Lullaby

De: Chuck Palahniuk

Narrado por: Richard Poe

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of the New York Times bestseller Choke and the cult classic Fight Club, a cunningly plotted novel about the ultimate verbal weapon, one that reinvents the apocalyptic thriller for our times.

Ever heard of a culling song? It’s a lullaby sung in Africa to give a painless death to the old or infirm. The lyrics of a culling song kill, whether spoken or even just thought. You can find one on page 27 of Poems and Rhymes from Around the World, an anthology that is sitting on the shelves of libraries across the country, waiting to be picked up by unsuspecting readers.

Reporter Carl Streator discovers the song’s lethal nature while researching Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and before he knows it, he’s reciting the poem to anyone who bothers him. As the body count rises, Streator glimpses the potential catastrophe if someone truly malicious finds out about the song. The only answer is to find and destroy every copy of the book in the country. Accompanied by a shady real-estate agent, her Wiccan assistant, and the assistant’s truly annoying ecoterrorist boyfriend, Streator begins a desperate cross-country quest to put the culling song to rest.

“A harrowing and hilarious glimpse into the future of civilization.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

©2002 Chuck Palahniuk (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Hilarious satire." (Publishers Weekly)

"Outrageous, darkly comic fun of the sort you'd expect from Palahniuk." (Kirkus Reviews)

"In his last novel, Choke, Palahniuk proved he could write a best seller without sacrificing his trademark biting satire. And in Lullaby, he manages an even more impressive feat by showing himself capable of tenderness as well as outrage." (Booklist)

"This is vintage Palahniuk: weird, creepy, twisted, upsetting, and ultimately a great read for anyone who wants to be scared for pleasure." (Library Journal)

Such an interesting concept

If you could sum up Lullaby in three words, what would they be?

Magic is alive

What did you like best about this story?

I thought the characters were well developed and even though it was a scary idea most show their internal character. The antaganist is a great person to hate

Which scene was your favorite?

When the hero must keep counting to ten to make sure he does not act with the power that he wants to control

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

be careful what you read, words are powerful

starts strong, then doesn't advance very much

Excited by the first chapter, full of possibilities by the end of the first third of the book; but, not much new gets introduced for the remainder. The themes are engaging when first introduced, but gets bland when repeated over and over again. The plot gets too neat, too convenient, too contrived throughout the second half: everything just seems to happen to prove a point instead of having outside motivators (like a morose sitcom).

OK, but a little long in the tooth

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The performance is wonderful. The story is dark, and can be very depressing at time. It is also a bit long winded. At times, it was a little hard to follow. All and all, it was OK, but not fantastic.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It ended like I expected.

What about Richard Poe’s performance did you like?

He created each character wonderfully. You could almost see them when he read their parts.

Could you see Lullaby being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It might be a good TV movie, perhaps on Syfi. I don't know who should star in it. I am not that up on the latest movie stars.

Any additional comments?

The ending is better than the beginning.

Chuck being Chuck

Not for the feint of heart, but if you enjoy his other work you'll love this.

A philosophical giant

Palahinuik in true form. The characters are all gritty and real, some of them you love, and some of them you just want to read the culling song to yourself. I really enjoyed the depth of uncomfortable philosophy involved. Palahinuik brings forth grand ideas and their ugly consequences. He puts the microscope of what is truly wrong, and what it is truly right, using parallels that seem odd but in a way couldn’t be explained any other way. (My personal favorite: “Maybe we don’t go to hell for the things we do, we go to Hell for the things we didn’t do”

The only reason I didn’t give this story 5 stars, however, is because with all the focus on philosophy, the story gets put a little by the wayside. It moved at a slow pace at times, and could even be a bit predictable. This is my third Palahinuik book, and compared to Fight Club, which I read cover to cover in a single day, and Invisible Monsters, this just failed to grab me all the way through. The third act starts to tie all the loose ends together, and then just ends abruptly. Maybe it keeps the magic, maybe it’s supposed to leave you asking questions, I’m not Palahinuik so I will never know. What I do know is I felt a bit unfulfilled at the ending.

All that being said, I really enjoyed this book, Richard Poe deserves a lot of credit for bringing Carl and the rest of the world to life. If You are a fan of the uncomfortable, meaty, and gritty style of Palahinuik, I 100% suggest this book to you