Choke

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Summary: Same old song
Review: Fight Club is a modern classic. Palahniuk's latest effort, Choke, does not meet that standard. The author does not explore any new territory in this book. The plot is frighteningly similar to Fight Club. Only the names and some scenes are different. The theme is the same. However, Choke is a fine work in of itself. I loved it. If you liked Fight Club, you will be satisfied with spending your money on Choke.

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Summary: Wonderful story
Review: I won't spoil any of the plot for you (I'm going to guess that you've already read all about it by now), so I'll just say a few things. First, this is Chuck Palahniuk's most "hopeful" book. While I love his past three books, it is kind've refreshing to get some hope thrown into his mix. Second, Victor is a lot like Tender. If you like Survivor (the book, not that ... show), you should like this as well. Third, this is CP's funniest book, as long as you don't get offended by strong sexual content. Highly recomended.

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Summary: Wow.
Review: What an intense read. I felt completely captured by the plot, and all I could do was hang on for the ride. From the first sentence, Palahnuik throws you into the world and stream of consciousness of Victor, a recovering sex addict who is treading water at Step 4 (reconciliation with past misgivings). Victor is living his convoluted life: working at a colonial "living" museum full of addicts, fake choking at restaurants to be saved (in order to, later, ask his "hero" for $$$)--all to pay for his mother's stay at a mental hospital.

A particularly interesting section of the book: when Victor, convinced he was the second coming of Christ, begins to act according to his new mantra: "What would Jesus NOT do?"

Palahniuk is obviously a very talented writer. His writing flows effortlessly and holds the reader's attention, until a surprise twist drops you at the end. This book is definitely not for the faint-hearted, but it is an amazing read.

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Summary: Different
Review: Choke is a good read, but some of the sex stuff was a little to weird for my taste. I especially liked the commentary on the behind the scenes stuff at Victor's job in Colonial Dunsboro. I also liked Victor's friend, Denny and how he overcame his addiction.

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Summary: As Beautiful as a Disturbing Book Gets!
Review: I have, thus far, read all of Palahniuk's novels. If I had to pick a favorite, this would be it. The movie of "Fight Club" aroused a lot of odd interpretations: that is was fascist, that is was all about macho-posturing, that it didn't make sense two-thirds of the way in... Well, I guarantee you there's a reason so many people in Hollywood got behind that movie: it comes from a great novel. Palahniuk specializes in very sharp, rather trashy, and ultra dark humor. Choke is about about a man named Victor, and what's fascinating about him is not that he leads an out-of-the-ordinary life. In fact, the only thing unique about him is that he is addicted to faking choking attacks in restaurants. He does it to be taken care of, but in the back of his mind her realizes he likes making people heroes as they "save him". The whole idea of this book is that the most amazing, fantastic, and disturbing stories come from a man who is by all definition a loser. It's not a heroic story that makes him so interesting: it's that he lives a terrible life and is determined to continue living that way... even when he has the chance to become a great or successful person. Victor is pressured to become a great martyr, and does his best to avoid it. He holds many aces up his sleeve, and when it all comes crashing down at the end you have an ending as good as any I've read in recent fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Fight Club is one of my favorite books; thus, I was quite disappointed after reading Choke. The book is entitled Choke because the main character, Victor, has set up a scam in which he pretends to choke in restaurants. By doing so he gives some would-be heros the opportunity to save his life. Now, here's the part that is completely inane and unbelievable: the people who supposedly save Victor's life become permanently indebted to HIM!! They send HIM money! Come on, Chuck. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Ok, I realize we're not supposed to take everything in this book literally, but that's just one example of many within Choke that are either just plain silly or pointless (See also: rubber balls and impacted bowels).

Fight Club is a cool book with a clear message and a decent plot. Choke is neither cool nor does it set forth any kind of message and it is almost completely devoid of plot. I can't help but think that Mr. Palahniuk's aim in writing Choke was simply to shock the reader with graphic depictions of sex that border on the pornographic. (I guess I should have been forewarned after reading on the book jacket that portions of Choke have appeared in Playboy -- not exactly a literary magazine).

I've read Fight Club several times; my copy is filled with underlined and highlighted passages. My copy of Choke, I'm sorry to say, is headed for the trash. It was just too much for me to choke down.

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Summary: Where brave men fear to go
Review: No, it's not a novel for everyone. Perhaps it should be. To those who say the author's voice, style and subjects are repetitive, perhaps it is because the author has a voice, a style and subjects that deserve revisiting. If I may suggest that most great authors seem to exhibit this trait. This is hardly a commercial, middle of the road novel, anymore than were the author's other works. I won't compare one against the other, each has and deserves a life of its own. I have yet to be dissappointed by any page in any of his novels. If you want a safe comfortable read, look elsewhere. If you are willing to risk experiencing perhaps one of our generations most valid, creative and adventurous voices, buckle your seatbelt and open the cover.

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Summary: Dumb book.
Review: The book is about a guy who likes eating jaw breakers, but would often choke on them. Despite his affliction, he continues to eat jawbreakers. The story ends when he ate his last jawbreaker and it went through his ears which caused him to be deaf. After becoming deaf, upon leaving the hospital he got ran over by a New York taxi.

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Summary: It's a trip
Review: After reading CHOKE, I noticed I felt the same way after watching some of Stanley Kubick's harsh social commentary. In both cases they kind of end where they started, although, not without going through some searching and fighting against the machines of society. It's pretty hard for me to like a story where you end at the same beginning, only more depressed (some would say enlightened) about the situation surrounding you.

If you can look past that, Choke is pretty entertaining. By far the style and bluntness of the words and characters is the winner (like in Fight Club too), yet if the novel didn't apply those attributes it's hard to say where the book would end up for enjoyment. In this age and experience of middle-age philosophy, it seems standard that Chuck's insight into the psyche is delivered in such a movie and music video format; which would explain the cult following that praises it. Maybe he's invented a new genre, the pop-philosophy workbook for many, but maybe it's a genre that will start and end with our generation. Whatever the case, it's definitely a trip for it to be sharing the same shelf space as The Great Gatsby.