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Chuck Palahniuk

It has been a treat to read this thread from the very beginning. Like a lot of others, I have seen, and loved, Fight Club. I haven't read the book yet and for the past several months, one of my co-workers has been really encouraging me to check out any of Palahniuk's works. I have had most of them on my "wish list" and today, I pulled the trigger today and purchased Invisible Monster. The amazon synopsis has me very intrigued about a fallen beauty queen who exacts revenge in an interesting way on her fiance.:D
 
Haunted, Chuck Palahniuk

Bunch of people, aspiring writers, answer an ad: spend three months locked away together, no contact at all with the outside world, completely top secret, just write. Of course, Palahniuk seems to think, no "normal" people would agree to such an idea, and as it turns out all of them have something to hide. And as they introduce themselves, one by one, and tell their stories, everything inside the house starts to go wrong...

Haunted is a satire on modern society (of course); the culture of victimization, the glorification of suffering, every bad thing human beings can do to each other and themselves for a place in the spotlight, a confirmation that they exist and that they matter. The need to create a villain to blame for everything we do ourselves. The house is equal parts Frankenstein, Masque of the Red Death and Big Brother, and soon turns into one of the grisliest stories this side of... well, I kept coming back to Bret Easton Ellis and Ryu Murakami. Both of whom, I'd have to say, do a better job, even if Palahniuk does his best to outsplatter anyone out there.

It's not that the stories themselves are lacking, but the framework gets boring. Our anti-heroes are a bunch of pathetic idiots, more than willing to mutilte themselves and be able to say "Hey, look, I'm the victim here!" when the TV cameras come. I couldn't care less about them as individuals, and while the gore is interesting, it also gets incredibly repetitive; we GET it, Chuck, they're all symbols of today's mentality, yada yada yada. Just not very convincing symbols. And there's always the danger of the double-edged irony; to make fun of our thirst for scandal, blood, pain and suffering, Palahniuk has to play to those exact desires. It's a bit like (though better than) Hostel in that way; any attempt to make gore fans choke on their precious gore is bound to fail more often than it succeeds.

No, the saving grace is mostly in the short stories they tell each other. Some of which are truly great - visceral, emotional, funny as hell - and are the reason I will investigate Palahniuk further. Haunted is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are pretty damn choice.

3/5.
 
Just purchased Choke off of amazon. I'm definitely looking forward to it, too much non-fiction leaves you craving Palahniuk material.:D
 
beer good said:
Haunted, Chuck Palahniuk

Bunch of people, aspiring writers, answer an ad: spend three months locked away together, no contact at all with the outside world, completely top secret, just write. Of course, Palahniuk seems to think, no "normal" people would agree to such an idea, and as it turns out all of them have something to hide. And as they introduce themselves, one by one, and tell their stories, everything inside the house starts to go wrong...

Haunted is a satire on modern society (of course); the culture of victimization, the glorification of suffering, every bad thing human beings can do to each other and themselves for a place in the spotlight, a confirmation that they exist and that they matter. The need to create a villain to blame for everything we do ourselves. The house is equal parts Frankenstein, Masque of the Red Death and Big Brother, and soon turns into one of the grisliest stories this side of... well, I kept coming back to Bret Easton Ellis and Ryu Murakami. Both of whom, I'd have to say, do a better job, even if Palahniuk does his best to outsplatter anyone out there.

It's not that the stories themselves are lacking, but the framework gets boring. Our anti-heroes are a bunch of pathetic idiots, more than willing to mutilte themselves and be able to say "Hey, look, I'm the victim here!" when the TV cameras come. I couldn't care less about them as individuals, and while the gore is interesting, it also gets incredibly repetitive; we GET it, Chuck, they're all symbols of today's mentality, yada yada yada. Just not very convincing symbols. And there's always the danger of the double-edged irony; to make fun of our thirst for scandal, blood, pain and suffering, Palahniuk has to play to those exact desires. It's a bit like (though better than) Hostel in that way; any attempt to make gore fans choke on their precious gore is bound to fail more often than it succeeds.

No, the saving grace is mostly in the short stories they tell each other. Some of which are truly great - visceral, emotional, funny as hell - and are the reason I will investigate Palahniuk further. Haunted is less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are pretty damn choice.

3/5.
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Completely agree. Haunted was not Chuck Palahniuk's best. The poems I did not like at all, but I did find the stories very entertaining (some being a little too much for my taste). The only reason I'd read it again would be because of the short stories.

However, any other Chuck Palahniuk book I found to be very good. Fight Club was amazing, Invisible Monsters was the same, Diary, etc. The only other CP book that I didn't enjoy very much was Lullaby, which was too strange for me (even if it's Palahniuk).

Has anyone read Rant yet?
 
I read some of Rant. I wanted to finish it, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. If you must read this book, then look for it at the library.
 
Coul Palahniuk write a book better than Fight Club. Did any of you found any of his other books better than Fight Club, the book, not the movie of course.

I would love to read his books, but I can't find his books here...guess he's not famous here :(
 
I'm about 3/4's the way thru Rant, and so far it's ok, but not great. I don't think he's written anything great since Choke.
 
OK. Palahniuk is my favorite writer after Kurt Vonnegut. I think his books are very perfect. My favourite is 'Lullaby' and 'Invisible Monsters' is perfect book too. I think 'Fight Club' isn't the best his work. And really want to read his new book, but i think i'll wait for a year in this country...
 
Invisible Monsters was a great read. I really enjoyed the ending, it was very chaotic and contained every emotion out there-humor, sadness, anger, etc. Palahniuk was a musical director bringing in every section of sound and character to the very end.

I'm currently reading Choke and have to say that I am also enjoying it. I've been busier than I ever have, so I'm only half-way through it at this point. I do enjoy his description of the place that the lead character's mother stays in, as well as a description of her nihilist philosophy and just how warped she made him. I'm to a weird part in the book right now, something about regenerating the mother's brain cells so she can live longer and not die, I'll see where it goes from there. . .
 
SFG75, i like his description of all these facts. and his plots which are really chaotic, as you said, but at the end all things start to make sense, and it is really incredible.
 
Choke on peanuts

I loved Choke and Survivor. The monkey scene in Choke was so weird and explicit that I can't help wondering how the publisher didn't cut that out.
 
I just finished fight club and I really didnt like it. I was bored a lot of the time, guessed the twist like 10 pages before it was revealed, and just generally was not impressed. I think he had some incredible lines, but overall, it didnt do anything for me.

I want to see the movie though. I think maybe I might appreciate the movie more than the book.

Lani
 
wilderness said:
I just finished fight club and I really didnt like it. I was bored a lot of the time, guessed the twist like 10 pages before it was revealed, and just generally was not impressed. I think he had some incredible lines, but overall, it didnt do anything for me.

I want to see the movie though. I think maybe I might appreciate the movie more than the book.

Lani
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I have to agree that Fight Club is a bit boring. The movie is much better, although its cult status has diminished after the release of Fight Club video game.

Try reading Survivor.
 
I love Chuck Palahniuk's novels. I have read all of them, including the newest one "Rant" I loved it. My favorites are "Choke" and "Invisible Monsters." I was so excited when I saw this thread. I literally screamed. On the last forum I was on, no one had read his books. I could talk about his books forever if no one would stop me.
 
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club.

Wow, this was a quick read. Partly because I already know the plot by heart (and the movie kept pretty close to the book), but also because it's one of those books that just sucks you in. Heaps of black fun. Kind of hard to say something new about it after all these years, but let's just say I love the movie to death and yet I'm not convinced that it did the book complete justice. (For instance, you know how hard it is to shake the faces of the actors when you read a book after seeing the movie? No such problem here; for some reason, I kept imagining Robert Downey Jr instead of Edward Norton. And I *love* Edward Norton.) Anyway, even though I did get the (perhaps unfair) feel that the book hints at the twist in the story a lot sooner and a lot more obviously than the movie did, it's still like a punch to the pit of your brain, I loathved it to bits, and I'm glad I didn't give up on Palahniuk after Haunted. 5/5.
 
I love Chuck! But lately his books aren't doing it for me. :confused: I think I just need a break from the scum-of-the-earth character factor ...

Haunted was the hardest for me to stick with, but Sir Gut Free's story made it worth it. I've never felt so physically ill from a single paragraph!

Next, I think, will be Survivor... in a month or so. And isn't he finally working on a book on writing?
 
I've recently read Lullaby by Palahniuk. Can't say that I was terribly impressed. The story as a whole was fairly boring, with most of the plot turns easily discernible. The early sub-story of selling haunted houses was far more interesting than the rest of the novel.

I think I have Fight Club floating around here somewhere, but honestly it's not in my read pile.
 
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