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W. W. Norton (1996), Editie: 1st, 208 pagina's
User reviews
LibraryThing member miketroll
It is impossible to underestimate this book. It is an utterly worthless piece of dried mucus, the literary equivalent of an invitation to suck a frozen dog turd. Images of that kind are typical of the book itself, an incoherent stream of gratuitous unpleasantness: blood, condoms in toilets, eyelids
The fashion for this kind of writing seems cyclical. The nihilistic drivellings of William Burroughs and Leonard Cohen were cool back in the 60s. “Nihilistic” is actually too fine a word for it; “punk lit” or “shit lit” may serve better. Its spirit is encapsulated in a few quotes from Fight Club:
“I wanted to destroy everything beautiful that I’d never have….I wanted to kill all the fish I couldn’t afford to eat, and smother the French beaches I’d never see. I wanted the whole world to hit bottom.”
“I am the all-singing, all-dancing crap of this world…..I am the toxic waste by-product of God’s creation.”
OK, so you’re feeling bad and your self-esteem is low. Is that a good enough reason to leave dog shit in a burning bag on your neighbour’s doorstep? That’s what Palahniuk does with this book.
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removed with razor blades, self-inflicted cigarette burns. Enough! You get the idea.The fashion for this kind of writing seems cyclical. The nihilistic drivellings of William Burroughs and Leonard Cohen were cool back in the 60s. “Nihilistic” is actually too fine a word for it; “punk lit” or “shit lit” may serve better. Its spirit is encapsulated in a few quotes from Fight Club:
“I wanted to destroy everything beautiful that I’d never have….I wanted to kill all the fish I couldn’t afford to eat, and smother the French beaches I’d never see. I wanted the whole world to hit bottom.”
“I am the all-singing, all-dancing crap of this world…..I am the toxic waste by-product of God’s creation.”
OK, so you’re feeling bad and your self-esteem is low. Is that a good enough reason to leave dog shit in a burning bag on your neighbour’s doorstep? That’s what Palahniuk does with this book.
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LibraryThing member keristars
I don't think I ever planned to actually read Fight Club. I definitely never intended to watch the film. It just didn't seem to be something I'd enjoy, as I tend to get bored with super-macho things that take themselves seriously. Besides which, I have an aversion to reading about drug experiences
I finally attempted this book at the recommendation of a coworker. Palahniuk is her favorite author, and when I said that I'd never read anything of his but had thought about it, she promptly returned the next day with Fight Club and told me that I had to read it. So, I did. It's a bit of a hit, and the movie was certainly popular, and I couldn't think of a good reason not to, especially after she told me that I probably wouldn't have a panic attack or anything because of the content, the way I did with Bastard Out of Carolina.
I was careful not to read spoilers about the book (or film) before starting, so I didn't really have any idea what I was getting into, except for knowing the rules, of course. I guess that I expected it to be an average sort of book with a hook that appeals to a lot of people, maybe like Twilight or the Da Vinci Code or My Sister's Keeper or something. I expected it to be about a middle America guy in a dead-end job who is bored with his life and so moves to a big city and gets caught up in these "fight clubs" in order to feel alive, and the book is about him hitting the bottom and despairing, with an ending that involves some hope and looking to the future and being okay with ordinary existence, maybe finding his niche and someone to care for.
I wasn't entirely wrong in my expectations, but I wasn't 100% correct, either, as anyone who has read the book will know. It's not so much of an average sort of novel as I'd thought it would be - the whole stream of consciousness style makes it stand out, and I do love the stream of consciousness technique. There's also a lot of really nice imagery, even if I sometimes felt that the symbolism was a bit too heavy.
The basic plot itself, though, I can't say I was wrong about. Maybe the ending didn't quite work out like I thought, but as I read the book, I began to realize that it wouldn't. Fight Club seems to be firmly on the low end of the sliding scale of cynicism vs idealism, though it sometimes tries to shift more towards the idealistic side. But the "realism" and the club and everything just won't let it settle there. And the romance, that someone to care for, is kind of twisted and bizarre.
I'm still kind of confused about how I feel about Fight Club, and I'm not sure I'll ever be not confused. The first few chapters were really great, very enjoyable. But somewhere around the middle, it was just strange and weird, and I was really wanting it to lighten up and stop being so serious and self-consciously "gritty". (That seems like the kind of word that would get assigned to this novel a lot.) I mean, the very beginning with all the repeated phrases and descriptions and the recipes for explosives was really cool, and then, it just... stopped being so cool. Maybe it's partly my fault because the second or third chapter, I twigged onto the big twist and skipped to the very end to check if I was right, and the very end in my copy happened to be an afterword, which pointed out how Palahniuk was going for a Great Gatsby kind of thing, so I then proceeded to mentally compare the two novels as I read. Perhaps because of this, I was less involved with the process of the storytelling? (On the other hand, I did get distracted from checking on the ending, and didn't have my suspicion fully confirmed until the very end. I actually started to wonder if maybe I'd seen a red herring, and Palahniuk wasn't going to do something so very obvious. But he did.)
Actually, the twist thing? I'm really disappointed in it. Like I said, I suspected it from very early on, though not that first chapter. I had hoped that since I saw it and suspected it, there was no way that it would actually be true, not with the way Palahniuk was doing stream of consciousness and all that symbolic stuff. I feel like he may as well have just said "lol, it was all a dream!" in the end - and, actually, that may be implied with the last few paragraphs. Which probably makes it worse.
I very much want to like Fight Club, and there are some parts that I really do like, but overall, it's just not my thing. Do I actively dislike it? I don't think so. And I'm glad that my coworker lent me her copy so that I could finally read it - it's definitely one of those novels that has entered into popular culture to the point that by not reading it, I was missing out on a lot of allusions and jokes. Especially with internet the way it is.
I'm not likely to ever want to re-read the book, and I don't think that I care to read anything else of Palahniuk's, at least not right now. It was a decent read, definitely engaging at the beginning, but it just didn't work quite right in the end for me. But I'm glad that I did read it.
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and certain kinds of violence in novels that dates back to childhood, and I always assumed that Fight Club would be too problematic for me to read.I finally attempted this book at the recommendation of a coworker. Palahniuk is her favorite author, and when I said that I'd never read anything of his but had thought about it, she promptly returned the next day with Fight Club and told me that I had to read it. So, I did. It's a bit of a hit, and the movie was certainly popular, and I couldn't think of a good reason not to, especially after she told me that I probably wouldn't have a panic attack or anything because of the content, the way I did with Bastard Out of Carolina.
I was careful not to read spoilers about the book (or film) before starting, so I didn't really have any idea what I was getting into, except for knowing the rules, of course. I guess that I expected it to be an average sort of book with a hook that appeals to a lot of people, maybe like Twilight or the Da Vinci Code or My Sister's Keeper or something. I expected it to be about a middle America guy in a dead-end job who is bored with his life and so moves to a big city and gets caught up in these "fight clubs" in order to feel alive, and the book is about him hitting the bottom and despairing, with an ending that involves some hope and looking to the future and being okay with ordinary existence, maybe finding his niche and someone to care for.
I wasn't entirely wrong in my expectations, but I wasn't 100% correct, either, as anyone who has read the book will know. It's not so much of an average sort of novel as I'd thought it would be - the whole stream of consciousness style makes it stand out, and I do love the stream of consciousness technique. There's also a lot of really nice imagery, even if I sometimes felt that the symbolism was a bit too heavy.
The basic plot itself, though, I can't say I was wrong about. Maybe the ending didn't quite work out like I thought, but as I read the book, I began to realize that it wouldn't. Fight Club seems to be firmly on the low end of the sliding scale of cynicism vs idealism, though it sometimes tries to shift more towards the idealistic side. But the "realism" and the club and everything just won't let it settle there. And the romance, that someone to care for, is kind of twisted and bizarre.
I'm still kind of confused about how I feel about Fight Club, and I'm not sure I'll ever be not confused. The first few chapters were really great, very enjoyable. But somewhere around the middle, it was just strange and weird, and I was really wanting it to lighten up and stop being so serious and self-consciously "gritty". (That seems like the kind of word that would get assigned to this novel a lot.) I mean, the very beginning with all the repeated phrases and descriptions and the recipes for explosives was really cool, and then, it just... stopped being so cool. Maybe it's partly my fault because the second or third chapter, I twigged onto the big twist and skipped to the very end to check if I was right, and the very end in my copy happened to be an afterword, which pointed out how Palahniuk was going for a Great Gatsby kind of thing, so I then proceeded to mentally compare the two novels as I read. Perhaps because of this, I was less involved with the process of the storytelling? (On the other hand, I did get distracted from checking on the ending, and didn't have my suspicion fully confirmed until the very end. I actually started to wonder if maybe I'd seen a red herring, and Palahniuk wasn't going to do something so very obvious. But he did.)
Actually, the twist thing? I'm really disappointed in it. Like I said, I suspected it from very early on, though not that first chapter. I had hoped that since I saw it and suspected it, there was no way that it would actually be true, not with the way Palahniuk was doing stream of consciousness and all that symbolic stuff. I feel like he may as well have just said "lol, it was all a dream!" in the end - and, actually, that may be implied with the last few paragraphs. Which probably makes it worse.
I very much want to like Fight Club, and there are some parts that I really do like, but overall, it's just not my thing. Do I actively dislike it? I don't think so. And I'm glad that my coworker lent me her copy so that I could finally read it - it's definitely one of those novels that has entered into popular culture to the point that by not reading it, I was missing out on a lot of allusions and jokes. Especially with internet the way it is.
I'm not likely to ever want to re-read the book, and I don't think that I care to read anything else of Palahniuk's, at least not right now. It was a decent read, definitely engaging at the beginning, but it just didn't work quite right in the end for me. But I'm glad that I did read it.
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LibraryThing member tally1302
In my mind, Fight Club is one of those intellectual books that learnered people always assume you have read - along with Orwell's 1984 and, at least in South Africa, Paton's Cry the Beloved Country. I don't know if the book was as popular before the widely-successful movie, but I know that now if
I think the important thing about such "intellectual" books, is that they really say something that has not been said, or has not been said in such a gripping way, before.
Fight club is more than just the story of some blue collar worker. It attempts to distil what it means to be human and in particular a man in modern society. Take away the stuff, take away a concept of time, take away the social norms and what do you get? Fight Club.
The Narrator, never named, is the epitome of the modern business man. He has a job, an apartment decked out in style and he flies overseas all the time for work. His only quirk is that he suffers from insomnia, possibly as a result of all the jet lag that comes with heavy travelling. Since his doctor has no solution, he finds himself at support groups - for everything from testicular cancer to parasites. By pretending to be ill, he finds warmth and acceptance and is able to release his tension by crying - which enables him to sleep.
But when another support group tourist, Marla Singer, starts coming to his groups, everything changes. Rapidly his controlled life spins away from him, starting with the groups, including his apartment blowing up while he's away on business and leading to him staying with the eccentric Tyler Durton who represents everything he's ever wanted to be - free, confident and attractive.
Tyler and the Narrator discover that beating each other up is also a way to release tension and very soon they have a huge following of men who want to regain their masculinity and release their frustrations with the blue collar life by pounding on each other - Fight Club.
The rules and regulations make Fight Club particularly attractive... but when does a club become a cult?
This is what Palahniuk had to say in the Afterword that forms a part of this edition:
"[At the time I started writing]...The bookstores were full of books like The Joy Luck Club and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and How to Make an American Quilt. These were all novels that presented a social model for women to be together. To sit together and tell their stories. To share their lives. But there was no novel that presented a new social model for men to share their lives.
It would have to give men the structure and rules and rules of a game - or a task - but not too touchy-feely. It would have to model a new way to gather and be together. It could've been "Barn-Raising Club" or "Golf Club" and it would've probably sold a lot more books. Something non-threatening."
It ended up being Fight Club, defining a new masculinity in a time when society venerates metrosexuality. The first support group that the narrator attends is called "Remaining men together" (testicular cancer) and that sets the theme. The book is filled with icons of masculinity and threats to that ideal, leaving the reader with the ultimate question of what does it mean to be a man?
Does it mean beating each other up?
Living like cave men?
Tossing away all responsibility and accountability in order to be truly free just to be?
The book is a gripping thought experiment. It gives no answers, merely possibilities. At the same time it weaves an engrossing tale of destruction and redemption, packed with quotable phrases and vivid imagery.
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you were to quote it to a stranger in the street there's a good chance they'd know what you were talking about.I think the important thing about such "intellectual" books, is that they really say something that has not been said, or has not been said in such a gripping way, before.
Fight club is more than just the story of some blue collar worker. It attempts to distil what it means to be human and in particular a man in modern society. Take away the stuff, take away a concept of time, take away the social norms and what do you get? Fight Club.
The Narrator, never named, is the epitome of the modern business man. He has a job, an apartment decked out in style and he flies overseas all the time for work. His only quirk is that he suffers from insomnia, possibly as a result of all the jet lag that comes with heavy travelling. Since his doctor has no solution, he finds himself at support groups - for everything from testicular cancer to parasites. By pretending to be ill, he finds warmth and acceptance and is able to release his tension by crying - which enables him to sleep.
But when another support group tourist, Marla Singer, starts coming to his groups, everything changes. Rapidly his controlled life spins away from him, starting with the groups, including his apartment blowing up while he's away on business and leading to him staying with the eccentric Tyler Durton who represents everything he's ever wanted to be - free, confident and attractive.
Tyler and the Narrator discover that beating each other up is also a way to release tension and very soon they have a huge following of men who want to regain their masculinity and release their frustrations with the blue collar life by pounding on each other - Fight Club.
The rules and regulations make Fight Club particularly attractive... but when does a club become a cult?
This is what Palahniuk had to say in the Afterword that forms a part of this edition:
"[At the time I started writing]...The bookstores were full of books like The Joy Luck Club and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and How to Make an American Quilt. These were all novels that presented a social model for women to be together. To sit together and tell their stories. To share their lives. But there was no novel that presented a new social model for men to share their lives.
It would have to give men the structure and rules and rules of a game - or a task - but not too touchy-feely. It would have to model a new way to gather and be together. It could've been "Barn-Raising Club" or "Golf Club" and it would've probably sold a lot more books. Something non-threatening."
It ended up being Fight Club, defining a new masculinity in a time when society venerates metrosexuality. The first support group that the narrator attends is called "Remaining men together" (testicular cancer) and that sets the theme. The book is filled with icons of masculinity and threats to that ideal, leaving the reader with the ultimate question of what does it mean to be a man?
Does it mean beating each other up?
Living like cave men?
Tossing away all responsibility and accountability in order to be truly free just to be?
The book is a gripping thought experiment. It gives no answers, merely possibilities. At the same time it weaves an engrossing tale of destruction and redemption, packed with quotable phrases and vivid imagery.
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LibraryThing member Quixada
So this morning I had about 30 pages left of this book to read. I was reading it while eating breakfast. I couldn’t stop reading it. It literally made me late for work. I don’t think a book has ever made me late for work.
It blew me away. Prior to Fight Club I had only read one other Palahniuk
The only criticism I have is that he overuses the writing technique of throwing the reader into a chapter or situation and letting him figure out what is happening. It is good that you don’t demean the reader’s intelligence, but it was just one “okay, now what the hell is going on?” after another. I remember Choke was like that too.
A previous reviewer said the book was sort of a mind fuck. My mind didn’t feel fucked in any way. Maybe beat up a little…
My edition had an Afterwards that I thought was brilliant. In it he wrote about being in London at a book signing and meeting a waiter from a 5-star restaurant. The waiter told him that he had done similar things to food as described in the book and he had done it to celebrities. Palahniuk asked him to give him a name but the waiter said it was too risky. Palahniuk refused to sign the book unless he told him a name. So the waiter whispered to him that about five times Margaret Thatcher had drank his…uhm… well…, you will have to just read it for yourself.
It blew me away. Prior to Fight Club I had only read one other Palahniuk
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and that was Choke and I wasn’t terribly impressed with it. I was however terribly impressed with Fight Club. It is about anarchy and a fucked up culture. And it is a love story. All wrapped up in one. The only criticism I have is that he overuses the writing technique of throwing the reader into a chapter or situation and letting him figure out what is happening. It is good that you don’t demean the reader’s intelligence, but it was just one “okay, now what the hell is going on?” after another. I remember Choke was like that too.
A previous reviewer said the book was sort of a mind fuck. My mind didn’t feel fucked in any way. Maybe beat up a little…
My edition had an Afterwards that I thought was brilliant. In it he wrote about being in London at a book signing and meeting a waiter from a 5-star restaurant. The waiter told him that he had done similar things to food as described in the book and he had done it to celebrities. Palahniuk asked him to give him a name but the waiter said it was too risky. Palahniuk refused to sign the book unless he told him a name. So the waiter whispered to him that about five times Margaret Thatcher had drank his…uhm… well…, you will have to just read it for yourself.
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LibraryThing member KevinJoseph
This was my first Chuck Palahniuk. Though I've heard a lot about his novels, as well as the film adaptation of Fight Club, I've always been turned off by his dark, nihilistic outlook. After completing Fight Club, I must acknowledge Palahniuks's shock value, yet I'm not convinced that he is the
In the Afterward, Palaniuk recounts how Chapter Six of Fight Club was orginally published as a short story. The novel, it turns out, was simply built open the shocking premise of this Chapter Six, resulting in a thinly ploted, repetitive rant that amplifies the short story from which it was born. (I hope never again to see in print the ubiquitous phrase, "The first rule about Fight Club is you don't talk about fight club.")
Told from the first-person perspective of an insomniac whose professional and personal malaise is pushing him toward the brink of madness, this novel is brimming with shocking anecdotes, recipes for making homemade explosives and other tools for the weekend anarchist, as well as the larger-than-life antics of Tyler Durden, the founder of a secret underground fight club that morphs into a grass roots cult of anarchy.
If this premise appeals to you (and you're a sucker for the mind-bending plot twist), you'll probably appreciate this book. If not, you might want to seek out something more romantic or life-affirming for your entertainment.
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great novelist many portray him to be, nor am I very sympathetic toward this mean-spirited rant against modern civilization.In the Afterward, Palaniuk recounts how Chapter Six of Fight Club was orginally published as a short story. The novel, it turns out, was simply built open the shocking premise of this Chapter Six, resulting in a thinly ploted, repetitive rant that amplifies the short story from which it was born. (I hope never again to see in print the ubiquitous phrase, "The first rule about Fight Club is you don't talk about fight club.")
Told from the first-person perspective of an insomniac whose professional and personal malaise is pushing him toward the brink of madness, this novel is brimming with shocking anecdotes, recipes for making homemade explosives and other tools for the weekend anarchist, as well as the larger-than-life antics of Tyler Durden, the founder of a secret underground fight club that morphs into a grass roots cult of anarchy.
If this premise appeals to you (and you're a sucker for the mind-bending plot twist), you'll probably appreciate this book. If not, you might want to seek out something more romantic or life-affirming for your entertainment.
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LibraryThing member Ti99er
So I’d love to tell you about the book I just read, but the first rule of Fight Club is, “you don’t talk about Fight Club.” So I could disregard the first rule, but the second rule of Fight Club is, “you don’t talk about Fight Club.” So I am kinda screwed now, cause if I tell you
If you haven’t head of Fight Club by now, then where the heck have you been? Pick it up, read it, and enjoy it. Great book!
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anything at all, I am breaking the first two rules. If you haven’t head of Fight Club by now, then where the heck have you been? Pick it up, read it, and enjoy it. Great book!
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LibraryThing member bethanydhart
Well, really. You must already know what you’re getting into with this novel. Representing a tried-and-true sample of transgressional fiction, it hands you the bloody destruction, abrasive wit, pursuit of isolation and (oddly enough) enlightenment that you probably crave. But it’s annihilated
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via blender and held together only by the thin, but effective, repetition of the rules of fight club. You know I can’t talk about it. Show Less
LibraryThing member ngeunit1
I feel like this novel is really everything that is great about the movie and more, almost as if the movie is really just an introduction to the book to incite us into reading it. I think, even knowing some of the big surprises from the movie, they are just presented in a different way that they
But stepping away from comparisons to the movie, this is an amazing novel. It is exciting, dirty, dark, and fun all at the same time. Palahnuik does a great job of really grabbing the reader's attention and really pulling them into the world he creates and guiding them around an absolutely great story. He does all this while giving the reader just enough detail to keep them engaged and an understanding of what is going on, but at the same time, keeps them in the dark about a lot of elements too. This is what enables him to create the real climax of the story. And even knowing that it is coming, this section of the novel is just amazingly told part of the story.
I also really enjoyed the description of Project Mayhem and how much detail that we get about it throughout the novel. And the narrative of the Fight Club scenes is also very well told. It is the perfect level of detail that we get a great feeling of being there and just how brutal it is while not getting hung up on it. Some may feel that some of the more brutal and gruesome descriptions in the novel take it a bit too far, but I think it really sets the tone for the novel and really characterizes our protagonist.
All in all, this turns out to be a very different story then the movie, and in my opinion a better one. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the movie, and to anyone who has not seen the movie, to pick this up and give it a shot before watching the movie.
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feel even more powerful in this version of the story. But stepping away from comparisons to the movie, this is an amazing novel. It is exciting, dirty, dark, and fun all at the same time. Palahnuik does a great job of really grabbing the reader's attention and really pulling them into the world he creates and guiding them around an absolutely great story. He does all this while giving the reader just enough detail to keep them engaged and an understanding of what is going on, but at the same time, keeps them in the dark about a lot of elements too. This is what enables him to create the real climax of the story. And even knowing that it is coming, this section of the novel is just amazingly told part of the story.
I also really enjoyed the description of Project Mayhem and how much detail that we get about it throughout the novel. And the narrative of the Fight Club scenes is also very well told. It is the perfect level of detail that we get a great feeling of being there and just how brutal it is while not getting hung up on it. Some may feel that some of the more brutal and gruesome descriptions in the novel take it a bit too far, but I think it really sets the tone for the novel and really characterizes our protagonist.
All in all, this turns out to be a very different story then the movie, and in my opinion a better one. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the movie, and to anyone who has not seen the movie, to pick this up and give it a shot before watching the movie.
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LibraryThing member tduvally
Re-read after a few years and it's still a great book. What I love about Palahniuk is that he (I think) is carefully, slowly and almost imperceptibly tearing apart what you think he is glorifying the whole time. For a huge chunk of a story it can be infuriating, but it is completely worth it.
LibraryThing member Rachissy
First of all, I do not live under a rock so I have seen the movie based on this book countless times. It's one I quite enjoy and not just because it features a lovely shirtless Brad Pitt. Somehow, despite being a fan of the movie, I just never managed to get around to reading the book. My husband
As it turns out, he was right (don't tell him!). With the exception of a handful of small changes here and there, the book is essentially the same story I've been enjoying for years. I know the book is always better but I was a little scared that they would be too different and that the book would ruin the movie for me as I'd be forever comparing the differences from here on out.
I am Jack's overwhelming sense of relief.
I have to add that that it takes real talent to make me forget that I know the big twist at the end through most of the book. I knew it was there of course, but I was able to push that knowledge aside and enjoy the book on it's own. It's an insanely quick read and a good time was had by all.
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came home from work one day and told me he read the e-book online at work that night because work was slow and he was bored. He told me it had small differences but was pretty much the same. Now, my hubby is not a reader. On the few occasions that he actually picks up a book, it will almost always be a non-fiction book about physics. So, we really don't talk about books, like ever. This was enough motivation for me to get off my duff and pick up the book.As it turns out, he was right (don't tell him!). With the exception of a handful of small changes here and there, the book is essentially the same story I've been enjoying for years. I know the book is always better but I was a little scared that they would be too different and that the book would ruin the movie for me as I'd be forever comparing the differences from here on out.
I am Jack's overwhelming sense of relief.
I have to add that that it takes real talent to make me forget that I know the big twist at the end through most of the book. I knew it was there of course, but I was able to push that knowledge aside and enjoy the book on it's own. It's an insanely quick read and a good time was had by all.
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LibraryThing member guyportman
The protagonist, who remains nameless, is an insomniac leading a bland corporate existence, investigating accidents for a car company, whose only concern is profit. Unable to find meaning in a faceless consumerist society, he instead seeks solace in support groups, for a wide range of potentially
Everything changes abruptly when our main character meets Tyler Durden, a fervent anarchist, who works as a projectionist and waiter. Tyler is hellbent on creating mayhem at every opportunity, even during his working hours, when he can be found inserting obscene images onto film reels and urinating in his hotel’s wealthy clients’ soups.
Tyler, whose belligerent attitude towards social norms is matched only by his organisational skills and leadership abilities, forms a fight club. Every Sunday during the early hours men congregate to fight one-on-one in basements and car lots. These disenfranchised young men were brought up with absent fathers and fed on a diet of mass media that led them to believe they would be superstars. It is only now that they have come to the realisation that their destiny is to toil in low paid blue-collar positions and office jobs, devoid of meaning. These angry individuals, now empowered by Fight Club are ready to bring about Tyler’s dream of returning the world to a hunter-gatherer society. Our protagonist had until his introduction to Fight Club been a co-operative and meek employee, but now he typifies this response and casts a sinister presence in the office, constantly bruised, bloodied and with the permanent fixture of a hole through his cheek. The Fight Club phenomena soon becomes a frenzy, with new clubs forming throughout the country and Tyler finds his dream of bringing about social dissolution gaining momentum, as his plans evolve into self-destruction and terrorism with Project Mayhem. However we discover that all is not what it initially appears to be when a revelation alters the protagonist’s understanding and reaction to the unfolding events.
Palahniuk takes us on a journey through a dark, menacing and brutal world that mirrors the film it inspired almost exactly. Fight Club is nothing if not controversial and the constant violent descriptions, nihilism and references to subjects such as human soap and descriptions of disease will not be to every reader’s liking. However whatever our personal opinion may be on these matters, it is widely accepted that Fight Club proves to be adept at both exploring the very nature of violent behaviour and commenting on society at large.
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terminal diseases, including testicular cancer and brain parasites, ailments which he himself is not afflicted with. He is not alone in masquerading as the seriously ill: there is also Marla, a dysfunctional nihilist with a deeply troubled past, whose presence at these gatherings he resents.Everything changes abruptly when our main character meets Tyler Durden, a fervent anarchist, who works as a projectionist and waiter. Tyler is hellbent on creating mayhem at every opportunity, even during his working hours, when he can be found inserting obscene images onto film reels and urinating in his hotel’s wealthy clients’ soups.
Tyler, whose belligerent attitude towards social norms is matched only by his organisational skills and leadership abilities, forms a fight club. Every Sunday during the early hours men congregate to fight one-on-one in basements and car lots. These disenfranchised young men were brought up with absent fathers and fed on a diet of mass media that led them to believe they would be superstars. It is only now that they have come to the realisation that their destiny is to toil in low paid blue-collar positions and office jobs, devoid of meaning. These angry individuals, now empowered by Fight Club are ready to bring about Tyler’s dream of returning the world to a hunter-gatherer society. Our protagonist had until his introduction to Fight Club been a co-operative and meek employee, but now he typifies this response and casts a sinister presence in the office, constantly bruised, bloodied and with the permanent fixture of a hole through his cheek. The Fight Club phenomena soon becomes a frenzy, with new clubs forming throughout the country and Tyler finds his dream of bringing about social dissolution gaining momentum, as his plans evolve into self-destruction and terrorism with Project Mayhem. However we discover that all is not what it initially appears to be when a revelation alters the protagonist’s understanding and reaction to the unfolding events.
Palahniuk takes us on a journey through a dark, menacing and brutal world that mirrors the film it inspired almost exactly. Fight Club is nothing if not controversial and the constant violent descriptions, nihilism and references to subjects such as human soap and descriptions of disease will not be to every reader’s liking. However whatever our personal opinion may be on these matters, it is widely accepted that Fight Club proves to be adept at both exploring the very nature of violent behaviour and commenting on society at large.
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LibraryThing member aethercowboy
I would imagine that most people who have heard of Fight Club haven’t actually read the book, but instead, have seen the David Fincher film based on the book.
It seems odd reviewing this book, as there’s really nothing more to say about it that hasn’t already been said. Palahniuk has risen
But Fight Club is where it all started: a man who is hardly a man meets up with a man that fulfills his ideal of a man, and the two start a self-help group for other men who are hardly men. This group, which involves bare-knuckle boxing, as opposed to sitting around in a circle, discussing feelings, seems to work at first, until it begins to spiral out of control, which, as an aside, I find humorous, as this is the case with real-world “fight clubs,” which are more about fighting and less about men without solid father figures trying to rise above their psychological emasculation, but I digress.
Things elevate, and soon, the narrator discovers that his good friend is running a major organization that controls the base aspects of society: where we sleep, eat, relax. And he has scary visions of a world without materialism, without aesthetics, and without rampant consumerism aided by seemingly infinite credit.
There are several other twists and turns, many of which are in the film adaptation.
But why should you read Fight Club? The film was made over ten years ago, and probably isn’t really on your radar. Palahniuk has written a dozen other books since. Why read Fight Club. If you’re looking to start reading Palahniuk, then you should definitely start there. If you’ve read more recent Palahniuk, though, you may want to skip Fight Club or put it off until you have less pressing things to read. Palahniuk’s writing style does seem to improve with each new book, and to read an older piece after reading a newer piece may very well disappoint. The book itself is not that much of a reading commitment; however, so even if you hate it, it shouldn’t keep you from reading whatever other books you like for too long.
It seems odd reviewing this book, as there’s really nothing more to say about it that hasn’t already been said. Palahniuk has risen
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from obscurity, writing a new book every few years, and more and more people can accurately pronounce and spell his name. Two of his books have been adapted to the big screen, and several others are currently being adapted or stuck in development hell.But Fight Club is where it all started: a man who is hardly a man meets up with a man that fulfills his ideal of a man, and the two start a self-help group for other men who are hardly men. This group, which involves bare-knuckle boxing, as opposed to sitting around in a circle, discussing feelings, seems to work at first, until it begins to spiral out of control, which, as an aside, I find humorous, as this is the case with real-world “fight clubs,” which are more about fighting and less about men without solid father figures trying to rise above their psychological emasculation, but I digress.
Things elevate, and soon, the narrator discovers that his good friend is running a major organization that controls the base aspects of society: where we sleep, eat, relax. And he has scary visions of a world without materialism, without aesthetics, and without rampant consumerism aided by seemingly infinite credit.
There are several other twists and turns, many of which are in the film adaptation.
But why should you read Fight Club? The film was made over ten years ago, and probably isn’t really on your radar. Palahniuk has written a dozen other books since. Why read Fight Club. If you’re looking to start reading Palahniuk, then you should definitely start there. If you’ve read more recent Palahniuk, though, you may want to skip Fight Club or put it off until you have less pressing things to read. Palahniuk’s writing style does seem to improve with each new book, and to read an older piece after reading a newer piece may very well disappoint. The book itself is not that much of a reading commitment; however, so even if you hate it, it shouldn’t keep you from reading whatever other books you like for too long.
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LibraryThing member THE_ROCK
This book is hard hitting packed with ideas, showing you reality in a very matrix kind of way but realistic enough for a person living in a modern society to realise that we dont really live all we do is exist. Break free dont consider any boundries do what you please. A very anarchist point of
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view. I loved it ;) Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnB
This isn't what I usually read. Several colleagues expressed surprise to see me with this book. They said (didn't ask) "you don't like it." LT's "will you like it feature" says I "probably won't" like it, certainty "very high".
All of that is an accurate reflection of who I am and what I read. And
Reading Fight Club, I was, at times, horrified but couldn't put it down. At times, I thought it was just so improbable and unrealistic and stupid. But couldn't put it down.
Fight Club is violent. I'm glad I didn't even try to watch the movie. Fight club is about disease, consumerism, and the relative absence of fathers in boys' lives. It's about the need for heroes, and for leadership in a society where there is often neither.
It was an experience for me to look at, and reflect on, things from a perspective very different from my own. It's very well written. I loved it. I will never read it again. I won't have to, because I'll never forget it.
All of that is an accurate reflection of who I am and what I read. And
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all of it proved to be wrong.Reading Fight Club, I was, at times, horrified but couldn't put it down. At times, I thought it was just so improbable and unrealistic and stupid. But couldn't put it down.
Fight Club is violent. I'm glad I didn't even try to watch the movie. Fight club is about disease, consumerism, and the relative absence of fathers in boys' lives. It's about the need for heroes, and for leadership in a society where there is often neither.
It was an experience for me to look at, and reflect on, things from a perspective very different from my own. It's very well written. I loved it. I will never read it again. I won't have to, because I'll never forget it.
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LibraryThing member jayne_charles
I came to this already knowing the plot twist – I suppose when a novel becomes famous...becomes a film, these things tend to leech out. It was still a good read – I like the way he structures the story, each chapter appearing to take you off at a tangent, but always leading you back to familiar
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ground in the end. There is a feeling, too, of danger and of infinite possibilities. You could never accuse it of being safe or predictable. If I hadn’t known how it turns out, would I have guessed? Probably not. Show Less
LibraryThing member sunnyd13
One of the rare case where the movie outdoes the film.
LibraryThing member Jayeless
I'm not sure what to say about this book, really! I dashed through it in the time it took to listen to 2.5 albums. The writing is tense – short sentences, all action, no detail. The central message of the book is, or seemed to me to be, that working life sucks and life is pointless. It's the
The people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are the cooks and the taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.
The book is really depressing. Marla's philosophy is that no one should get old, and Tyler clearly has no objection to thrill-seeking in violence and cruelty.The protagonist actually does react against this to a certain extent and claims that Tyler's gone too far, but this is purely out of self-interest - he doesn't want to lose his body to his alter ego Tyler, he doesn't want to be castrated, and he doesn't want Marla (who he's developed some affection for) to die. I guess there's a reason why this book gets called nihilist.
The other complaint I could make is that it's a book all about machismo, with only one female character, but it didn't really bother me that much; machismo is just the topic of the book. Books can't just explore everything ever - that's why we read a range of books - and this one was self-consciously about machismo and the masculine, so it didn't bother me the way it would have in a book that wasn't about that. And having said that, I'm unsure why I bothered writing this entire paragraph. Because it's something that crossed my mind while reading, I guess.
Overall, it was quite the page-turner and I enjoyed it, with its appropriately climactic ending and all. I recommend it, especially since it's short! (Jan 2013)
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protagonist's hatred for his life that spawns his alter ego Tyler, and thus instigates all the events of the book. The thrill of violence, of cruelty, appeals to the men who fight because it's the only escape their have from their monotonous and deeply pointless existence. Of course, the reality is that most working class people's lives are monotonous and miserable, and the book is reasonably class conscious, with for instance this amazing paragraph:The people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are the cooks and the taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.
The book is really depressing. Marla's philosophy is that no one should get old, and Tyler clearly has no objection to thrill-seeking in violence and cruelty.
The other complaint I could make is that it's a book all about machismo, with only one female character, but it didn't really bother me that much; machismo is just the topic of the book. Books can't just explore everything ever - that's why we read a range of books - and this one was self-consciously about machismo and the masculine, so it didn't bother me the way it would have in a book that wasn't about that. And having said that, I'm unsure why I bothered writing this entire paragraph. Because it's something that crossed my mind while reading, I guess.
Overall, it was quite the page-turner and I enjoyed it, with its appropriately climactic ending and all. I recommend it, especially since it's short! (Jan 2013)
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LibraryThing member misslilpaw
Ever feel like something is…wrong? Like the stuff you own is starting to own you? Like you’ve been tricked into the nine to five grind, and the cheap, comfortable, Norwegian themed furniture lifestyle offered up in IKEA catalogs? If the answer is yes, well, you are not alone. Our story’s hero
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is a nameless ‘Everyman’ who is feeling the same way, coping with a stale, unfeeling existence in the best way he can (he attends a myriad of group sessions for people with severe health crisies.) Yes. It’s a bizarre kind of pick-me-up, but it does the trick, loosening up our hero’s emotional congestion just enough to allow him a good night’s sleep. But that’s just the beginning because then there is Marla. Poor Marla. And then…well, then there is Tyler. Tyler…defies explaining. And then…there is Fight Club, Tyler’s and our Everyman’s invention for coping with the mundane. First rule of Fight Club? No one talks about Fight Club. Second rule of Fight Club? No. One. Talks. About. Fight. Club. Now get reading because it may change your life. Or the way you think about life (and death.) Tyler Durden can do that to you. Show Less
LibraryThing member Radaghast
A novel that will make you think (and possibly make you nauseous). Ultimately, I reject almost every conclusion Fight Club draws about the world we live in. But you cannot dismiss them out of hand.
LibraryThing member chasehimself08
A really good book that draws in the reader from the very first sentence and drags you through an emotional rollercoaster until the last breathtaking sentence. This novel creates a new style of its' own.
LibraryThing member elissajanine
I'm glad I read this book--I've been meaning to for years and years. I think it was original and a bit maddening, and I wish somehow I could go back in time and read it before I knew anything at all about it, to see what it felt like to discover it fresh.
LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
Fight Club is a rare instance in which the distinctly faithful movie adaptation is superior to the original novel, but both are quite good. For a first novel, Fight Club is pretty awesome. It showcases a plot dynamic and an authorial voice that predominate throughout Palahniuk's first handful of
Palahniuk's implied critique of modern therapeutic culture is incisive, as is the proposed alternative of liberating destruction. Note too that the class analysis to which this book is subjected is often off-base. The protagonist is not a blue-collar proletarian. He is very much a white-collar bourgeois, initially trapped in his glossy catalog consumer milieu and his soul-draining actuarial work of determining allowable margins of death and harm from faulty products. But, by the author's own admission, the kernel of the book is the problematics of gender, for which economic and psychotherapeutic dilemmas are a mere backdrop.
Occultist magicians may profit from considering the story to illustrate the protagonist's progress from Dominus Liminis to and through the Adventure of the Abyss.
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books. That voice includes what seems like an endless supply of sardonic wit. Palahniuk's implied critique of modern therapeutic culture is incisive, as is the proposed alternative of liberating destruction. Note too that the class analysis to which this book is subjected is often off-base. The protagonist is not a blue-collar proletarian. He is very much a white-collar bourgeois, initially trapped in his glossy catalog consumer milieu and his soul-draining actuarial work of determining allowable margins of death and harm from faulty products. But, by the author's own admission, the kernel of the book is the problematics of gender, for which economic and psychotherapeutic dilemmas are a mere backdrop.
Occultist magicians may profit from considering the story to illustrate the protagonist's progress from Dominus Liminis to and through the Adventure of the Abyss.
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LibraryThing member keebrook
i am Chuck’s Anticivilization Catharsis.
we want numbly the breakdown of all that holds us to civilized behavior. we are trapped in this mundane life and live so far from our biology that we have ceased to thrive. we feel it and we don’t. we long for free air where our moves aren’t
Palahniuck offers a release valve for this impacted rage in the form of a compelling vision of a would-be revolution against the fundamentals of modern Western culture. no more wage slavery, no more taxation, no more PTO, fossil fuels. just realize we are crud on the shoe of the universe and take us back to the Garden, please, where we can don the mantle of Noble Savage once again and live happily “stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center.”
the movie? a masterpiece. as a book adaptation? spot on. it captures the atmosphere of the book and delivers the message without flinching. i think that had Fincher watered the message down, Hollywood might have been short a pair of testicles in under 5 minutes.
back to the book: succinct and truthful, tidbits of remotely associated knowledge fatten the prose: demolition, soap-making, medical refuse, posh catering, secret subliminal film splicing, attending support groups for fun-- it’s all here. the world as is. no varnish. intriguing and full of decomposing life.
i am Chuck’s Buddhist Vision.
my copy of the book was obtained from a library booksale. it had been chewed by something with teeth leaving a hole in the cheek of the book, like a hanging chad. there were also several mangled or missing pages that i had to splice in from a whole copy from the library. now, the book in which i invested creaks and groans, pops and crunches, and wants to open itself to those replaced and poorly copied pages. feels a little like Project Mayhem.
my copy of Fight Club is perfect.
we want numbly the breakdown of all that holds us to civilized behavior. we are trapped in this mundane life and live so far from our biology that we have ceased to thrive. we feel it and we don’t. we long for free air where our moves aren’t
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second-guessed and judged round the clock but aren’t sure why our frustration smolders.Palahniuck offers a release valve for this impacted rage in the form of a compelling vision of a would-be revolution against the fundamentals of modern Western culture. no more wage slavery, no more taxation, no more PTO, fossil fuels. just realize we are crud on the shoe of the universe and take us back to the Garden, please, where we can don the mantle of Noble Savage once again and live happily “stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center.”
the movie? a masterpiece. as a book adaptation? spot on. it captures the atmosphere of the book and delivers the message without flinching. i think that had Fincher watered the message down, Hollywood might have been short a pair of testicles in under 5 minutes.
back to the book: succinct and truthful, tidbits of remotely associated knowledge fatten the prose: demolition, soap-making, medical refuse, posh catering, secret subliminal film splicing, attending support groups for fun-- it’s all here. the world as is. no varnish. intriguing and full of decomposing life.
i am Chuck’s Buddhist Vision.
my copy of the book was obtained from a library booksale. it had been chewed by something with teeth leaving a hole in the cheek of the book, like a hanging chad. there were also several mangled or missing pages that i had to splice in from a whole copy from the library. now, the book in which i invested creaks and groans, pops and crunches, and wants to open itself to those replaced and poorly copied pages. feels a little like Project Mayhem.
my copy of Fight Club is perfect.
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LibraryThing member HvyMetalMG
Smackdown!
After hearing so many good things about the movie Fight Club, I figured I'd do the next best thing - read the book. After reading the book, the only thing I could think was how in the hell they turned this over-the-top story into a big screen picture. Well, the movie does do a good job,
After hearing so many good things about the movie Fight Club, I figured I'd do the next best thing - read the book. After reading the book, the only thing I could think was how in the hell they turned this over-the-top story into a big screen picture. Well, the movie does do a good job,
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but nothing can beat the twisted, humorous words penned by Chuck Palahniuk. The book is filled with self-loathing, misanthropic rants about society and our main character is here to shake up the establishment. After reading this novel, I made it my mission to check out other books byPalahniuk. This, his first book, is a great way to dive into the world of one of my favorite authors. Show Less
LibraryThing member mscott1
I actually saw the movie before reading the book, so unfortunately, I knew where the plot was headed. Even so, the book was every bit as gripping as the movie. I'm not one of those purists who get angry because things in the movie don't match up exactly with things in the book (in fact, I barely
The narrative style of this book is probably not for every one. It's written in first person with a very helter-skelter style, but I loved that. The jagged, off-beat narrative was a perfect voice to use for this frenetic, depressing plot.
To say the story is gritty is like saying the public bathrooms in a city bus station are gritty. No big surprise there. But what did surprise me was the depth of insight. Even as a middle-aged woman, I could relate to some of the things in this book that seemed to be written with disillusioned, young men in mind. Like I said, the entire thing was gripping.
The plot itself is, of course, so overblown as to be ridiculous (as if this could ever happen), but again, it put me in a certain mood. I was engulfed in it the way I am engulfed by dystopian fiction. It all seemed right somehow. Sick, but right.
This book isn't for everyone, but I loved it.
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remember the details of the movie...only the ending), so I wasn't troubled by any discrepancies. However, others who are purists may be bothered.The narrative style of this book is probably not for every one. It's written in first person with a very helter-skelter style, but I loved that. The jagged, off-beat narrative was a perfect voice to use for this frenetic, depressing plot.
To say the story is gritty is like saying the public bathrooms in a city bus station are gritty. No big surprise there. But what did surprise me was the depth of insight. Even as a middle-aged woman, I could relate to some of the things in this book that seemed to be written with disillusioned, young men in mind. Like I said, the entire thing was gripping.
The plot itself is, of course, so overblown as to be ridiculous (as if this could ever happen), but again, it put me in a certain mood. I was engulfed in it the way I am engulfed by dystopian fiction. It all seemed right somehow. Sick, but right.
This book isn't for everyone, but I loved it.
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Subjects
Awards
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (Winner — 1997)
Oregon Book Awards (Winner — Fiction — 1997)
The Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1996-08-17
Physical description
208 p.; 21 cm
ISBN
0393039765 / 9780393039764