TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT IT :D
Okay, I'm kidding, obviously, but I think you guys get where I'm going with this.
This week I read non other than the (basically) classic, Fight Club! I had super high expectations as my roommate had raved about it for weeks, and I had friends begging to borrow it after I was done. Having never seen the movie, I was a complete bank slate, ready to be, uh, fought? No? Well anyway, with this in mind, let's dive right in!
Fight Club by Chuck Palantuk
Genre: Satire
Setting: Not Clear
Published: 1996
This one was... interesting. Like I said, I had unrealistically high expectations for this book which is never a good thing as you're almost constantly let down. And honestly, I was.
First off, I was confused for about 100 pages of it. The style of writing was very jumpy and sporadic, it would go from a five sentence paragraph about traveling to two sentences showing how splice up movie reels if you work in a theater, then back again. The book is told from the point of view of an anonymous insomniac who lives a very superficial life in his condo which is filled with pointless knickknacks (eventually it gets blown up and his 'real life' begins). He is totally lonely, totally detached from anything, and honestly, totally sad. Maybe Mr. Palahuiuk was trying to make a statement about how detached modern day life can get, how depressing things can be if you choose to live a tired life without passion. Maybe. I wasn't 100% convinced.
The anonymous narrator attends a copious amount of outreach programs for people with various forms of deadly diseases. Which is really sad, and kinda sick. Apparently it is the only way he can sleep. Although his doctor gave him some helpful hints he chose not to follow, but hey, it's not up to me.
The infamous 'fight club' didn't actually come into play until later on, which was disappointing because I was under the assumption that that was a major part of the book. A huge part of the book was about a women named Marla Singer, equally as messed up as our lovely narrator, and thus a weird kind of love triangle bloomed between them and Tyler Durden, an odd man who is also friends with the narrator (who, by the way, is attempting to ruin the narrator's life so that he can be 'saved' somehow).
This is the type of book you'd read if you want to see how sick some people can be. Or if you want to learn how to make soap. Or learn how to start a nationwide fight club. Not a great beach-side book I regret to say.
I don't know why, but it was a very hard book to read. Maybe it was the depressing haikus the narrator wrote and sent around to his office. Or the dysfunctional relationship he seemed to have with almost everyone he came into contact with. I can't exactly pin point it.
After I finished it I had to do some serious damage control. I went for a run, watched the funniest episodes of 'Parks and Rec' with my friends, and ate a nice bar of chocolate. It did make me felt better. Then I watched the movie!
I figured I may as well, I already have exposed myself to the ideas in the book. Surprisingly, the book and movie were quite similar. Honestly, if you're really itching to read this story, I'd say to just watch the movie. Full scenes were verbatim from the book, so you won't be missing out on much.
I do have to say this; there was one heck of a plot twist toward the end of the book. Because of this, watching the movie after was almost fun, because you really could see it coming now that you knew.
I'd just stick to the movie on this one, which is not something I say lightly.
Sorry Chuck Palahuiuk.
Okay, I'm kidding, obviously, but I think you guys get where I'm going with this.
This week I read non other than the (basically) classic, Fight Club! I had super high expectations as my roommate had raved about it for weeks, and I had friends begging to borrow it after I was done. Having never seen the movie, I was a complete bank slate, ready to be, uh, fought? No? Well anyway, with this in mind, let's dive right in!
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| Via pinterest.com |
Fight Club by Chuck Palantuk
Genre: Satire
Setting: Not Clear
Published: 1996
This one was... interesting. Like I said, I had unrealistically high expectations for this book which is never a good thing as you're almost constantly let down. And honestly, I was.
First off, I was confused for about 100 pages of it. The style of writing was very jumpy and sporadic, it would go from a five sentence paragraph about traveling to two sentences showing how splice up movie reels if you work in a theater, then back again. The book is told from the point of view of an anonymous insomniac who lives a very superficial life in his condo which is filled with pointless knickknacks (eventually it gets blown up and his 'real life' begins). He is totally lonely, totally detached from anything, and honestly, totally sad. Maybe Mr. Palahuiuk was trying to make a statement about how detached modern day life can get, how depressing things can be if you choose to live a tired life without passion. Maybe. I wasn't 100% convinced.
The anonymous narrator attends a copious amount of outreach programs for people with various forms of deadly diseases. Which is really sad, and kinda sick. Apparently it is the only way he can sleep. Although his doctor gave him some helpful hints he chose not to follow, but hey, it's not up to me.
 |
| Via Tumblr.com |
The infamous 'fight club' didn't actually come into play until later on, which was disappointing because I was under the assumption that that was a major part of the book. A huge part of the book was about a women named Marla Singer, equally as messed up as our lovely narrator, and thus a weird kind of love triangle bloomed between them and Tyler Durden, an odd man who is also friends with the narrator (who, by the way, is attempting to ruin the narrator's life so that he can be 'saved' somehow).
This is the type of book you'd read if you want to see how sick some people can be. Or if you want to learn how to make soap. Or learn how to start a nationwide fight club. Not a great beach-side book I regret to say.
I don't know why, but it was a very hard book to read. Maybe it was the depressing haikus the narrator wrote and sent around to his office. Or the dysfunctional relationship he seemed to have with almost everyone he came into contact with. I can't exactly pin point it.
After I finished it I had to do some serious damage control. I went for a run, watched the funniest episodes of 'Parks and Rec' with my friends, and ate a nice bar of chocolate. It did make me felt better. Then I watched the movie!
I figured I may as well, I already have exposed myself to the ideas in the book. Surprisingly, the book and movie were quite similar. Honestly, if you're really itching to read this story, I'd say to just watch the movie. Full scenes were verbatim from the book, so you won't be missing out on much.
I do have to say this; there was one heck of a plot twist toward the end of the book. Because of this, watching the movie after was almost fun, because you really could see it coming now that you knew.
I'd just stick to the movie on this one, which is not something I say lightly.
Sorry Chuck Palahuiuk.
Was it coincidence that two blogs covered Fight Club in the same week? In any case, your reaction to the ending tells me that this is absolutely a book/movie I need to check out. I also appreciate your honesty in saying that you believe the movie was better. Overall, a good and well-written post.
ReplyDeleteFIGHT CLUB!! Sorry, I get really passionate about this movie. Perhaps one of the greatest satirical pieces in film history, this goes down as one of my favorites. I've always been really interested in reading the book because I've only seen the movie, but maybe I should shy away from it. I thought you gave a pretty objective analysis, considering you've seen the movie, so I liked that. Maybe I'll read it and let you know what I think!
ReplyDeleteI've never read or watched Fight Club, so I didn't really have any expectation of what you would think. I think you did a good job of picking your side (that you didn't like it) while also giving specific reasons why. This helped me understand your thinking process.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to watch this movie and definitely will be trying to fit it into my schedule sometime soon after reading this post! (P.S Parks and Rec is the best!)
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to watch this movie and definitely will be trying to fit it into my schedule sometime soon after reading this post! (P.S Parks and Rec is the best!)
ReplyDeleteOkay what a coincidence that both of us wrote about Fight Club this week... That being said, one thing I neglected to mention in my post was that Fight Club the movie was based on a book. While I have never read the book, I can maybe see why the sporadic writing style makes sense seeing as how the narrator's own thoughts seem so all over the place. It is refreshing to know that sometimes the movie is at least just as good, if not better than the movie, considering how rarely this is the case.
ReplyDelete