The last act is rushed and silly, but at least it’s got some plot in it.
And I don’t love the title.
That about sums it up. I loved this at first and slowly fell out of love with it, but never hated it, unlike a ton of unhappy Chuck fans out there…I’d love to know what Chuck feels about the reactions.