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A review by frasersimons
Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
By far and away the best work I’ve read from Chuck, so far. There are some staples of his I typically am not impressed with: a fantastical element that tends to feel like it facilitates deus ex machina moments, a penchant for shock factors (particularly when it comes to gore and sex), and interesting themes that take a back seat to the shocking and large twist.
This, though, actually complete worked for me, despite it having all of those features. In a near(ish) future, we hear from day timers and night timers and other weird self ascribed, seemingly, titles—the life of Rant is described. His intersections of a life hit on so many organic and important themes for today. Post-Covid, their post-outbreak world makes more sense, as does the radicalization and distillation of children birthed post catastrophe. The rural poor and home life, as well as his bypassing of social norms. All of it is interesting and convincing.
But where it actually goes to feels as organic as the Fight Club movie, and even more: it’s really, really fun. The world building is wild and drives the plot beats. The timeline is so complex, important plot beats tend to be reiterated, which is slightly annoying, but also a necessity. It’s my only quibble. It’s hard to talk about more of it without it being massively spoiled, and not knowing anything really fuelled my enjoyment of this.
This, though, actually complete worked for me, despite it having all of those features. In a near(ish) future, we hear from day timers and night timers and other weird self ascribed, seemingly, titles—the life of Rant is described. His intersections of a life hit on so many organic and important themes for today. Post-Covid, their post-outbreak world makes more sense, as does the radicalization and distillation of children birthed post catastrophe. The rural poor and home life, as well as his bypassing of social norms. All of it is interesting and convincing.
But where it actually goes to feels as organic as the Fight Club movie, and even more: it’s really, really fun. The world building is wild and drives the plot beats. The timeline is so complex, important plot beats tend to be reiterated, which is slightly annoying, but also a necessity. It’s my only quibble. It’s hard to talk about more of it without it being massively spoiled, and not knowing anything really fuelled my enjoyment of this.