finished 9-5-12

after reading so many novels by chuck palahniuk in a row it’s getting more difficult to write reviews on them. however, fight club was no exception to his predictable but unusual writing style and plot structure.

as i’m sure everyone knows or has heard at least once: the first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club. although i’ve never seen the film, the novel seems to hold it’s own and i must say i’m rather looking forward to watching the film. similarly to the plot structure of invisible monsters, palahniuk’s tale begins at the end, throws you into a flashback near the beginning and works it’s way back to the end. all the while flipping and extorting your perception and assumptions of what was presented in the first chapter.

to some extent, i’d like to admit that just from stylistics alone i could easily tell that this was his first work, however i don’t feel that i’ve read enough of his books to jump to that conclusion. the only reason i say this is because, after reading his more recent novels, i’d noticed a pattern of “here-ya-go followed by blah-blah-blah-details-and-background followed by COMPLETEANDTOTALMINDFUCK followed by TROLOLOLOLOLJKIDECIEVEDYOUAGAIN and finished off with a cute little HA-bet-you-didn’t-see-that-one-coming-huh?” and thus completing the novel leaving me absolutely amazed. this novel was no different. however i didn’t feel as completely immersed with my attention gripping at the sides of my ereader, practically snapping it in half, from my anticipation and complete destruction of imaginary paradigms that palahniuk purposefully and coyly led me to believe from the start.

needless to say, it’s still a wonderful read and i enjoyed every part of it. my only critique is that this novel was a bit more difficult to follow with it’s intended bastardization of the typical character dialogue we’re all used to. instead most of what is discussed is portrayed as a thought or inner monologue of the main character, who is apparently unnamed (i didn’t realize this until just now when i tried to look it up, go figure).

if you haven’t already seen the movie, fight club serves as a very well-written alternative to the ostracized twilight-like vampire and werewolf teen-romance novels that the new york time’s bestseller’s list has succumbed to in recent years. give it a read, you won’t be disappointed.

finished 9-5-12

i originally had cinder, the first of the lunar chronicles, on my to-read list on goodreads. upon downloading the first novel i noticed that the to-be series is actually based off of a short story written by meyer back in 2011. being that it was therefore a kind of prequel to cinder i decided to read it. i must say, if you have any skepticism about cinder in any way this short story provides a very clear and concise introduction into the futuristic world of the lunar chronicles.

told from a third person narration the short story quickly, but with great detail, explains cinder’s situation as well as helps to establish the relationships and concerns of what appears to be the first novel’s main characters. i’m new to meyer’s work but so far i’m intrigued and i’ll definitely continue reading.

though there may not be much to say on glitches (in physical text it sums up to a mere 19 pages) it is worth the read if you’re looking for an upcoming series that will definitely get you hooked. if cyborgs and futuristic settings spark your interests give glitches a bit of your time, you might turn out to be a fan of hers.

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finished 8-5-12

i’ve started to notice a really amazing pattern of total epic inception-level mind-fuck in chuck palahniuk’s books. which, needless to say, is probably why i love his novels so much. if you can manage to look past the violently sarcastic tone and shrug off the colorful and advanced vocabulary of the narration by maddy spencer in damned without falling absolutely in love with his writing style, his tendency to completely disassemble everything you believed up to the various cliffhanger chapters in his books will surely do you in.

palahniuk’s complete abandonment for political correctness on commonly social-sensitive topics, in addition to the vast amounts of factual information (or at least what seems to be factual) he manages to put in his novels, add a strange feeling of legitimacy so that you feel completely immersed. i’m forever amazed, every time, at how much he’s able to put into a mere 250 pages. he will forever be my favorite author.

seriously, if you haven’t started reading his books, do it now. it’s hard to make any comments on this novel without completely spoiling the whole plot but it’s definitely worth taking the time to read.

finally started reading again; thank you goodreads.com

if you’ve happened to stumble across my blog by mistake or you simply hate yourself enough to actually follow my reading blog make an account if you don’t already have one. it’ll definitely be worth looking into.

and add me. (: i love book suggestions.

finished 23-1-12

this book was so worth waiting for. i found out about chuck palahniuk through random searching on wikipedia. his book invisible monsters was the basis behind the lyrics of a panic! at the disco song; time to dance. 

i originally attempted to find the book through any library source i had, this was like 4 years ago before internet books and ebooks were as common as they are now. every time i tried to find it, it was either already checked out or had never been returned. this only made me want to read it more.

a couple months prior to this i’d read another one of his books, snuff. it was fantastic. it was a strange story that seemed to mocked a star-crossed lover’s tale with an ending twisted enough to leave me wanting to reread the book to see if any signs were present about the ending; in searching back for clues i found none.

chuck palahniuk is one of the best authors i’ve ever come across. his stories are crude and throw social convections out the window. there’s just no words to describe his writing style. he’s an original.

anyway~ after finally getting a hold of invisible monsters i was nothing short of astounded at his ability to completely distort and shock the reader. the ending, i never would’ve seen it coming. the story is amazing and despite the constant flash backs, flash forwards, and misplaced randomized references to a nearly unknown timeline, the story is extremely easy to submerge yourself in.

in essence, if you’re the type of person who loves surprise endings (skipping to the end would just ruin it.. if you’re going to skip to the end don’t bother reading, it takes the fun out of the entire story) then this is definitely a book to put on your list.