The work of Chuck Palahniuk

Friday

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
8,903
Location
Washington, PA
So who else here has read some? I've got Fight Club, Choke, Survivor, and Rant for his fiction, but I think my favorite works of his are in Strange Than Fiction. Its a collection of magazine articles, interview and other works, all non-fiction, and is excellent. He's got an amazing grasp on short works and I think everyone with an interest in his writing should pick it up.

Having said that I don't think this man can end a book to save his life. fight club was teh closest to having any kind of resolution and it was just
the narrator getting institutionalized.
Choke just sort of stopped, and while the first half of Survivor was one of the best things I've read in a long time the second half was one of if not the worst thing I've read.

I still haven't gotten to Rant. Its just sort of sitting upstairs.

So, Thoughts?
 
I've only read some of his short stories (Guts, I remember Moony posting) and they were pretty easy to read. I'd like to read some of his novels (since Fight Club is one of my favourite movies ever) and they sound pretty good... I've already posted about his upcoming Snuff book or whatever it's called, about the pornstar ****ing hundreds of people in a row.
 
I've only read some of his short stories (Guts, I remember Moony posting) and they were pretty easy to read. I'd like to read some of his novels (since Fight Club is one of my favourite movies ever) and they sound pretty good... I've already posted about his upcoming Snuff book or whatever it's called, about the pornstar ****ing hundreds of people in a row.

600.

Get Stranger Than Fiction mooney. I think its all you. Especially the Testical Festival.
 
Wasn't Guts that short story about the boy whose large intestine gets pulled out through his ass? That was the stupidest thing I've ever read in my entire life. Vitamin pills are broken down by the time they enter your stomach! Sperm can't impregnate someone who uses the same bathwater as you, much less a chlorinated pool!
 
Wasn't Guts that short story about the boy whose large intestine gets pulled out through his ass? That was the stupidest thing I've ever read in my entire life. Vitamin pills are broken down by the time they enter your stomach! Sperm can't impregnate someone who uses the same bathwater as you, much less a chlorinated pool!

Can't disagree on any of those points.
 
I read Fight Club, Survivor and Invisible Monsters. They're enjoyable, but meaningless and all identical. I don't understand why he has such a following.

Arthur Nersesian (spelling?) is in the same vein, but superior.
 
I've read some of his works. Survivor is definitely the best. Fight Club was ok, but the only book where I thought the movie was better. I'll fight that point to the day I die, actually.

Guts is the short story, the only readable document, that has made me literally sick, too. I give him credit for that.
 
I've read Survivor and Fight Club. His stuff's okay, but those two at least seemed somewhat repetitive.

Palahniuk kind of reminds me of Bret Eaton Ellis, who wrote an entertaining book (that was made into a better film), but is really sort of a one-trick-pony.
 
I've read Survivor and Fight Club. His stuff's okay, but those two at least seemed somewhat repetitive.

Palahniuk kind of reminds me of Bret Eaton Ellis, who wrote an entertaining book (that was made into a better film), but is really sort of a one-trick-pony.

That's right on.

I read American Psycho and Less Than Zero but never finished Glamorama and have no more interest in Ellis anymore either.
 
Last edited:
I've read some of his works. Survivor is definitely the best. Fight Club was ok, but the only book where I thought the movie was better. I'll fight that point to the day I die, actually.

Guts is the short story, the only readable document, that has made me literally sick, too. I give him credit for that.

How can you say that was his best. The second half of it was horrible, and the last quarter barely readable!
 
Wow. There are some rather harsh criticisms of Chuck Palahniuk (and Bret Easton Ellis) here. Two of my favorites. I've read their entire catalogs.

Oh well, to each his own. Neither writer publishes material that's for everyone to enjoy. Us sick and depraved folks, on the other hand, we love 'em both.
 
Has anyone read Snuff?

I picked it up at my college's bookstore and started reading it outside the store, finished it last night, which is weird since it usually takes me forever to finish books.

I liked it. It was gross and entertaining, so typical Palahniuk. I doubt I'll ever read another book with the phrase "ranch flavored erections" in the first few pages. Some parts got a bit too repetitive though: "Mr. 600"'s use of the word 'dude', Sheila's use of various euphemisms for masturbation to describe every man, the references to classic film actors, and of course the endless made up porn titles, which are funny at first but certainly start to bore you. (Though "The Miracle Sex Worker" and it's accompanying description did make me laugh out loud like 160 pages into the book.)

I need to read Rant.
 
Has anyone read Snuff?

I picked it up at my college's bookstore and started reading it outside the store, finished it last night, which is weird since it usually takes me forever to finish books.

I liked it. It was gross and entertaining, so typical Palahniuk. I doubt I'll ever read another book with the phrase "ranch flavored erections" in the first few pages. Some parts got a bit too repetitive though: "Mr. 600"'s use of the word 'dude', Sheila's use of various euphemisms for masturbation to describe every man, the references to classic film actors, and of course the endless made up porn titles, which are funny at first but certainly start to bore you. (Though "The Miracle Sex Worker" and it's accompanying description did make me laugh out loud like 160 pages into the book.)

I need to read Rant.

I've got rant. I can't get into it. The Oral Biography style is a big rough to get a rhythm going on.
 
I've got rant. I can't get into it. The Oral Biography style is a big rough to get a rhythm going on.
Snuff is a bit difficult at times too. It pulls you in easily enough but the structure of telling the story from four different perspectives makes it a little confusing. I found some of the dialogue to be bizarre too.

I know you've complained about his endings before - I liked Snuff's ending. There was a nice twist or two and one last gross-out moment.
 
Last edited:
Snuff is a bit difficult at times too. It pulls you in easily enough but the structure of telling the story from four different perspectives makes it a little confusing. I found some of the dialogue to be bizarre too.

I know you've complained about his endings before - I liked Snuff's ending. There was a nice twist or two and one last gross-out moment.

I'll have to give it a shot.

In the mouth.

:D
 
Snuff is a bit difficult at times too. It pulls you in easily enough but the structure of telling the story from four different perspectives makes it a little confusing. I found some of the dialogue to be bizarre too.

I know you've complained about his endings before - I liked Snuff's ending. There was a nice twist or two and one last gross-out moment.

Chuck's books feature at least one gross-out moment, that's one of the reasons I like them so much. I read Choke 3 times just because of the ending.

Plus, I like the fact that none of his books really offer a protagonist, just an antagonist you can relate to. Yes, I've read plenty of books with a protagonist, but I like the fact that Chuck's characters are just as full of flaws as me and I everyone I know. Just human beings with kinks and quirks who end up screwing their lives up in some way, but indeed finding redemption. Even in the novel of Fight Club where our "hero" Tyler Durden ends up a drooling mess in an institution or Survivor, where there is some hijackin' going on, we know exactly where the character is coming from and why. And hell... if you've read Stranger than Fiction you can see where Chuck got a lot of his material... including his father's murder. Man, that's got to be a hard pill to swallow.

There is a moist and sleazy underbelly to the world, and I like the way it's been explored by writers like Chuck Palahniuk and Bret Easton Ellis... and let's not forget Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Bukowski and Kurt Vonnegut, among others. They all have a point, and that point is that the world is REALLY SCREWED UP AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT!

(and now I go into the wilderness, shooting off guns and experimenting with hallucinogenics for 9 hours)

OK I'm back and my head is centered, so I think I might go read The Complete Works of C.S. Lewis.
 
Last edited:
I picked up Choke today and started reading it. I'm liking it.
And hell... if you've read Stranger than Fiction you can see where Chuck got a lot of his material.
I have read it.
(and now I go into the wilderness, shooting off guns and experimenting with hallucinogenics for 9 hours)
And you didn't invite me!?
 
And you didn't invite me!?

I never invite. Everyone chooses wether or not they want to follow me into the wilderness with firearms and hallucinogenics. You're in, or you're out. What will it be, moony? It's a 9 hour commitment.
 
Last edited:
I never invite. Everyone chooses wether or not they want to follow me into the wilderness with firearms and hallucinogenics. You're in, or you're out. What will it be, moony? It's a 9 hour commitment.
Is there a break for lunch somewhere in there? Because if so, I'M TOTALLY IN.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top