A review by kingcrookback
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
So, ultimately, I do prefer Fincher's adaptation to the book--though whether or not that's because I watched the movie before I read the book bears some more consideration. For some reason, though, I was surprised how good of a creative choice it was, to translate the narrator's distinctive (might we say, "iconic"?) voice into voiceover. First-person POV does not voiceover necessitate, generally. The themes of toxic masculinity and the futility of grasping for meaning in this era of capitalism also carried over well, though I felt that they're much more present in the novel.

And speaking of themes that are much more present in the novel, the gay undertones. To be fair, they're not entirely absent from the film, but the blowjob imagery in the opening chapter is blunt enough that it'd take either willful ignorance or the possession of some aggressively heterosexual blinkers to miss it. As for the rest of the book, well--a unspoken, unacknowledged club of people whose membership is secret but whom you recognize and understand on a certain level? Sounds familiar.

I don't recommend skipping the afterword.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings