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Diary

Diary

List Price: $34.95
Your Price: $22.02
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: rather disappointing
Review: despite all the hooplah surrounding palahniuk's writing, i never quite got around to picking up one of his novels until i tripped across DIARY in a border's, read the first page, and was hooked.

i loved what he was doing there.

and i continued to love it for the first fifty or sixty pages. totally got what all the fuss was about.

then i started to run into the problems.

the first problem DIARY has is its protagonist, mistie marie, who, while being smart enough and well read enough to have a fact and/or anecdote related to every event in her life, is too stupid to realize what is going on around her, despite the fact that she's making it perfectly clear to the reader, who is supposed to be reading her diary.

as a reader, it's hard to be a sympathetic toward a character who is smart but behaves idiotically.

it becomes comic when mistie marie is led to a woods by her daughter, where they find mistie's mother in law waiting with a picnic basket for mistie. in the basket are sandwiches. mistie takes a bite of one and says it tastes funny. granda tells her, it's just the cilantro. okay. then mistie offers some sandwich to her daughter. the reply? grandma told me not to.

how do you have sympathy for a character so idiotic that in the face of a funny tasting sandwich that her own daughter was advised not to eat by her grandmother, eats the sandwich anyway?

the novel is full of such idiocy on the part of our protagonist.

the second problem is the story itself.

as this is the first palahniuk novel i've read, i can't say whether it's standard of him, but in DIARY he makes the story interesting by holding back information on what's happening, making events seem very intriguing -- "a man called from long beach to say his bathroom has disappeared." the problem is, when we finally find out what's happening, it's a let down, it's so prosiac you don't really care.

he does this with small details, like the disappearance of several rooms, to major details, like the entire plot, which, in the end, is nothing.

so much of DIARY is sizzle without steak, smoke without fire, etc.

it's almost worth reading for the prose alone. for little bits and pieces that are interesting in and of themselves. but taken as a whole, there's so much that's disappointing about DIARY that i can't give it more than three stars, and those more for the potential than the results.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My review
Review: The tile of my book is Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a non-fiction book and
It is set on a vocational island in the form of a "coma diary" type story her husband is in the coma and it is written as if she is writing to him.

Misty Marie Kleinman an Ex-art student whose husband, Peter lies comatose due to an attempted suicide. After her and Peter where married they settled on the quaint Waytansea Island where Misty became a hotel waitress. When Misty soon contracts strange physical aliments, which she finds that are only cured while she is painting or drawing, convinced by her mother in law, her daughter and her doctor she continues to paint. When it is discovered that peter has scrolled vile messages in the homes he remodeled angry homeowners start suing left and right and Misty's dreams of becoming an artist are slipping out of though but when she begins to paint as if possessed by a famous 19th century painter Marie Kinkaid who lived on Waytansea island her doctor and mother in law have a plan for Misty and all those tourists as well...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: People have their own oppinion
Review: My oppinion is completely different from some. I am a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk, and I thought this novel was fantastic. I loved it, from start to finish. Chuck has the incredible ability to create such mysterious worlds. He will throw in so many strange things, maybe you have no clue what's going on, but in the end, it all falls together. Of course, you must suspend some disbelief. It is fiction, no doubt about it. Anyone who reads a fiction novel, much less this one, and finds himself thinking "that could never happen" has to look at it objectively. Of course that could never happen!! I was not dissappointed at all because I have imagination. Maybe those who think this is a poor novel also think Choke, Fight Club, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, and especially Lullaby are bad because "that could never happen." Come on people! I loved this novel! All of Chuck Palahniuk's works are fabulous! Please read this! You should be glad you did. Unless you have a weak stomach, as with all of Chuck Palahniuk's work, it may be difficult to handle at times.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: It really is that bad
Review: For those browsing through all of these reviews here and looking at the surprising number of poor reviews for it, I just wanted to post a quick review to add my agreement that this is easily Chuck's worst book and also probably one of the worst books I've ever read.

Please understand that I am a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk. I live in the Portland area and never miss him when I have a chance to go and see him talk and sign, and I have read all of his books. My favorites are Fight Club, Survivor, Fugitives And Refugees and Lullaby...I'm not a huge fan of Invisible Monsters or Choke but they both have their unique charms and are entirely readable. He's a talented writer and an all-around great guy, but if this book had been his first then nobody would know who he was. In fact, I would go so far as to say he never would have been published.

This book, from start to finish, is BARELY readable. Just to make it as straightforward as possible, I'll organize my major problems with the book point by point...(It's worth noting that the remainder of this review contains very minor spoilers...I'll keep them as light as possible)

-The book is really poorly organized. While I do appreciate an author's need to try different things and push the boundaries of their craft, Diary turns out to be a case study in why your Fiction Writing 101 teacher told you to never, ever change perspective mid-story. Once you have a perspective established, you stick to it. From sentence to sentence (for the first 3/4 of the book, anyway, a point at which Chuck seems to forget about what he was trying to do or just stops caring, and switches almost entirely to 3rd person), perspective changes back and forth...often, statements are repeated to the point of redundancy from different perspectives. It makes for a fairly jarring (and boring) reading experience.

-I got the impression several times that Chuck was trying to tell two stories at the same time, and the result is a confusing mess. On the one hand, we have the very genuine mourning and depression of Misty Marie, who is trying to recover from some very serious traumatic events that happened off-stage before the start of the book. On the other, we have the absolutely ridiculous "fairy tale" aspect of Waytansea island. The theme of both of these stories clashes horribly, never really meshing and never really working.

-Speaking of the fairy tale bits...these tend to dominate the latter half of the book. Chuck stretches way, way beyond reasonable expectations for the reader to suspend disbelief. When you finally get to the point of the book when the revelations begin to trickle down, and the protagonist tries desperately to fight against what's happening to her, you'll be saying "Give me a break!" more often than you'd probably like. Virtually everything that happens once we get into the climax doesn't make any sense at all. I am sorely tempted to point out specific examples, so ridiculous, unbelievable and poorly constructed/thought-out are the climactic events of the book, but I hate heavy spoilers in reviews so I'll restrain myself.

-The ending. THE ENDING. The last five or ten pages of this book, ESPECIALLY the last page, has got to be the dumbest, most derivative ending I've ever sat through. What a COP-OUT!!! I'll just say this: if you DO pick up this book, you're going to go through it hoping that, on some level, Palahniuk is going to deliver at some point...turn things around. All you will feel after reading that incredibly stupid final page will be disappointment, frustration and anger at yourself for sticking with it for no reason. There ain't no pay-off, folks!

What isn't a confusing mess or a bizarre and stupid "curse" story is paint-by-numbers Palahniuk that any one of his fans could throw together without any help from the author. You've got your heavily repeated statements to drive his point home. His over-eagerness to share useless trivia he acquired while researching the book. His fragmented sentences and overly short chapter breaks. All things that are charming and amusing in his other books, but here they feel forced and pointless. It's almost as though Palahniuk is satirizing himself.

In short, what we have here is easily the worst of Palahniuk books, and also one of the lamest ducks in modern American literature. If you're a Palahniuk fan, you've probably already read it and drawn your conclusions. If you've never read him before, or you aren't a fan of the man's entire catalog, avoid at all costs! ANY of Palahniuk's other work stands head and shoulders above this drudgery!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Chuck: what were you thinking?!?
Review: Let me cut to the chase: 'Diary: A Novel' is by a wide margin the worst novel produced by Chuck Palahniuk. These words come from someone who, like many, thought his early works ('Fight Club', 'Survivor', 'Invisible Monsters') were either very good or *unbelievably good*. His more recent novels (ie, 'Lullaby', 'Choke') were merely passable. But 'Diary...' is a stinker; it was hard work just to finish it.

So what's 'Diary...' about? Well this is part of the problem. It is a very strange story about a woman with unique artistic capabilities who marries into a nightmarishly bizarre family living on a tourist-trap island. We learn eventually that her emergence on the island was pre-destined, as proscribed by history and folklore. Interesting? Not really. Funny? No. The worst offense: the book is very poorly structured, and its prose is weak. It lacks the punch and unique Palahniuk humour found in his early books.

Bottom line: this book is certainly a black spot on Palahniuk's career. Rubbish.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A writer who knows how to break the rules.
Review: Palahniuk lives up to his reputation as a nihilist in this bleakly funny, highly stylized tale about a brain-dead failed artist and his lush of a wife who is forced to paint her life away--again and again. This engaged me more than I thought it would at the beginning. Palahniuk is not only a skilled writer but also one who does his homework, in this case on art history and building construction, among other subjects. Grotesque and absurd and yet a cogent contemplation of our quest for art and immortality. I was amused by the clever way the author inserts his hand at the end. Palahniuk is a writer who knows how to break the rules.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: not at all a let down.
Review: Despite what these other reviews are saying, I was not at all let down by this book. I never once found it hard to follow; it fit the form of the rest of Chuck's books. The way he writes always keeps the reader guessing, and this book was no exception. The plot twists in this book were just as shocking as they were in all of his other books. I was reading this book before bed to help me sleep and I ended up staying up all night instead just to finish the second half of the book because i got so into it. As far as it being depressing, Palahniuk has been made famous for his dark humor, it's a part of his style. Diary is a beautifully written book. It takes the reader into a supernatural world that no one would ever believe could exist, but Palahniuk really makes the reader feel it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I've read better...
Review: Needless to say, if you have not read any Palanhiuk before, don't start with this book. If you have - you won't get what you expect. As a Palahniuk fan, I highly anticipated the release of this book, bought it the day it came out, and read it in a few hours - and was extremely disappointed (the greater the expectations, the harder the fall). I expected the same satirical style, fantastic story, and obsessive attention to detail. Instead, I plodded through pages of absolutely uninteresting writing.

The storyline? Lacking. That's the only word that I could use to describe it. I consider myself more artistic than most people, but even I couldn't see the point of PAINTING to ensure the existence of a town. Not to mention that the ending is highly unsatisfying - you don't even know what has happened.

The writing style? Not typical Palahniuk. There is very little biting satire, which would be fine - if there were an interesting story behind the writing. Of course, there are a few scenes that are wonderfully descriptive, and occasionally horrifying, which is why I give the book two stars at all.

The one thing that might redeem the book is this thought - maybe Palahniuk is messing around with us and changing what he writes, just because he can. In which case I would say he is a genius.

However, the story was still TERRIBLE, and I would never recommend this to a reader unless he/she was a fan of Palahniuk.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I am writing this as if it were another author...
Review: ... because we all know if our expectations weren't so high from Palahnuik's previous works, there would be glowing reviews, from me anyway. As has been said in other reviews, Diary was not Palahnuik's best work, but still amazing. I might be biased because I myself am an artist, but it seems like it would be entertaining even if you weren't. I also didn't find it as confusing as other people because I knew about the perspective it was from when I started it. (someone else told me, it's Misty writing a comba diary for Peter, and when she says "you" she is refferring to Peter") While it wasn't nearly as captivating from the start as Survivor or Invisible Monsters I am glad he published it. Some of his books were becoming redundant, and this was a nice change of style.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ok?...im a bit confused, but.....
Review: this is the first book i have read by chuck palahnuik, though this isnt the best book i have read, it makes me want to read some of his other books...'diary' was a lot of the time hard to follow and confusing, and during the end i was about ready to throw a fit because it was so depressing and i felt so bad for some of the characters, (expessially Misty) and also ended up hating a lot of the other characters...the end kinda lost me, though i think i caught most of the book....and also most of this book is kinda twisted (not like a really gross twisted, just the kind of twisted where you definetly wouldnt want to be in the characters situation{i, personally, would have probably killed myself}) Sometimes its repetitive....but no matter if all the things i just mentioned sound good or bad to you, it makes the book what it is


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