Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 17 Jan 2007, 10:31

Who has read the book Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, which the famous movie was based on? Did you like it? What do you think about Fight Club?

I love the book and the movie. I think it's a great exploration of post-modern despair. I very much enjoy the anti-materialism and anti-commercialism expressed throughout the novel.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:

Tyler Durden wrote:Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see us squandering it. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

What do you think?

LoveHatesYou · Post by **LoveHatesYou** » 17 Jan 2007, 11:58

I love everything Chuck Palahunik has ever touched. In Stanger Than Fiction, there is an interview with Brad Pitt, wherer Brad thanks Chuck for the best role he's ever played. Supposedly, all of Chuck's books will be movies. I see them as modern day impressionist works, almost exisstential in feeling, but not in detail. I love how all of them, not just Fight Club, jump around, and work in a sprial, never linear, and give you bits and pieces but are always twisting around themselves. They all have a noir feel to them as well, touching upon the dark side of today's world. I love it. I love the man. He is my own personal literary hero.

Gunnbutt Pritchett · Post by **Gunnbutt Pritchett** » 17 Jan 2007, 12:39

Palahunik is great. Fight Club is an exellent read. I've read Choke and Haunted as well. His choice of subject matter always gives me pause for thought. I'd love to see his required reading list. Very few authors have such an abililty to amaze and disturb like him.

You want to feel your intestines, go buy a pack of those lambskin condoms. Take one out and unroll it. Pack it with peanut butter. Smear it with petroleum jelly and hold it under water. Then try to tear it. Try to pull it in half. It's too tough and rubbery. It's so slimy you can't hold on. chuck palahniuk from guts

bplayfuli · Post by **bplayfuli** » 29 Jan 2007, 23:33

Fight Club is an excellent book, and Choke as well. Palahniuk really gets to that part of me that longs to send a big "F-you" to "the man." Like, just pack up all my stuff and go live in a tent somewhere. Who needs a tv and computer anyway? I haven't even used my iPod in a month!

However, I am very partial to heat and flush toilets. IAlso, I've got a phobia of spiders, and I'd never fit my library into a tent.

Back to Palahniuk. I started to read both Diary and Survivor and put both down after a few chapters. It just seemed like more of the same old. Pain, misery, crazy antics, etc. I'm going to try them again during the warm months. I get a little maudlin in the winter anyway, so why make it worse?

NYLee · Post by **NYLee** » 30 Jan 2007, 22:23

I loved the chapter where that woman dies from cancer.

notrorygilmore · Post by **notrorygilmore** » 01 Apr 2007, 16:03

I really enjoyed reading Fight Club. The one thing I was disappointed about the book was that by the second chaper I had figured out the whole premise of Tyler Durden being the narrator. Other than that, I loved the book. I thought it was amazing. I just wish the ending had been more of a surprise to me.

DeletedUser · Post by **DeletedUser** » 18 Apr 2007, 02:51

I really enjoyed it. I have never seen the movie.

jsj1313 · Post by **jsj1313** » 23 May 2007, 17:35

Although the movie is in my Top 2, I felt the book is arguably better than the film. I kinda liked Palahniuk's writing style; it's different than most I have encountered (I've heard the term "mininalistic" thrown around in regards to his style). Are his other books as good or better than Fight Club?

Weave · Post by **Weave** » 18 Jun 2007, 12:15

I really enjoyed this book, it was just brilliant x

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 20 Jun 2007, 12:52

I saw the movie, Stranger Than Fiction, but haven't read the book. I love Fight Club, so I'll have to read Stranger Than Fiction. Hopefully, the fact that I watched the movie won't ruin the book for me.

jsj1313 wrote:Although the movie is in my Top 2, I felt the book is arguably better than the film.

Isn't the book always better than the movie?

inkensoul · Post by **inkensoul** » 21 Jun 2007, 12:32

Benjamin wrote:I really enjoyed it. I have never seen the movie.

I love the movie. So much so that I haven't taken the time to read the book. I have a copy, and I've read most everything else he's ever written. Choke, Survivor, Lullaby, Invisible Monsters. He's written some wonderfully twisted stuff that help the reader to look himself right in the face and see society looking back. Very interesting experiences reading Chuck.

LoveHatesYou · Post by **LoveHatesYou** » 19 Jul 2007, 18:54

For the record- the movie is not based on the book...

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 20 Jul 2007, 09:15

LoveHatesYou wrote:For the record- the movie is not based on the book...

What do you mean? There's differences, but the movie is an adaptation of the book, and the general plot is the same.

Besides, the 8 rules of Fight Club are the same in both.

LoveHatesYou · Post by **LoveHatesYou** » 23 Jul 2007, 12:43

Scott Hughes wrote:I saw the movie, Stranger Than Fiction, but haven't read the book. I love Fight Club, so I'll have to read Stranger Than Fiction. Hopefully, the fact that I watched the movie won't ruin the book for me.

jsj1313 wrote:Although the movie is in my Top 2, I felt the book is arguably better than the film.
Isn't the book always better than the movie?

This one- not Fight Club- should've clairfied...