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Summary: One of the best pieces of modern literature out there...
Review: I got this book because I was curious. I knew the movie was coming, and it was being praised as a gutsy piece of filmmaking (turns out it wasn't; go to my review of the DVD for more on that.) So I ordered it from the bookstore of a good friend. Within two months I'd read it five times. "Fight Club" is a truly rare book, a fast-paced thriller that's also got some very deep points to it, yet is as technically clean and sharp as a laser-cut diamond. The structure is nothing short of amazing. Read it a few times and you realize Palahniuk has created a book that's all most perfectly balanced; everything ties into everything else. As an example; early in the book, Tyler Durden tells our narrator that "a moment is the most you can expect of perfection." Later on, this line is repeated, and you realize, for a moment in our protagonist's life, he had perfection and now he's losing it. There are dozens of other examples (this book is a goldmine on how to foreshadow and flashback), and I could go into an analysis of the deeper themes, but I'll spare you the English lecture. Even if you're not a fan of J.G. Ballard, even if you think you'd be turned off by this book, read it anyway. You really will not find a better written book from the last decade.
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Summary: The Book and Film are very compatible
Review: I was given this book by someone who knew how much I liked the movie. I was a little reluctant to read the book for the very reason that I was such a big fan of the film. Everyone knows how different books and movies are. I figured it couldn't be anywhere near as good as the movie so I was a little hesitant. But I did read it since it was a gift and I'm incredibly glad I did. Never in my experiences have a book and the movie it was based on gone hand in hand so well. For the most part there are no huge differences, rather things just got rearranged. I considered what was left out from the book to be like bonus time with the characters that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. And as a bit of a side note... Everywhere I read this book I had young guys in their late teens and early 20's coming up and telling me how much they loved the book, not just the movie. To be honest I was surprised that any of them had read the book. And as much as I loved both the book and the movie I wonder if maybe it did appeal to males more. Maybe it was just more identifiable with them? So while I'd suggest to anyone to read it, I would particularly to young men.
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Summary: "...This is a read you do not want to miss out on."
Review: The abstruse bone-chilling tale of Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk tells the story of an anonymous consumer driven young man, who feels emptiness in his ordinary existece. He is an insomniac and the only way he could cure his sleep disorder is by going to self-help groups. The man is an avid flyer due to his job, and on one flight he encounters upon a man by the name of Tyler Durden. Tyler has diverse vocations, such as a film projectionist and a soap maker. After a peculiar circumstance the nameless character moves into Tyler's home. Both together discpver a way for them to pursue past their confined and restrained lives by forming Fight Club, an after-hour boxing match assemblage in the basement of a bar. Fight Club becomes a place where the typical man goes to find mitigation in their diminutive life; where one man can mentally become a puissant dictator by making another man's face hemorrhage; a place where one guy can knock the living daylights out of another guy. Tyler, the true mastermind behind Fight Club, becomes an underground image, to what it appears, every man in the United States. Fight Club develops into a widespread gathering and Tyler takes advantage of his power by telling his followers to start commotion and mayhem all over the country (to give the rest of the stort way would be just wrong). Fight Club by far was one of the most commanding stories I had ever read. Though it did not come as a shocker to me since I had seen the movie, I still found myself biting my nails at times with amusement and apprehension. Palahniuk suffuses the book with symbolism, and it seems to me that Fight Club is exclusively based on the Nazi genre and Hitler's regime since most of the book deals with world domination and how one man's mind can become manipulated and controlled. The book is truly fit for any reader who takes pleasure in comedy, horror, or even romance. I found myself being taken adrift sometimes in the novel as if I were going from one place to another. Still, this is a read you do not want to miss out on.
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Summary: Nice job Palahnuik!!
Review: Chuck Palahniuk's first novel Fight Club is an excellent mind-twisting experience! Palahniuk really knows how to get your blood pumping and your mind racing with his powerful and idealistic style of writing in Fight Club. If you heard that Fight Club was all about fighting, then you're wrong. Yes, there is some fighting in the book, but it is there for a purpose. So don't judge the book by its title. Fight Club has many strong ideas about the new, Generation X society, like what we will become from ourselves and from our actions. In Fight Club success is determined from what you don't have. The book is told from the point of view of an unnamed man. He works as a type of recall coordinator for a major car company. He lives in this expensive condo with all the trimmings and accessories. He is bored of his everyday life, day in and day out of the same thing. He is destroying himself and he never really knows it. He also has insomnia. His doctor tells him to go to these support groups to view some real pain, in which he does, and he becomes addicted. The support groups help him sleep. Then he meets Marla Singer, she, is another faker, who isn't really dying at all, or what he thinks that nothing is wrong with her. When both of their lies reflect, then he is back where he started, not sleeping. The narrator soon meets Tyler Durden, a man who has total different views on society. He believes that the only way to self-discovery is through self-destruction. "Only until we lose everything, are we free to do anything". Tyler and the narrator then form fight club. A type of support group for men only. "The first rule about fight club is that you don't talk about fight club". Soon Tyler and the narrator take it up a notch and form "Project Mayhem" which was to lead to the complete and total destruction of society! If you haven't seen "Fight Club" the movie or read the book, I highly recommend doing so. Take the time and read the book first before the movie. It will make it a lot more interesting.
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Summary: Chuck Palahniuk is the next great writer!
Review: Chuck Palahniuk is the next great writer and his potential is show with his work "Fight Club". Many criticize the novel as a ultra-violence fest with a thin plot this work is really written for people living in the 1990's but also in the year 2000 and onward. Jack is your average joe who is a car crash investigator who suffers from insomnia and finds completion and peace by impersonation people in support groups. Soon Jack meets Tyler Durden, a free spirit who turns out to be a another personality in Jack's head. This novel has the recepie for a great novel as well as explosives and bombs.
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Summary: A lot of meat for 203 pages
Review: I saw the movie (excellent film) before reading this book, and I was amazed a 2.4 hour movie was adapted from such a short book. But when I read the book, I was impressed at how much detail Palahniuk was able to inject in such a short space. I'm not usually fond of "postmodern fiction" like William S. Burroughs, late J.G. Ballard, or - God help us - annoying crap like Kathy Acker, Mark Lehrner or anything written by anyone who graduated with an MFA from Brown University and got published by Grove or Vintage. But this is the rare novel where the style works - partially because the storyline itself is so strong and Palahniuk avoids sounding "literary" or pretentious. This is possibly the best example of the avant-garde, underground style ever produced. And it's very funny.
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Summary: The Fate Of The Materialist
Review: Like a lot of people, I imagine, I read Fight Club after seeing David Fincher's fine film version. Like the Fincher film, Mr. Palahniuk's novel is basically a cautionary tale about what happens when, as Palahniuk so chillingly puts it, "you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you". A very dark novel - also a very funny novel, often at the same time. There were passages where when I was reading them I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to vomit. As one who thinks good art ought to be disturbing, I mean this as a compliment. If you agree, you should give this a shot.
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Summary: dont compare with movie
Review: Other reviewers claim "the book is better" or "the movie is better". I'm here to say you shouldn't compare the two works of art. The movie ISN'T trying to be the book or vis versa. The film is BASED on the book, but offers its own artistic insights and story telling techniques. No movie will contain the same amount of information as the novel it's based on because no viewer would stand watching an 8 hour film. Film is unique, and shouldn't be judged by the book it's based on. The story is somewhat the same, but the two arts tell it in an entirely different way.
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Summary: Read the book first!
Review: I didn't. I really wish I had because by seeing the movie i knew many of the surprises that the book had in store for me. You will be much better off if you go in as a blank slate. This book is a memorable experience, and it is definetely worth a read. It is really written more allegorically than literally, and it's characters aren't completely plausible, but it all fits together perfectly. While it's meager size (208 pages) makes for a quick read, it is a difficult book to just blast through due to its dark and gritty ideas. On the other hand, it is equally difficult to put it down, so you will likely find yourself finishing it rather rapidly. Unless you've seen the movie, it will likely take a couple of readings to get a handle on all the nuances of the story. Unless you hated the movie, or particularly squeemish, then this book is a keeper.
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Summary: a good book for ideas
Review: I saw the film version of "Fight Club" before picking up the book, but after reading it I must say the strongest point is the sheer ideas Chuck Palahniuk inserts into his prose. His style is ambitious but not pretentious, and his satire is quite relevant, especially in today's celebrtiy-oriented society. But where the book has ideas and philosophies that make sense, the movie ultimately gives "Fight Club" the visual boost it needs because Palahniuk's technical details (character description, etc.) aren't very strong. In general, this is a good book. If at all possible, I would've gone back and read it before I saw the movie.
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