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Fight Club: A Novel
Fight Club (book)

A 1996 book by Chuck Palahniuk.

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This book is still a beautiful and unique snowflake.

  • Feb 6, 2009
  • by
Rating:
+5
I saw the movie "Fight Club" a couple years before I heard who Chuck Palahniuk was, and the film was a fantastic guy movie, and a pretty phenomenal flick all around. After I learned who Palahniuk was and read several of his other stories, I figured it was time to get to his first and probably most popular novel, "Fight Club." I was not disappointed.

From the introduction, Palahniuk sums up his goal with "Fight Club": to write a story where you get just the kernel of the story, the core bit, and to stack those one after another without any fluff, and he does this remarkably well. Each chapter starts with a premise bordering on ridiculous, then morphs into something grotesque or absurd yet believable, and ends before you have a chance to think about putting the book down, only to begin another chapter with the same structure but different ideas and actions. The things that flash through your mind in an instant, the things you have probably thought about but would never in a million years actually take seriously or attempt, this book is filled with those things, and suprisingly it draws you in even more than it grosses you out.

My one complaint, which isn't even really a complaint, is that if you've seen the movie you know exactly what's going to happen in the book. The sequence of events, the characters, the quotes, everything; the film mirrored them in stunning detail and made them all work together to produce an incredible movie. But the book came first, and it was so completely Palahniuk's story on screen more than most other novel adapations that he deserves the credit for the phenomenon it has become. And yet, even knowing exactly what would happen at every turn, the raw language and action of the book makes it an incredible enjoyable read that's easily worth the couple of hours it takes to breeze through the story. It's still a beautiful and unique snowflake, no matter what Tyler Durden says.

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More Fight Club (book) reviews
review by . August 04, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Okay, so I’m going to break the first two rules of Fight Club…       Made famous by the film, Fight Club is about fighting. “No, really?” I hear you cry, and sure, what’s so interesting about two guys beating each other up? Except the novel isn’t really about fighting. It’s about themes as wide ranging as love, grief, illness, terrorism, capitalism and the intricate workings of Western society. Whoa, big stuff.       …
Quick Tip by . September 24, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Quintessential Palahniuk that presents a good balance between an untrustworthy narrative and pop literature...
Quick Tip by . July 22, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
the book is passable, but the film is amazing! the extra visuals really make a difference.
Quick Tip by . July 16, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Palahniuk's irreverent critiques and parodies of society and consumerism make this an interesting and thoughtful work.
Quick Tip by . July 15, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
What if you had a crazy wake up call, and instead of preach peace you preach and spread the caos. Great story. Kind of weird end. What isn't weird in this book?!
Quick Tip by . July 04, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
a man with a split personality cannot cope with it and literally fights himself for control of his thought process. This is one of he silliest concepts ever to become a best seller!! and movie for gawd's sake !!
Quick Tip by . July 04, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Here's a goodly number of hours of my life that I'll never get back. I honestly cannot understand the attraction to Palahniuk's writing; it is bland, nonsensical, irrelevant, confusing, and has an "Emperor's New Clothes" aspect to his fan-base and critical reviewers that makes me even more suspicious. I just can't get into it.
Quick Tip by . July 02, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
One of my favorite Paluhniuk books.
Quick Tip by . July 01, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Another book made popular by the movie
Quick Tip by . June 30, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
hahahaha sexy but crazy story
see all Fight Club (book) reviews (19)
About the reviewer
Mark J. Lehman ()
Ranked #265
Member Since: Jan 2, 2009
Last Login: Sep 14, 2010 10:59 PM UTC
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About this book

Wiki

Fight Club is a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The book chronicles the experiences of an anonymous protagonist who is struggling with a growing discomfort with consumerism as a way of life, and with changes in the state of masculinity in American culture. To overcome this, he establishes an underground fighting club as radical psychotherapy.
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Tags

Books, Cafe Libri, Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Chuck Palahniuk, Chuck Palahniuk Books
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Details

ISBN-10: 0393327345
ISBN-13: 978-0393327342
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: W. W. Norton (October 3, 2005)
Polls with this book
Chuck Palahniuk's Choke

Chuck Palahniuk Fiction

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First to Review

"The First Rule of Fight Club is That You Don't Talk About It"
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