Book Review #4

Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)
First of all, if you haven’t seen the film because of the media hysteria that surrounded it, rent it, buy it, borrow it and watch it. Contrary to the reports at the time, it doesn’t glorify violence (much), but rather charts the decent of a man into (and through) madness... and it made the cinematic Twist popular again.

So, as you can tell, I liked the film. The soundtrack was cool, and I didn’t anticipate the ending*. But anyway, I digress. Back to the review. Oh, it hasn’t started yet. OK, here goes:

Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)
This is without doubt the darkest book I have ever read. I picked it up on a whim in A&R, partly out of frustration at not having anything to read. I’m glad I chose it.

Neil Gaiman’s wares are fluffy and sugary by comparison (and I still remember the chill running down my spine as I read his “Fragile Things”). Palahalanlanikie’s book is... dirty too. Far more so than the film. The reader is drawn into the bleak, meaningless life of the protagonists; their empty existence in a world which to them doesn’t care or love them. Just like the film, a lot of it is unbelievable, but Palandromuk’s narrative mix of darkness and sporadic humour kept me hooked^†. It’s not a long book, but I polished it off in a week — Indeed, my index finger was red raw from the speed at which I read it :P

Compared to this book, the film was slightly Disneyfied. The book’s violence and desolateness were ramped down and the relationship between the two characters was played down too. Other than this, the film mostly followed the plot of the book quite diligently, albeit slightly out of order.

A good book, but not to be read by the faint-hearted or easily offended. I enjoyed reading it, but I felt it was missing something. There was lots of substance, but not much soul — although that may well be the point the author was trying to make. Score: B+


*Knowing the ending spoilt the book somewhat, so no, don’t read the film until you’ve seen the book.
† His writing style is heavily colloquial and at times a torrent of conversation with minimal guidance for the reader. I had to banish my inner pedant whilst reading it. He enjoyed the holiday!