Choke

Rating:
Summary: Unique Story of a Sexaholic
Review: "Entertaining" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

Although I thought Fight Club, the novel, was much more edgy, entertaining, and compelling, I still believe Choke is worth reading especially for ANY fan of Palahniuk's style.

Chuck Palahniuk has a style that captivated many through his novel Fight Club. Choke, like Fight Club, deals with the problems of one man. The story is told from his point of view so you get his opinion on everything. Choke, however, is less about physical and mental destruction and more about one mans semi-fight to stay sober as he is a sexaholic.

Victor Mancini, the sexaholic, attempts to attend numerous meetings with others that have the same affliction, but he fails as he is usually side tracked in some closet with a female sexaholic. When Victor isn't working at the Colonial Historical Park he uses his spare time to "earn" money in a very unique way. Victor must use this money to pay for his mothers $3000 a month hospital bill as she is somewhat sick and confused.

Many twists and turns makes this a good fiction read for most who are looking for something different. On the other hand, Choke is a must for fans of Palahniuk's special style. I'm definitely looking forward to his next novel.

Oh yeah, and about Victor being the next coming of the Messiah...

Rating:
Summary: Chuck does it once again
Review: Having read all other books by the author,I was greatly pleased to see and read that he onve again has brought another tale of warped human pysche and woe. From the under-devolped, mishapened chickens to the building to nowhere for nothing,Palahniuk seems to take modern nihilism and satire as well as a bit of deconstructonsim to dizzying heights before leaving as all with his trademark what in the Hell was that ending. Truly he has become one of America's best authors.

Rating:
Summary: amazing story of identity and belief
Review: Yeah, yeah. I couldn't think up any good nihilistic title. Sorry.

I've read everything except Invisible Monsters, and I think this is the best of Palahniuk's work. The structure, alternatively fragmented and beautifully symmetrical, lacks nothing, contributing greatly to the story. Victor Mancini is not always a believable character, but the meaning behind the story, which I found a little hard to grasp with Fight Club and Survivor, is right there, in your face. Who are we? What determines who we are? Can we ever truly redefine ourselves? I think the essence of this book is 'finding yourself' but it's hardly conventional.

See also: Fight Club

Fight Club was an amazing book. To gain anything, you have to lose everything. One of my friends said it was like "warrior buddhism." Choke is even more visceral than Fight Club. This is good. The imagery is sometimes painful. Sometimes very painful. But it all works. As Mancini spirals downward, you'll follow. I enjoyed the two different narrations...Mancini speaks for most of the book, but occasionally the author cuts in and attempts to destroy his own character. I think that's neat.

Yeah. So. Go read it. It's short, it flows, and you'll like it. I did.

Rating:
Summary: my view
Review: the story of Victor and his unique life perspective is very interesting and very unheard of. At times you could be wondering why in the world is the author telling me this stuff because of the nature of Palahniuks words. But it is a quick read and very worthwhile of reading. Also i reccomend Survivor by Palahniuk also. I hope my advice was useful, so long.

Rating:
Summary: Chuck Amok
Review: This is the book of the decade (so far). Chuck has a great grasp on satire and his writing has gotten better since Fight Club (not that it was bad in the first place). He takes on the taboo of Motherhood And Child (aka Madonna And Child) and puts a contemporary stamp on it. His writing may seem a bit misogynistic for the confused few, but he goes to that extreme to illustrate his point.

See also: Bret Easton Ellis.

"Masterpiece" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

Rating:
Summary: The Things We Do for Love
Review: The book begins with this warning: "If you're going to read this, don't bother." This book "is a stupid story about a stupid little boy." And many should follow that advice. The book revels in sexual addiction, fantasies, and mental illness in a way that few will find a happy experience. The story itself is very self-indulgent, because the core theme of the book did not need to be so filled with unpleasant scenes and language. I graded down the book for the degree that this takes place in ugly thoughts and deeds that were not essential to the story's development.

On the other hand, the character development of Victor Mancini, the anti-hero in Choke, is masterful. Mr. Palahniuk has taken on quite a challenge, and pulled it off very well. As someone who loves character development, I was impressed.

If you enjoy the type of humor in the book, savage parodies of our sex-symbol-filled society, you will find yourself laughing aloud in many places. My favorite was the section about hypnosis.

The novel evolves through an alternating combination of flashback and narration of what is occuring in the current time. Obviously mixed in with the currrent narration are fantasies of an extreme nature, usually involving sexual relations. The flashbacks relate to a little boy whose Mother moves erratically in and out of his life.

Victor Mancini is a drop out from medical school who now works at Colonial Dunsboro where he pretends to be an Irish indentured servant from the 18th century. His Mother, Ida, is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer's, and Victor is her guardian. Since the $6 per hour he makes at Colonial Dunsboro doesn't pay for much nursing home care, he supplements his income by pretending to choke in restaurants. He does this with great panache until someone saves him. The grateful hero often wants to stay in touch, often sending some money to help Victor out. Do this often enough, and you can pay for nursing home care.

However, it's complicated because his Mother doesn't quite recognize him any more, and she's stopped eating. What should he do?

Much of the story development will strike you as needless repetition, yet it is all carefully calculated . . . so be patient. If you make it all the way to the end, you will like the book and the story much better. In fact, you may find that you will want to read the book a second and third time to rethink what you believed during your first reading. Pay close attention as you go.

After you read this story, you definitely should think about why you do what you do. How much of it is simply a cry for love? Can you find better ways to earn and enjoy love? Perhaps. It's worth exploring.

May you enjoy even more love than you give. Be generous!

Rating:
Summary: Stylistic Romp Continues...
Review: Chuck, no matter what ya think of him, ya gotta give him this -- he takes chances, he goes balls-out, he doesn't care for what others (pretentious types) deem as "literary" or "correct." In short, he writes what he feels, he writes what excites. He hits the jugular with a verbal juggling act that is often breath-taking and riotously funny. He's an original. Probably the most original voice since Hubert Selby Jr. and before him, probably Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." Forget the comparisions of Chuck to Vonnegut or Burroughs, two vastly over-hyped writers.

Sure, if you took Chuck apart, you wouldn't find him to be THAT original. Painting with short, terse paragraphs? Selby did that. Minimalistic descriptions? Hemingway had it. Sharp use of vernacular? Salinger got that down. Combining story-telling with reams of bizarre information? A slew of young pen-pushers have done the same. Wild plot twists and revelations? Who hasn't done that?

But merge all these elements with blistering social satire and you've got something the prosaic literary "establishment" has needed for a long time -- a friggin' SHOT IN THE ARM!

I'll admit that sometimes his style can get a bit bogged down in the "information" dept. Hey, I wanta know about some weird medical procedure as much as the next guy, (as well as unique sexual positions...heehee), but sometimes he rides out a "documenting" joke beyond the point of being funny or revealing. I think there's a difference between being "over-the-top" and being ponderous.

But still -- Chuck is a writer everyone should rejoice in. For sure! Somebody who proves that you can develop your own VOICE, your own THOUGHTS, and be as UNINHIBITED as you want and still sell books. Forget about "rules" and "how-to" guides and what NY publishers may want or not want or what's trendy or not, Chuck blasts apart all the mainstream BS and shows us there's nothing wrong with writing in a way that comes naturally and is FUN. Yes, it is possible to be incisive and exciting at once.

So listen up! Forget your middle-aged to very old female audience that some say comprise 85% of all readers. Chuck proves you can write for the young and for guys and still win the publishing game. Next time, anybody says your writing isn't "commericial" or "viable" or "mainstream," well, just give `em a Palahniuk book and tell `em he just got a six figure advance for his latest work, "Lullabye." Then watch them eat their friggin' hearts out!

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT! :)

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant isn't the right word...
Review: ...but it's the first that comes to mind.

The problem with Chuck Palahniuk novels is that they do not lend themselves well to reviews. Reveal too much information, and the fragile twists and turns of the plot are destroyed, robbing the reader of the thrill one receives upon discovering these intricacies for themselves the first time. Reveal too little, and a coherent review is almost impossible, leaving the reader with a false impression of complexities and tangles which are insurmountable.

Choke is the fourth novel written by Palahniuk, a master at angry, adult male angst. Our narrator is one Mr. Victor Mancini, a med-school drop out with a mother suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and an addiction to sex. Like other novels such as Fight Club and Survivor, we are exposed to the dirty underbelly of a society we don't want to acknowledge exists - from prisoners who go to sexaholic meetings for sex and kinky masturbation tips to the problems bending over in the stocks of a colonial theme park creates.

However, unlike the dry sarcasm of Fight Club or the biting satire of Survivor, Choke returns to the humorous yet heart-felt writing of Invisible Monsters, and exposes us to a more humorous side of Palahniuk's nature. From Tanya and her string of plastic balls to Gwen, who insists Victor wouldn't know how to rape a woman if he tried, Palahniuk presents us with incredibly memorable characters and scenes that will have you laughing long after you've closed the book.

" 'Why do I do this? Why do I always pick the guy who wants to be nice and conventional? The next thing you'll want to do is marry me.' She says, 'Just one time, I'd like to have an abusive relationship. Just once!' " (Page 175)

Humor is not the only factor in the story of a man who is led to believe his origin is divine. Victor is most likely one of Palahniuk's most complex characters today, a man who is trying to be anything he is not, who is rebelling against a psychotic mother's abuse while he drops out of law school and takes a job at a Colonial Williamsburg-like village in order to pay for the necessary care and treatment of his ailing mother. A man who believes strangers saving him from choking in a restaurant is not only a financial resource but an expression of love and sainthood, Victor is wonderfully human and am incredibly sympathetic character. While we may not be able to validated all of his choices, his is a character we can understand and perhaps even respect.

Palahniuk manages to dazzle and amaze with his ability to turn pithy little quotes into personal mantras and catch phrases, which once read, cannot be burned, pushed, hammered, or flooded out of one's short term memory banks. The same way you will always remember that the first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club, you will remember that "this" or "that" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

The martyrdom of Saint Me.

What would Jesus not do?

However, Palahniuk's novels are about more than catch phrases and plot twists that would impress Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock. Choke is a very funny, very sad tale of a man who professes to love the wrong choices, while exposing to the reader the very humane side that even he cannot see.

Imagine your friend is beating his sexual addiction by collecting rocks, with which he builds a castle. Imagine being a sex addict and unable to have sex with the one woman who desperately wants to have sex with you. Imagine discovering the complexity of the Mile High Club, and what it means to "ride the circuit." Imagine telling school children about the black plague while giving tours of colonial buildings in clothing so authentic, you can smell the dirt on them.

Imagine yourself in the life of Victor Mancini, and you'll never see life the same way.

Rating:
Summary: "Choke" doesn't.
Review: "Choke," the new book by Chuck Palahniuk, is yet another shining example of what is wrong with the world today. Like all of Palahniuk's protagonists, the narrator is flawed and disturbed on a multitude of levels . . . just like a real person. As bizzar and extreme as he becomes, we still think to ourselves "yeah, I've met guys like him. This is plausable." Additionally, "Choke" hits it's mark with surgical precision and turse, caustic wit. Ever wonder what was wrong with the world today? Let Chuck tell ya'.

Rating:
Summary: A Choking Disappointment
Review: As a fellow novelist and big fan of Pahlaniuk's earlier novels, I awaited his follow-up to "Survivor" with great enthusiasm. (I don't count this as a follow-up to "Invisible Monsters," as that was clearly a publisher's attempt to capitalize on his "Fight Club" fame by issuing an early novel that had been rejected, and they flushed it out as fast as they possibly could). I find Pahlaniuk bold and enormously talented, but sadly, "Choke" is a disspointment from an adventurous writer who seems to have stuck too closely to what has worked for him in previous books. The novel seems poorly edited (some of the sentences have to be re-read several times to be understood), and his obsessions with addiction, the anti-hero, compulsive and impersonal sexuality have all been explored--with much better results--in his previous novels. In fact, as much as I'd looked forward to reading this book, it was something of a chore to finish it. Yes, there are parts that are side-splitting, and there is much weirdness to be admired, but it seems that plausibility is sacrificed for the bizarreness which is Pahlaniuk's signature. All writers have their obsessions, and that is part of Pahlaniuk's charm, his unabashed looniness, but this novel ultimately feels much more self-conscious, planned more from the rational mind than from the unconscious, which is where Pahlaniuk's talent really seems to lie. No writer likes to hear, "You're re-treading territory you've already explored," but I, too, think this is the case with this novel. I repeatedly said to myself in reading this novel, "We've been here before." However, all that said, I do think Pahlaniuk has a particular and peculiar vision, and I will continue to read his future works.