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fatcatprincess 's review for:
Haunted
by Chuck Palahniuk
Let me preface this review by stating that I am the type of reader that will try to get in as much reading time as possible. This means closing the door to my office at lunch and reading, on the bus, subway, commuter train, before bed (staying up too late to read) and just about anywhere else I can read. Now I have read a few books where this doesn’t happen but I will still finish them.
This book, I couldn’t even finish reading it. Let me backtrack a moment… This book is written by Chuck Palahniuk which I guess wrote Fight Club which apparently I am the only person who didn’t know there was a book that spawned the popular movie (even my mom knew that). I don’t even recall how this book came across my radar but somehow it did and fortunately I checked it out from the library and didn’t pay anything for it.
Enough rambling! So the story opens with oddly named characters (Saint Gut Free, Missing Link, Mother Nature, etc…) being picked up to go to a writers retreat hosted by Mr. Whittier. Within this story is roughly 20 short stories that tells the background of each character. For example, Lady Baglady was a rich socialite who ran into an old friend who was ‘slumming’. The friend convinced her that slumming was the new rich thing to do. So Lady Baglady and her husband sleep on park benches, have sex outside and don’t shower. There is more to her story but I don’t want to spoil it for those who want to read this book. After each short-story, the book shifts back to the main plotline of these individuals at their writers retreat.
I think I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t take it anymore. There was a shock value in reading this but I am okay with that, I can handle it. However, I found everything to be pointless and boring. I wasn’t even excited to read it; it felt more like a chore.
If the short stories had been published on their own, I may have been more apt to continue reading the book but the premise of writers retreat was lame and not going anywhere in my opinion. I might go back and just finish reading the short stories but probably not any time soon as there are a ton of other books out there that I would rather spend my time with. In reading other people’s reviews on Barnes and Noble’s website, it appears to be a mixed vibe with most people either loving or hating it.
This book, I couldn’t even finish reading it. Let me backtrack a moment… This book is written by Chuck Palahniuk which I guess wrote Fight Club which apparently I am the only person who didn’t know there was a book that spawned the popular movie (even my mom knew that). I don’t even recall how this book came across my radar but somehow it did and fortunately I checked it out from the library and didn’t pay anything for it.
Enough rambling! So the story opens with oddly named characters (Saint Gut Free, Missing Link, Mother Nature, etc…) being picked up to go to a writers retreat hosted by Mr. Whittier. Within this story is roughly 20 short stories that tells the background of each character. For example, Lady Baglady was a rich socialite who ran into an old friend who was ‘slumming’. The friend convinced her that slumming was the new rich thing to do. So Lady Baglady and her husband sleep on park benches, have sex outside and don’t shower. There is more to her story but I don’t want to spoil it for those who want to read this book. After each short-story, the book shifts back to the main plotline of these individuals at their writers retreat.
I think I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t take it anymore. There was a shock value in reading this but I am okay with that, I can handle it. However, I found everything to be pointless and boring. I wasn’t even excited to read it; it felt more like a chore.
If the short stories had been published on their own, I may have been more apt to continue reading the book but the premise of writers retreat was lame and not going anywhere in my opinion. I might go back and just finish reading the short stories but probably not any time soon as there are a ton of other books out there that I would rather spend my time with. In reading other people’s reviews on Barnes and Noble’s website, it appears to be a mixed vibe with most people either loving or hating it.