The Novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk brings the reader into a world of characters going against the “norm” and fighting consumerism. The novel takes place in modern times and follows the life of an anonymous narrator suffering from insomnia. His doctor believes insomnia to be mild and not serious, and thus makes the narrator go to support meetings for people who actually suffer. There he meets another “faker” in the form of Marla. They agree to attend different meetings, and shortly after the narrator meets Tyler Durden. They become close friends and one night, decide to create a Fight Club. A club to exert male frustration, no women or “manners” allowed. Tyler begins to perform attacks on corporate America through “Project Mayhem”. The struggle begins for the narrator to decide between what is right and what people tell him is right.
The Author, Chuck Palahniuk, has said that the book is based of fight he participated in while camping. The novel was originally published as a short story and shortly after, 1996, published as a full novel. It won both the 1997 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and the 1997 Oregon Book Award for Best Novel. The novel eventually was made into a cult favorite movie in 1999 starring Brad Pitt and Edward Morton. The writing style of the novel is fairly simple, focusing primarily on story line and less on literary techniques. His language is realistic, giving the characters more personality and believability.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick and exciting read. The book is about rebelling against what is normal or what you’ve been told to do. The characters go against what the world tells them to do and form a club without the influence of anybody but themselves. They unleash their feelings, anger, and frustration after a life of following the rules of corporate America, their mothers, and the people around them. In the beginning the narrator is a slave to his superiors and job. Through fight club and meeting Tyler Durden he breaks that tradition, he comes alive in a new way, but the main question is was it worth it?
Fight Club is a definite page-turner and has twists and turns that will keep anyone entertained. Fans of the movie should defiantly check out the book, and those who haven’t seen the movie should read the book first.
1 comment:
Marcus,
Good work on this (somewhat disjunctive) review. I'm glad you like the book, of course, and I appreciate that you set up its plot and characters as well as you do here (without giving too much away). I especially liked that second-to-last paragraph in which you speak to some of the novel's larger themes (given what these themes are, I would think they'd appeal to your own readership). I was surprised to hear you describe the novel's prose as "straightforward". While I agree that it isn't necessarily challenging. I do think that it is what makes the novel so engaging (and not just the 'split' narrative).
Anyway, I'm glad that you enjoyed the read, and I appreciate the effort you've put into this solid review.
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