Rating:  Summary: Chuck Palahniuk's Best! Review: Every single one of Chuck Palahniuk's previous books are unique and fantastic landmarks in modern literature, and Lullaby is no exception. There are many things in Lullaby that you can find in Chuck's other books: a first person narrative, lonely, obsessive and somewhat psychotic protagonists, detailed insight on seemingly trivial topics, and plot twists that you can expect but never see coming. However, Lullaby seems to have at least two things that Chuck's other books don't: completely 3-dimensional characters and true emotion. Some of the best scenes in this novel are when the narrative takes a short break from the cynical, dark, cold stance that it usually has to dive into moments of true melancholy, or utter joy and love. Because of this and the characters that I can truely feel for, I place Lullaby as my number 1 Chuck book.
Rating:  Summary: You gotta love this guy . . . Review: Few authors will tackle the subjects that Palahniuk does, and even fewer would be able to carry them off as a novel once undertaken, but with a master storyteller like Mr. P, you can't go wrong. Yes, we're all familiar by now with FIGHT CLUB and his other works (INVISIBLE MONSTERS was my favorite), but just when you think he's going to run aground, he pulls another rabbit out of the hat and surprises all of us. With its themes of infanticide, LULLABY is reminiscent of Jackson McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. With its cinematic overtones and pacing, it is like Palahinuk's INVISIBLE MONSTERS or FIGHT CLUB. All-in-all, this is one great read. But then, this guy doesn't write anything that's not top notch. Great read. Great fun. Like all of his works, not for the faint-of-heart.
Rating:  Summary: One Word: Bummer Review: Hey Chuck is at it again, with his new book Lullaby. Yep its great with exactly the same anti-everything, massochistic, sadistic, charcters and situations. THis book is just like evey one of his last books, with one major difference though: this one ...Don't buy it, wait for the next one, hope thats different and even then read a review first because in this perpetuating cycle that is his novels its not worth the paper its printed on.... Don't Get me wrong here, i really like hit other books Invisible Monsters in particular but this book Lullaby is a depressing sign that Chuck has lost his ability to sell me the same book over and over. True: fool me once shame on you, twice shame on me but dont worry this may well be the last bit of shame i'll ever get from good old "Repetative Lame Idea/Plot Man" Chuck Palahniuk.
Rating:  Summary: It was good, but not as good fight club Review: I enjoyed the book. Palahniuk always delivers, but it is impossible to match Fight Club. I've read Survivor, and liked it as well. I'm also planning to read all the other books. For me, it is similar to reading Kurt Vonnegut. There are a few books that really standout and many that I enjoyed. What I appreciate about Palahniuk are the original ideas, characters, and stories, not to mention the hummor. I would recommend this book to anyone who goes for things off the beaten path.
Rating:  Summary: Not My Cup Of Tea Review: I purchased the unabridged audio version of this book, and am struggling to finish listening to it - I could not imagine trying to finish READING this book. My first and last from this author, the audio version was very tiresome, very repetitive. I found the characters very superficial, and frankly, the entire story very under-developed. After 4 of 5 cassettes, I'm still wondering what the book is about. In one scene, Mona is 'digging' pieces of a model doll house out of Carl's foot. Excuse me? Maybe I'm just dense, but who exactly would crush something with their foot, then walk around with the object still in their foot, till it became infected? Not one of the characters we are supposed to believe in in this novel - not someone with supposed intelligence at least. Very disappointed, as I've heard good things about the author.
Rating:  Summary: and I'm counting... Review: I read this book to see what all the Chuck Palahniuk fuss is about. And I am counting 1, counting 2.... and this book still makes no sense.
The only credit I can give to this author is his style. It is unique. It is scattered and oddly descriptive.
I read this book in one night, hoping that, at some point, the story would make sense. It never did.
The characters are hardly more than mouthpieces for Mr. Palahniuk's opinions. I found none of them to be particularly believeable or interesting.
The author seems more interested in colors than plot. He spends more words describing the color of a dress than of the characters' thoughts, feelings, actions, etc. The writing changes from narration to dialogue, often switching points of view within the same paragraph. This shreds any sense of cohesiveness the story might have had. This reads more like a journal than a novel.
In my opinion, this book is nothing more than a creative soapbox on which Mr. Palahniuk reveals that he does not like loud music, television, or noisy neighbors. Referring to Orwell's 'Big Brother' as the media.
I do not intend to read anymore of Chuck Palahniuk.
Rating:  Summary: Not his best work... Review: I very much liked "Choke" and "Fight Club", as I enjoy Palahniuk's gritty, hardnosed masculinity and the obscurity of his storylines. Unfortunately, "Lullaby" failed to compel me. While the nucleus of the story was intriguing, the character and plot development were weak and left me feeling unaffected and bored.
Rating:  Summary: Not his best. Review: If you haven't read Palahniuk before, and you're a fan of Bret Easton Ellis, or JD Salinger, then Palahniuk at his best is probably exactly what you are looking for. If you have read Palahniuk before, then like Ellis and Salinger, you will probably want to read everything he's written anyways so what are you doing reading reviews - you know you won't resist buying it.The order to read Palahniuk if you haven't yet read him: Fight Club or Survivor, then Choke, then Invisible Monsters, then Lullaby. Lullaby although a quick entertaining read, doesn't quite have the punch of the other works, and the main character never really grabs the reader or makes you care about everything that is transpiring. Classic twists and classic palahniuk prose (short and to the point, wonderful use of repetition with characters spouting educative little tidbits) but still it doesn't quite gel with the story that unfolds. Invisible Monsters felt like it might have been revised a few too many times (layering structured twist after twist until the only thing left was obvious), and Lullaby feels like a book that needed another revision. It almost redeems itself, like Choke gloriously redeems itself in the final act, but ultimately Lullaby feels like it's missing something.
Rating:  Summary: Good Palahniuk Starter Review: In a Guardian Online interview, Chuck claimed that this book would be the best book for a Palahniuk novice to enter his world of eco-hippe rhetoric and nihilistic tendencies. Having only read two of his books(This and Fight Club), I enjoyed the socially conscious message that Chuck sends through both the Protagonist and Antagonist of the story. The plot can best be described as surreal. The absurdity of the wiccan lovers and the necrophiliac co-worker and succesful real estate agent all mingling to obtain the source of the culling lullaby is laughable(in a good way). Overall the most powerful impression this book leaves is the affect that we have on the environment, how we willingly rape the land of its natural resources and habitat and slaughter animals for our own self-interests pushed me in the direction of vegetarianism or at least incited me to accept the validity of the vegan lifestyle. Fun book that Chuck sprinkles with statements of profundity that will take your mind off the crazy store and apply much of what happens to your own life.
Rating:  Summary: Captivating Review: In very much the classic Chuck Palahniuk style, Lullaby focuses on many human frailties. Carl Streaton, an investigative reporter, is assigned to write a five-part series on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. During his investigation, he discovers a poem that grants a power many people have often wished for: the ability to kill with a thought. The idea of corruption that comes with power has been documented thoroughly and is well known, but Palahniuk presents it in a truly creative and entertaining way. While Palahniuk's style may be hard to get used to, the book gets difficult to put down once the plot picks up. In addition to being a captivating read, Lullaby is also a deceptively short read for being 260 pages. Great for a long trip or a few nights of leisure reading, Lullaby only heightens my respect for a brilliant writer.
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