Fight Club

Chuck Palahniuk will take you on a wild trip in "Fight Club." I am not one for fiction as a rule, but this was a great surprise. You'll want to read more of his work. On the side, I might suggest that listeners try Palahniuk's collection of nonfiction writing, "Stranger than Fiction" before venturing to Fight Club. The is one wild tale, but listeners will gain insight into how the author works and thinks which - for me - made the book even better. After encountering this book you'll never view soap making, support-group meetings, love triangles (of sorts), motivation, mayhem, and consumer culture in general in quite the same way. If you have not read after Palahniuk, this might be the place to start.

"You buy furniture, you tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. buy the sofa, then for a couple of years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled, then the right set of dishes, then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things that you used to own, now they own you."

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all a part of the same compost pile."

"The first rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club. The second rule about fight club is you don't talk about fight club."

Our narrator hasn't slept in weeks. He hates his job, and feels trapped by his possessions after years of religiously studying the IKEA catalogue. Then he meets Tyler Durden and his life is transformed. Tyler doesn't believe in society. In fact, he has plans to destroy society. First by getting men to conquer their fears, then by raising an army of followers who are trained never to ask questions. A fascinating look at what can lurk between the cracks of a man's well-ordered life. Whether it's a paean to, or a criticism of nihilism is left to the reader to decide. Not for the faint of heart; it's a very bleak story but the catharsis sought by the Fight Club members can also infect the reader, as it did yours truly.

Palahniuk is a literary sadist. This novel hit me square in the solar plexus. Personally thought it was better, deeper and more graphic than the film. I enjoyed this book immensely. I love that a lot of the tone of the book is set based on the idea that current society is run by a group of men who were raised by women with few male role models. I also suggest "Haunted" to anyone who enjoyed this. "Haunted" is twice as graphic and brings to surface many unpleasant truths about "our" society and its general (mal)function.

This book is great. I enjoyed the story, and it was great to hear more the movie allowed. This ending is better then the movie. It is different but simular to the other Palahniuk books. Still a great read.

I was somewhat disapointed. I read Survivor and Diary by Chuck Palahniuk and liked them more than Fight Club. Normally I vastly prefer books to movies, but not in this case. I related to the main character(s) more in the movie for some reason. Although the movie follows the book farily closely, they just seem more whiney and naive in the original format. Afterall anarchy is well, anarchy you know, not the utopian ideal that is glorified in the book.

It's still is a wild ride that will keep you entertained, but after reading a few of his books it seems like the author is more interested in coming up with strange, flawed characters than anyone you could really get attached to. Each book has a different premise, but always contains protagonists who dance wildly on the fine line dividing deranged and genius. It was edgy and refreshing the first time I encountered the style but the charm wears off faster than expected.

Anyway I would still say it's worth the download, provided you don't mind the thought of rendering human fat to manufacture soap or other equally plesant topics.

When all is said and done, I think most adventurious listeners should try Chuck Palahniuk at least once. He really is an incomparable writer.

I was surprised and disappointed to discover that this novel just isn't that good. Despite a good narrator, large chunks of this book are boring. Usually, if a movie is based on a novel, and you like the movie, then the novel will add layers of enjoyment to the film. With Fight Club, though, the quality of the movie just ruins this mediocre novel. If you loved the movie, just watch it again and leave this book on the shelf.

One of the few movie is better than the book

As someone who had seen the movie, I knew a bit of what to expect, but not how it would unfold in the original book. The narrator did a great job of conveying the emotion of each moment, and really drawing me in. Even though I knew (probably) what was going to happen, I never felt like it was just the same story I already knew. The first person narrative really makes it. It's a pretty quick read, but I didn't feel you were short changed for it - it was just the right length for the story.

At times it's an uncomfortable story - this is not a story for the faint of heart - but a very thought provoking one.

Good book, short read and entertaining.

Marla, because she's pretty raw and dirty.

Tyler is a rock star and Jim does a great job performing his character.

No, I could stop and start the book as I drove to work.

No, it was a bit too vulgar and anarchistic for me.

I've read some, and it's one of his better ones. Survivor is my personal favorite of his though.

Yes.