Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Fight Club ~ Chuck Palahniuk

This is now my third Chuck Palahniuk novel and he is well on his way to becoming an author I’ll be looking out for in the new release lists.

The genre is Transgressional fiction and though the subject matter he chooses could be distasteful it is not, and neither are the characters.  They are quirky and funny.

It’s hard to write about Fight Club without giving the plot away so if you think you might read this novel, and haven’t seen the movie, then just a warning that the rest of this review contains a plot spoiler.

The novel is narrated by a sleep deprived protagonist, telling the story about his troublesome friend Tyler Durden.  It is only as the plot progresses that it is revealed that Tyler is actually our protagonist's split personality who, when our protagonist is asleep, is running around America setting up ‘Fight Clubs’ and organizing ‘Project Mayhem’. 

Mayhem is what ensues in our Tyler’s life when he tries to stop what his other self has started.

Palahnuik crams so much of the story into each paragraph, starting at different points in time and weaving it backwards and forwards.  It keeps you reading at full pelt. I loved it!

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