Zack RagozzinoPer. A3 Mrs. Huss
Fight Club follows the point of view of an unnamed narrator who suffers from severe insomnia. He dreams of breaking away from his repetitive life and his wish is soon granted when Tyler Durden comes into the story. An explosion destroys all of the narrator's personal possessions and he must live in the care of his new friend Tyler. With the help of Durden, he learns not to rely on his possessions or follow society. With the creation of a Fight Club they manage to create a rebellion to fight back against the rules of authority. While this rebellious attitude starts out as minor, it soon grows to huge proportions to a point where it starts to get out of hand.
I loved this book mainly for three reasons. Firstly, the writing style is very specific and the reader is sure to learn a thing or two about soap making or the creation of napalm. Secondly, the characters are really well written to a point where they never seem to get boring. Lastly, the novel ends with a twist that made me rethink and reread the entire novel. I would definitely give this book a rating of 10/10 because I enjoyed every part of it. The action was thrilling, and the rebellious acts were really entertaining. Plus, there is a lot of themes that characters talk about, and they are easy to interpret. If you enjoy psychological thrillers and are okay with a large amount of dark humor then I would definitely suggest this book.
Wow. That one word can sum up Chuck Palahniuk's writing style perfectly. "Fight Club" is one of those books you immediately love or immediately hate; Personally I am loving this book so far. Chuck Palahniuk has an incredibly unique writing style that is so abstract than most modern writers yet so effective it is surprising other authors don't try to mimic his style. He has written "Fight Club" in such a way that you can not put the book down, yet suspense has nothing to do with this. To the contrary pure curiosity will urge you to continue and read this book until you finish it. I enjoy Chuck Palahniuk's writing style and use of dark humor though at times it can be a little overwhelming. For instance one especially dark joke in the book is that of the mockery thrust upon Chloe at the support groups. It is slightly disturbing that she is about to die and her last wish is to partake in sexual intercourse, and this is one of many dark jokes present in this novel. Despite the dark tone this novel sometimes has I greatly enjoy every one of Tyler Durden's many philosophical ideas about man and his place in society. When you guys were reading this book what was the main item that kept you reading? For me it was the incredible anxiety I felt as I wondered how the book was going to turn out. Was fight club going to blow up in the main characters faces, or go on to become the future of society?
ReplyDeleteFor me it was what each chapter will have in store for me. I liked how every chapter was completely different, some of it didn't even really add to the main story but instead fleshed out the characters more. I also enjoyed the mixed feelings I had with Tyler Durden. Sometimes I thought he was a genius, other times I felt he was just thick headed.
ReplyDeletePost Number 1: pages 1-56
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you on Chuck Palahniuk's writing style. I am sick of the pretentious mode of writing authors take on good plots as it digs the plot into the ground. Palahniuk's writing style is humorous and the farthest from pretentious i have read in a long time. His placement of information in the first quarter of the novel was very fluid, which connected nicely with the laid-back approach I am taking to this novel. The perspective is naive on some subjects and intuitive on others, which I find is what real life is like. The humor is a great spur to read more. I can safely say this is the first book I have ever wanted to read more of on my own time. The plot is at the right pace so that events are easily comprehend-able and move along quickly so that it does not become boring. It is also very possible that a bunch of people have such clubs in real life which makes the story even more believable and not far-fetched. Even though not much has been said about Tyler Durden, the word choice is so selective that I already can tell that he is the Antichrist. The characters are also believable. I could totally see a big guy with "bitch tits" hugging a small framed guy while crying. I really like this book so far.
-Tristan
I've also liked all the quirks that have been added in almost as fluff to the story. Sure, the author didn't have to tell the reader that "you can swallow a pint of blood before you're sick" but it makes the novel much more enjoyable. I don't think I could find one sentence of this book that would be better left out. It's not that everything is crucial to the plot, but everything seems to be important in some way.
ReplyDeletePost Number 2: Midpoint:
ReplyDeleteThe book has still not let me down. It is still extremely interesting. Each page seems like Palahniuk put the same amount of effort into. He also put a lot of effort into the pages. I like the feeling of reading a page because it is interesting instead of reading it as almost a type of transportation device to get to a more important page. I also have learned how to make dynamite, which I guess is cool if the gold rush starts back up or something of that nature. I have to say that the crude humor is actually beginning to seem tasteful because Palalhniuk is saying that crude humor because it actually is funny instead of just saying for the sake of using crude humor. As far as characters go, I think that there are definitely people in this world who give each other chemical burns for fun and piss in people's perfume bottles, so the characters are definitely still realistic.
I agree with you on certain aspects of the novel Tristan (and Zack). For one, I believe as you previously mentioned, that Palahniuk wrote his novel in such a way that at first glance you are irritated by his excessive references to topics and concepts that seem to have no connection whatsoever to the stories plot. Though as the novel progresses Palahniuk reveals a connection between what seemed to be a trivial piece of information, and a vital link to the stories plot. An example of this would be the introduction of "Big Bob" at the beginning of the novel, though funny it was still a character that at first glance the story could do without. As you read the book you (or perhaps this was just me) wonder why Palahniuk added a character with "bitch tits" to the novel and then stopped mentioning him for the next several chapters. Though about half way through the novel Palahniuk introduces "Big Bob" back into the novel in a vital position as the narrator's only friend he knew post-fightclub, and now has interactions with through fightclub. As far as the realism the characters possess in this novel I'm a little more speculative than you Tristan, in the sense that people actually meet at night to fight and give each other chemical burns. I'm sure their are a few people who do commit such acts as forming fightclubs and pist in soup, but the chance that these kinds of people with meet each other is highly unlikely. Though it does raise the question what would happen if people like Tyler Durden banded together to wage war on society as we know it?
ReplyDeletePost #3,3/4 done: This book is still very entertaining. I am surprised that I never felt like reading this book until I was told to chose from a list, which this was included in. The writing still shows ongoing effort, no pages are bores because they are either interesting, funny, or both. This section seemed a little bit off as far as characters go. I do not really think someone could organize a cult of space-monkeys so quickly, as it would take time to make someone give up their current lives to become essentially slaves. The part that really stuck out to me most in this section was just the detail Palahniuk puts into the description of the soap-making line. It probably will not have any major ties to the theme, but it just makes the story more understandable. The point that I am getting at is that Palahniuk puts in exponentially more effort into his writing than I have seen in a long time.
ReplyDeleteTristan if only you knew; I have finished the book so I will not ruin it for you, but i will say that certain aspects of the book at first glance seem totally pointless but Palahniuk has an ultimate goal for everything he puts in the book. Though regarding the speed Tyler Durden is able to put together a group of "space-monkeys," I must say I disagree with you. Technically Tyler had already turned them into slaves the moment they decided to join fightclub. Thus it wouldn't be difficult to take a group of men with exceptionally low intelligence and get them to do your bidding. It may seem that Tyler is reliant on them, but it is actually the other way around. The men are reliant on fightclub, it is their only purpose in life.
ReplyDeleteReview by Tristan: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is one of those stories that is good from start to finish. It depicts the life of a man who is going through an extremely dark phase of his life. He developes an extreme case of insomnia and all of the side-affects of it until one day when he meets Tyler Durden. Tyler comes across as a laid back guy which is just what the insomniac narrator believes he needs. They become friends and then all chaos breaks loose.
ReplyDeletePalahniuk writes the novel with excellent detail. Each page is interesting and each sentence is enthralling. It is easy to see that Palahniuk put alot of effort into this story. The ending has a twist that is invisible towards first time readers until the information is put together at the end.
This story is now one of my personal favorites for a couple of reasons. One reason is that the ending is just epic, plain and simple. I will not be very detailed in the majority of the plot because that may break some rules, but everything is stitched together ever so perfectly at the end, which I really enjoy. Another awesome part of this story is that it is just the right length. The story is long enough to be descriptive and detailed but short enough so that it does not seem like the plot was stretched to fit more pages. I rate Fight Club by Chuck Palahiuk 10/10 because the story seems expertly crafted in all aspects. It has a brand of dark humor that no other author has been able to reach in modern literature. I am looking forward to reading the novel again.
"Fight Club" Review:
ReplyDelete"Fight Club" by Chuck Palahiuk is is great thriller and deserves a 10/10 rating. The novel revolves around a man who has lost his grasp on reality, but begins to question whether reality has lost it's grasp on him. This is a great novel because it keeps you on your toes throughout and as a reader you don't understand the full scope of the novel and its plot until you finish the entire book. The novel also features a brand of dark humor at times that can be labeled as disturbing at times though the majority of times it is light and amusing. The greatest aspect of this particular novel is its continuity and how well Palahiuk is able to wrap so many loose ends together into one spectacular ending. "Fight Club" is a truly remarkable book and a sure favorite of anyone who happens to pick it up.
P.S. Sorry for the late post, I was experiencing computer troubles.