Fight Club

Rating:
Summary: Another Case of "I Wish I Read It Before Watching It"
Review: I'm a latecomer to the Palahniuk experience. I also saw the movie before reading the book. What a shame, because the book is just so much better in every possible way. Fincher got the mood, but what about that awful ending in the movie? The novel gets its right 100%; there is no other way for the book to end; it is, after all, a nihilist work.

The only minus I have against Palahniuk's writing is that it's just a bit too repetitive at times. He reminds me of George Saunders in a way -- he's another author I can't read for too long. The prose gets into an automatic rhythm that's just too much to take in one sitting. Spread out in a couple of weeks, the underlying brilliance of their works overcomes their strong styles.

That's a tiny minus, though. It's a rare thing that a really different book comes out. Kudos to Palahniuk for managing to do something fresh even in this day and age.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtakingly Genius
Review: I've been a solid fan of chuck palahniuk ever since this great captivating book. This book is one of those where you start to even think like Chuck after a few days of reading it. This book was that gateway to his other books, others though very good, but not as comparable to this one. you will love yourself for buying this book. trust me.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This book is amazing, it's bloody brilliant. Like early Hemingway or Beckett, it shatters the all too pervasive template of 19th century narrative story-telling that still afflicts 99% of contemporary fiction.

By the way, if you love this book, read Kotzwinkle's Fan Man.

You won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: A Satirical Masterpiece
Review: A must read for anyone that has a dark sense of humor. If you often mock the routines of modern life, this is for you! Palahniuk is a genius when it comes to satire and you will NOT be disappointed. He creates twists that you would never expect. Well, he does give you hints, but you'll just have to read to find out! *Not for the overly sensitive.

Rating:
Summary: The rage of an all too civilized society!
Review: Having seen the film countless times, I finally took the plunge and ordered the book, hoping that it would flesh out on the main ideas of the movie. However despite being a good book i found it didn`t give me any deeper understanding of the concepts in the film and in many ways it leaves a lot open for your own interpretation, which is ultimately what made the film such a huge success.

So what is fight club trying to tell us then? What is it about the film/book that made so many people sit up and take notice?
It`s quite simple really! We live out the majority of our lives struggling to contain our emotions. Doing things without really knowing why, almost following a trend, a way of life dictated to us by society as being the right one ie. the one that will lead us to enlightenment. The problem is that this search for perfection has in itself given rise to an increased emptiness in our lives, as our primary instincts are telling us that completeness is a waste of time and hopelessly unfullfilling. So there`s a conflict going on here between our consumer driven society telling us how to run our lives, how to cope with problems and our primitive nature, that doesn`t want to be surpressed by civilised non-violent conformity. It wants to break free from all the conditioning! It doesn`t want to care about anything that society tells us is ideal and successful. In other words what car you drive, how big your house is, whether you`re beautiful or ugly, intelligent or stupid, good or bad. Tyler Durden`s philosophy is that by being so preoccupied with these things, we`re not living. We spend too much of our time comparing ourselves to perfection and worrying about not being perfect, or needing something more in our lives ie. Consumers.

Fight club does away with all of this! Fight club preaches anarchy, that we`re all worthless and by acknowledging our worthlessness we can be free, but this is just another extreme! It`s another "cancer support group" or a release of the anxieties created in our mundane jobs, our ordered boring lives...

Rating:
Summary: Movie - Book
Review: If you even liked the movie, you will love this book. It's very excellent and I have read it several times! It has excellent commentary and it's a true page-turner. It's really great, I can't use enough superlatives.

Rating:
Summary: First Rule, read this immediately
Review: We were raised on television to believe that we'd all be millionares, movie gods, rock stars, but we won't. And we're starting to figure that out

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: I had already seen the movie and year or so ago, and I finally got around to reading it. People say how good the movie is- well, this is better. It is a quick reader, and is loaded with great lines!

Rating:
Summary: ¿I know this because Tyler knows this...¿
Review: From the attention the movie received, I think many people were expecting your typical action story with tons of fighting. I wasn't even really anxious to see the movie, and I pride myself on enjoying action based movies (especially in a society where everyone thinks the only thing women enjoy watching is romance). Hollywood made it seem like it had the most basic of plots, nothing that would take a lot of thinking on the viewers' part. Wrong. After seeing the movie and grasping the complexity of the plot, I knew I had to read the book.

Chuck Palahnuik presents the story of an average guy. I'll call him "Joe Average" for the sake of this review. Joe Average could be anyone in today's capitalist America. He has a decent job, a decent place to live, a decent car; he pays his taxes, doesn't question "the man", consumes from that which he produces. He probably sounds like someone you know. Heck, he could even sound like YOU!

Joe Average can't sleep well. After unsuccessful treatment from the doctors, he discovers the joys of group therapy. He doesn't have an illness, but the sob stories told during the sessions make him realize that his "problems" aren't so bad. What could be worse than people with brain tumors, men who have breast from testosterone ratios, and people with blood parasites? With that knowledge in mind, he finds it easier to sleep at night because he could have it worse. This is his relief until he meets Marla Singer. She like him is a faker, and in Joe Average's mind, she's ruining it for him. For the first time, he is unable to release his own "problems" during these group sessions, and the insomnia returns - thus clearing the way for more serious problems while making a new "friend", if you will, of Marla Singer.

Not too long after Marla ruins his "joy", Joe Average meets Tyler Durden on one of his business trips. He first spots Tyler on a deserted beach trying to build a large sun clock. Tyler isn't the type of friend you bring home to mother. He splices images of genitalia into movies. He's mocking, opinionated, smug, and perhaps even dangerous. After a freak accident concerning his home and car (oh the horror!), Joe Average finds himself in a bar with Tyler. After releasing the woes of being fatherless children (among other things), Tyler tells Joe Average to hit him, and the Fight Club is born.

This story delves into the complexity of one man's life who's fed up with his average life. Readers watch as Mr. Average sinks into a life while the law of the land is settled by furious fists. Sick of the weak lives they lead in corporate America, Joe Average-as well as other men trapped in the monotony of life-battle it out in the basement of bars. Tyler and Joe Average build a mantra for men who are sick of their lives. They establish a wide-spread dogma for men who are tired of being corporate America's lapdog. However, this freedom doesn't come without consequences. Nothing this good-this free-comes without repercussions.

Fight Club is definitely a must read for those of us who like books that probes deeper than what can be seen. It explores the psychological state of Joe Average, his struggles with society. If you're looking for a good book filled with pointless violence, this probably isn't for you, but if you're looking for something that digs a little deeper, you'll probably find that in Fight Club.

Rating:
Summary: I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
Review: I'm one of those people who watched the movie, loved the movie and decided to pick up the book, hoping I would fall in love with it. I didn't fall in love with the book as much as I did with the movie. I would say that the book and movie both complement each other. There are parts in the book that help explain and shed light on parts in the movie and vice versa.

The book was easy to read, (and maybe because I already had an idea of what was going to happen) it just kept me wanting to read and read to find out what was going to happen next. The book is full of "quotes" and ideas that make you think about the consumer industry. There were also some scenes in the book that I wish made it into the movie (ie, "Marla's collagen fund") and a few other differences in the book compared to the movie.

It would be hard to recommend this book to anyone. I would say to read this book if you plan to watch the movie or if you have watched the movie. The book is a good supplement to the movie and vice versa. All I can say is, don't read it if you're in the mood for something to cheer you up and if you are offended by violent material (even though it's not supposed to be taken seriously: satire, people!). It's a book of cynicism, violence, mischief, mayhem and soap. But I personally wouldn't mind reading it again.