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What are readers saying about Fight Club: A Novel?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-15 10:51:25.
(Language: English)
 
Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors, I discovered his writing in all of its gritty glory when I was 8 or 9 in a back issue of Playboy, I believe it was an excerpt of "Survivor." Anyway, this book was my reintroduction to Palahniuk and it could not have come at a better time. When you are fourteen or fifteen this book can be a bit of a bad influence. Tracing the unnamed main character, the reader is thrown into a world of your everyday insurace employeee who has traveled a bit too much and who has a bad case of insomnia and depression. Needless to say, mayhem ensues as our friend meets Tyler Durden, a wandering soap salesman, What drew me to both the book and movie is the overall message, it's idealistic, yes, but if you read the book and you are a product of a modern consumer society, then it can be quite inspiring. Change must occur and in this case, its a defunct and corrupt system which places material goods over the space monkeys who serve your food, clean your homes and walk your dogs. It can be disturbiing, most critics have regarded the movie as pure dreck, infantile and shallow if I can recall, and I would agree, but I love it because it gives you the feeling of youth and energy, where the entire world is malleable, which is not the case after you get out there. To Close, consider this thought though, "Do I really need that new Dinette set?"
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-20 12:40:47.
(Language: English)
I wasn't overly impressed with this book. I think it is one of those things that is a staple of a male college students life, much like the Belushi "college" poster or a bob marley one. I think guys are drawn to this book for the same reason that the narrator is drawn to Tyler. It gives them a chance to live vicariously through the person that they themselves wish they could be.Also, I don't understand what this fear of consumerism is based on. Without consumerism driving a market economy, we would be writing these book reviews on a stone tablet with a chisel. And as for this change in masculinity that the book addresses, I think that idea is rather silly. Are we supposed to be alarmed because select few men go tanning and waxing?Did some of the greatest civilizations of the World not only accept but often smile upon same-sex acts (i.e. Romans and Greeks)?And you are to have me believe that one guido getting a fake tan is the downfall of masculinity???
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-23 04:46:44.
(Language: English)
I read this after watching the movie two or three times, and I am SO impressed with how closely they followed the book. Of course, small details were changed, but overall, they did a wonderful job of sticking to the book.The biggest difference between the two was the final chapter, or the last scene. Both the book's version AND the movie's version were excellent. By the time I finished this book, I was astounded. This was one of those novels that I simply INHALED. The only reason I didn't read it in one sitting was because I had to change classes. There's some objectionable material, so it's definitely for a mature audience, but if you can handle it, read it. Read it AND see the movie.
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Christopher posted a review at 2009-02-21 04:09:53.
(Language: English)
An amazing book. One of the best fictional novels I have read in a while. It is equal parts enthralling and disturbing. At first, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I bought and started reading this book. All I knew was that other people liked it, or the movie, and I liked what i read within the first few pages. Then I started the reading the last 70-80 pages and I was blown away. The twist-climax that Chuck gave me was so far out of left field that I had to finish the book right then and there. Though I'm not totally onboard with the violent, nihilistic themes of the book, I do understand what Chuck was trying to convey. This book makes me really want to go see the movie now (yes, I have not seen the movie before).
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-26 12:02:16.
(Language: English)
I had seen the film before reading the book and that normally prevents me from reading it, however enough people suggested that I do whilst praising it that I finally succumbed. Chuck’s style of writing is one that isn’t copied by thousands of others in the main stream yet and so his fast moving script, even with descriptions makes you focus on the deterioration of the narrators mind and the growing dominance of Tyler Durden. The sense of not fitting in with society and with the possibility of ‘God hating you’ I believe appeals to many men of this generation who just can’t fit in with the whole politically correct emasculating world that we live in now, and why the appeal of the fight club would be so strong. The loyalty that this could bring to a group and the manner that Tyler creates this family and how his destructive personality brings everything to a head. The happy ever after ending both in the building and the hospital was a little disappointing and I can understand why the film went the other way, as its just that little bit more of an ending, but I guess that Chuck’s point might have been that there wasn’t an ending. I just have a mind that likes to ‘finish things’ though. Overall if just for the writing style and the larger than life characters this book is well worth a read, although I have a feeling that its surprisingly going to be liked by more men than woman. It’s definitely not a chicks book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-03 10:46:11.
(Language: English)
The first effect of Fight Club is that you love Fight Club. After I was done reading it, I can't stop thinking about it. I see someone with a bruise or a cut or a bandaid and I think Fight Club. I bring it up in my English class all the time - to the annoyance of everyone except the males and my english teacher (also male) - and think about it's sheer awesomeness all the time. It's crazy awesome. Please read it. You may think it's overrated because "everyone's read it," but they only know half the story. They've only seen the movie. Do yourself a favor - read this book. It will literally change your life.
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Karen posted a review at 2010-08-04 12:23:00.
(Language: English)
Yes, I loved this movie, but now I know it wasn't just because Brad Pitt is God's gift to women...This book is a must-read for anyone who has seen the movie because it surpasses the movie in so many ways. In the book, the reader begins to realize the big picture much more quickly than in the movie where many were likely fooled until the very end. This creates a feeling of empathy and suspense for the character during his psychologically twisted, manic jaunts all over the nation, causing mayhem and misunderstanding himself at every step. But other than that, all I can tell you is #1. The first rule of fight club is you don't talk about Fight Club. #2. The 2nd rule of fight club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-26 01:36:03.
(Language: French)
Grosse déception! C'est mal écrit, il faut le dire! Livre bavard (trop d'histoires disparates qui n'ont que faire ensemble)... J'avais aimé le film... je reproche justement à l'écriture du bouquin d'être trop cinmatographique; parfois c'est bien, léger, sautillant, pas de lourdeur, avec quelques audaces narratives, mais on se lasse vite d'un systématisme de toutes ces trouvailles (comme raconter deux choses à la fois), qui devient une marque de fabrication peu subtile. Dommage! les situations sont fortes! et auraient exigé du style, que diable, pour leur donner une dimension hors norme! Reste le chapitre 6 qui est excellent, et qui est l'origine de l'histoire (puisque l'auteur avait d'abord écrit une nouvelle) et qui suffirait encore, je le crains car en fait cette histoire de split personality ne va pas bien avec le fight club.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-26 11:08:37.
(Language: English)
Palahniuk's best novel--which isn't saying much. Fight Club was interesting, and unlike in Palahniuk's other works, the narrator's disjointed poetry-slam delivery makes perfect sense. The novel, however, is extraordinarily repetetive, which is a strange thing to have to say about such a short work, and I'm not sure if the repetition is intentional or accidental. Either way, I feel it is a weakness in the narrative, as many of the passages that repeat (almost verbatum) are inconsequential, though the argument could be made that this is Pahlaniuk's attempt at relating the confused mental state of an insomniac with a bonus personality disorder. After reading Fight Club, I really do want to track down some shorter works by Palahniuk (if they exist), as I suspect he'd be much stronger in shorter mediums.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-29 10:19:09.
(Language: English)
Hot damn, Palahniuk can write. While reading this book I felt as though the Narrator spoke/thought/whatever the way I often do. I never have a straight stream of conscious (i.e. That stream is nice.), I most often connect and expand ideas in my head (i.e. That stream is nice I wonder if it's cold are there fish I want to swim what time is it are there any snakes maybe I could go to the zoo that girl's really cute and that rock in the middle looks like a good place to sun myself.). So, if you like that kind of thing, or are a male, or enjoy reading, or have ever wanted to punch your boss/best friend/sibling/roommate, you should read Fight Club. This is one of the few times I will ever say that a book is not as good as the movie. That being said, I still gave it 4 1/2 stars. It's a damn good book. Strange. Of course. But very, very good. If you don't know what this story is about, you probably won't care, or you just haven't had the best experience of your life yet.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-26 11:29:17.
(Language: English)
A must-read for any guy who is bothered by the fact that he finds himself going to tanning salons, returning day after day and year after year to a job he hates, getting manicures. facials, or having his chest waxed on a regular basis. REAL men don't (or at least shouldn't) do these things, as some of us (including Palahniuk) know. Modern men (some of them, maybe even most of them) have become feminized and that is one of the main issues that this book is warning us about. This novel is nihilistic ("Losing all hope was freedom"), pessimistic ("The great depression is our lives. We have a spiritual depression"), and frighteningly accurate when it comes to modern man's plight in a politically correct, anti-male, feminized world. Nihilism and pessimism, it's clear, are sane and natural reactions in this insane, upside-down world. One of the 20th- and 21st-century's maladies is rampant materialism and consumerism. "You have a class of young strong men and women, and they want to give their lives to something. Advertising has these people chasing cars and clothes they don't need. Generations have been working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy what they don't really need." Another modern-day malady Palahniuk dubs "the nesting instinct": "You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got the sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. ... Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you." The purpose of men-only fight clubs is to allow men to temporarily forget the dreariness and emptiness of their daily lives. Fighting allows these men to vent their rage at the world--in particular, their bosses, their jobs, their feeling of emptiness. A fight between two men is REAL, you can't fake it and when it's through the men have been rejuvenated by their cathartic fight experience. As Jim Morrison once said, "I feel most alive when I'm closest to death." Mike Tyson made a similar comment in an interview with Joyce Carol Oates: "Outside of the boxing ring life is so boring." Another important thing to keep in mind here is that today there are almost no exclusively male bastions. (I can't think of even one at the moment.) Even hockey and boxing (all sports, actually) have become co-ed. Palahniuk understands and emphasizes that men need a place to be with other men, to talk about "guy" things without women around to distract them. "Fight Club" is a modern and accurate commentary on the plight of men in today's society. Masculinists will love and appreciate this novel; feminists will hate it.
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Natasha posted a review at 2010-11-13 07:57:09.
(Language: English)
Fight Club became a phenomenon. People quote from it, they emulate it, it spoke to our innate need to fight, to articulate the violence so instinctual to us and which we suppress everyday due to the workings of society. I knew that there was a book, but I happened to watch the movie first. And the movie just blew me away. Norton and Pitt's performances were outstanding and I loved everything about it. Then, I read the book. I was surprised at how much the movie captured, considering the different mediums. I liked the disjointed narrative and just the way the language lets the content creep up on you and explode in your face. But I wasn't blown away. Maybe because it had intially been a short story and Palahniuk lengthened it, I felt he should have kept it shorter. It became a bit repetitive and I realise it was a literary device, but it took away slightly from the book, which was otherwise quite brilliant. Maybe I shouldn't have said quite so much, because the first rule is we don't talk about fight club but I think we're gonna have to break that rule; Palahniuk has made sure we'll be talking about it for generations to come.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-18 07:41:53.
(Language: English)
Here's the deal with Fight Club... I recommend you see the movie first and here's why: 1. The movie is EXTREMELY loyal not only to the plot but also to the dialogue - holistically speaking. 2. Palahniuk foreshadows from page one, but if you don't know what happens, you're not going to catch on. I love the movie and the book, but for very different reasons. The movie does a great job of dramatizing the book, I mean, you get to actually SEE the kinds of things that happen - including the bitch tits which is hilarious. The one thing the movie does not allow for is the imaginative side, that makes Fight Club work, to take flight. You need Fight Club in book form in order for this to seem slightly realistic. The book allows for you to believe that a person can maybe... possibly... go through this kind of thing and may or may not survive. Fight Club the movie also has fantastic casting. There is no one on the entire planet that could have played Marla, Tyler, or The Narrator any better than Helena Carter, Brad Pitt, and Edward Norton. No one. Another thing I like about the book versus the movie is the played up romance. There's much more emphasis put on Marla, The Narrator, and Tyler's love triangle which is always a fun time. I love the way Palahniuk writes. His use of repetition is SO effective in this book. It creates such an interesting atmosphere for the reader, I don't really know how to explain it other than it worked... well. For real though, watch the movie first, you'll understand the book so much better. You should also get a copy of Fight Club that includes the afterword from Palahniuk (is there even a book that doesn't include an afterword?). He insouciantly explains the idea of Fight Club such as where it came from, feedback he's received, as well as some of Palahniuk's personal input. I think it sums up the novel quite nicely.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-12 03:05:33.
(Language: English)
I remember seeing this film and being completely stunned....... after seeing the film, I immediately wanted to read the book. This was the first book I read that truely shocked me. It's unbelievebly horrific in parts, but so compelling you have to read every grusome page of it. Even if you've seen the film, the book is on another level!! The film is pretty much is a Disney adaptation of this novel. Much of this book is left out of the film (sado-machistic sex, poisoning rich snooty women and the ending especially)... If you've read 'Invisible Monsters' (like Fight Club but with cat walk models) then you'll know what I mean. Not something to read before dinner time. However, if you like Gritty books, you'll love this. How does Chuck Palahniak come with these nasty stories I'll never know (there is one truely horrible bit in this book where a drugged up girl starts to slash her wrists with a broken perfume bottle, even I found that a little bit hard going). Basically the film has two pretty boys (Ed Norton and Brad Pitt) getting drunk and having scuffs (only a small part of the original book), the book is a journey into the dark side of humanity and mental illness. Approach with caution. However if you do like nasty stories, skip Fight Club and read 'Invisible Monsters'..... And I always thought models we bimbos, how wrong I was...........
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-17 12:36:45.
(Language: English)
I just read "Fight Club" between 12:00 AM and 2:30 AM this morning. I am Fight Club's bad review. I criticize Palahniuk's writing, calling it choppy and forced. This was the most unnatural-feeling 20th century novel I had ever read. It was as if he wanted to emulate Kurt Vonnegut, but Palahniuk is neither as witty as nor does he have the timing of Vonnegut. I also didn't take too well to the overly cynical portrayal of people "Escaping" the individuality of real life by becoming faceless drones in service of The Durden, and reverting to animals. If this is a world that Palahniuk thinks is better than "consumerism," then we better hope he doesn't enter politics. This book is not "deep." This book is cliched and completely reflective of the cowardly "non-conformist" failures who blame society for their short-comings. zero stars.
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Amanda posted a review at 2008-12-02 12:32:16.
(Language: English)
I read this book after having seen the movie, which, by the way, is pretty awesome - it's one that you can learn from through watching it more and more. So, I knew the story line and going-ons when I first opeened the book. It seemed to me that the majority of the movie's story was within the first handful of chapters, and the remainder was spaced through the rest of the book. This made the first part of the book kind of boring (but this probably wouldn't have been the case if I hadn't seen the movie beforehand), but left the majority of the book new and exciting. Chuck's writing style is the most unique I've ever come across, and at first I didn't really like it. However, moving more into the book I realized it was great for textually depicting the schizophrenia aspect of the story. I recommend this book for Chuck fans, Fight Club the movie fans, and those who are interested in books about something really new - the idea of Fight Club itself with a psycological twist.
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Jen posted a review at 2009-07-09 02:08:49.
(Language: English)
Review: Controlled anarchy seems to be the name of the game as the main character tries to find a way to fill his internal emptiness and out of the consumerism that seems to be consuming him. He meets Tyler Durden, and together they lead an ever-growing group of men into worlds of violence and lawlessness. I don't want to say anything further about the plot because there are a couple of twists along the way. This was a really hard book for me to rate. Generally, when I start reading a book, I already have it set at a mid-point (3 stars). Where it bounces from there depends mostly on how I like the book, but may also depend on things like grammar/typos, writing style, etc. This book became hard to rate because there were a lot of things I both did and did not like. In the end, it balanced to a middle of the road rating for me. What I liked: the general concept of the story, the main character and his thoughts, and the twists that were tossed in, one of which I didn't see coming but went "ah clever!" when it dawned on me. What I didn't like: the violence and crime were a bit too graphic for me; I felt browbeaten by the end of it. Also, the repetitive use of words and sentences, not only throughout the book but sometimes through the same paragraph, would have driven me completely nuts had I read the book and not listened to it. In fact, I'm not sure if I would have actually finished the book if I'd read it, so this was a win in favor of why audiobooks are sometimes better. Overall, I can say I'm glad that I read it because it's one of those books that one hears about periodically, and now I know what people are talking about. But I'm not sure that I care for this particular author's style if this is representative, and I'm not in a hurry to try another.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-10 08:21:24.
(Language: English)
his is one of the few books I’ve read where I think the movie was actually better than the book. Even then, I don’t think it’s so much that the movie was BETTER, but the book just works better as a movie. It plays out nicer. The book stayed right on par with the movie and only a few tiny events were changed.If you don’t know the premise, fight club is about a guy who shall forever remain nameless. He can’t sleep at night, so he goes to support groups for diseases and problems he doesn’t have. He meets a woman named Marla Singer and they form a hate-hate relationship. Then the guy meets a man named Tyler and his entire life changes. He goes from a condo filled with IKEA furniture to a crack-house reject of a house. He forms a club called Fight Club with Tyler. Men beat each other up and feel great about it afterwards. Woo.It was a quick read and a poor book. I’d absolutely recommend renting the movie over wasting your time reading the book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-04-18 09:03:08.
(Language: English)
Dark, bold and twisted throughout, but a great read overall. Palahniuk confronts and deals with an array of engaging themes/issues that are relevant to any young adult male living in our modern world. Angst, demoralization by modern society, the prevalence of materialism, purposelessness, the effects of media, corporate indifference and exploitation, powerlessness and emasculation, hopelessness, loneliness, abandonment, and the shallowness of culture are all touched on in some form. Some of my favorite parts were ones dealing with the main character's feelings toward God and his father, and how his experiences with people in life shaped his view of God. Excellent book overall, and one I definitely recommend (though parts may be a bit much for some to stomach).
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-12 09:01:55.
(Language: English)
If you're into self destruction and social chaos, this book is for you! I saw (and loved) the movie first but it was more about fight clubs and acts of vandalism than anything else. IMO, the book focuses on the motives behind Project Mayhem rather than social rebellion. That's not to say the movie ignores Project Mayhem altogether but you get a better understanding of what Tyler Durden is trying to accomplish. The movie does a great job of sticking to the original storyline, same great style (a la the genius Edward Norton) except for the ending. Always, though, I find the book better than the movie. You find great little gems everywhere. "What Tyler says about being the crap and the slaves of history, that's how I felt. I wanted to destroy everything beautiful I'd never have. Burn the Amazon rain forests. Pump chlorofluorocarbons straight up to gobble the ozone. Open the dump valves on supertankers and uncap offshore oil wells. 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."
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-01-30 09:14:28.
(Language: English)
Well, I liked it, but it is by no means Chuck Palahniuk's best novel. It's his most well known, but that's because of the movie, which I really loved. It's taken me awhile to get around to reading it and what it shows me is that he's really gotten better with every book. Don't get me wrong. I liked Fight Club and think it's original and subversive, but I really liked Choke, Lullaby and Survivor more. Then again, I'm talking about a writer I really like so his worst book is the greatest book compared to some books.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-11 04:46:02.
(Language: English)
Although the book itself is good, this is one example where the movie took a neat idea and made it a cultural phenomenon that far surpassed the scope and vision of the novel. I wish I could have read this before seeing the film, because it's now impossible to envision the characters as anyone else but Brad Pitt and Ed Norton. The ending is much different than the movie, as are many of the scenes, so you won't be totally bored reading this if you're a fan of the film. Also, the book is very short, maybe 150 pages, so you can easily blow through that during a couple sittings on the toilet.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-19 10:59:35.
(Language: English)
A great book. I read this after watching the movie. By the way, I hate comparing movies to the books they are based on - each media has its own rules so they are bound to be different. It is only important that the spirit is the same. This book can be analysed on so many levels. For instance psychoanalysis - the return of the repressed. The main character is representative of most of todays men - we are forced to repress our naturally aggressive nature (becoming more feminine), yet these repressed instincts must return in some form or another. The repressed emerges in the form of Tyler Durden. There are various other elements such as existentialism and Marxism. It is also a very funny book. There are many funny scenes and lines throughout. Essentially the book flings ideas and slogans at you. It makes you reflect on the way you are living and the way you see things.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-22 04:31:44.
(Language: English)
Wow, I love this book. Effectively told in the first person, where the narrator switches back and forth from thinking, speaking, or narration, often with only an indentation to differentiate, which was a little troublesome at first. Being a person of faith, and having a modest back ground in science and an ample one in martial arts, I found the descriptions of the chemistry in both making soap and explosives, and of fighting and its effect on your mind, and of eastern philosophies were very well described. I'm also one who has, before reading this book, come pretty close to rock bottom, and I was surprised at some of the phrases and ideas expressed in this book regarding how bottoming out effected my attachment to people, possessions, and even to life itself, and how it realigned my perceptions of what is important, necessary, and frivolous. I often found that I had put it down to stare aimlessly out the window because I became lost in thought and memory, initiated by certain ideas and phrases within the book. I know that sounds bad, but it was because the ideas conveyed in the book, while light hearted one minute, and dark the next, where also quite complex and deserved the proper attention. A great book. Read it.
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maze posted a review at 2011-12-16 12:10:29.
(Language: English)
I was intrigued by the synopsis and therefore I decided to buy this book at 20 bucks. However, I did find myself repeatedly asking why I had wasted my money on it. There was a tendency in wanting to just put it down but when I decided not to, I kept asking when I would be done with it. I found myself wondering what on earth was with the furniture descriptions and why the detailed information on frozen juice mixed with so and so to create napalm though it was educational. I guess what was relevant to me was knowing how soap was made though I had to re-read and did feel stupid enough in not being able to understand many things such as the use of 'hindu cow'. I found myself saying how I'm not one of the targetted audiences to read this book. Maybe it was meant more for the closet scientist or Einsteins in the making. I wasn't used to his style of writing and its not just that. I found myself being confused. I found him to be too ambitious. I did find parts that were disgusting, repeated and too dark. There were moments I admired his way of instead of referring to cinderella's glass shoe, he was talking about the condom. I thought that was clever. The use of paparazzi flash, and I had my moment of a paparazzi flash too when the light started flickering. What really struck a chord with me was the conversation he had with the 23-year-old who worked a minimum wage job. I read the plot after finishing the book via Wikipedia and I started to cry. Whoever who wrote the plot narrated it nicely and yes, a pity party some may say, but there comes a time when you have a realization on how you're not at par (not that I never did). Mankind do hit their lowest point and I suppose, this book brought that out of me - I felt thoroughly defeated. I guess it was when I clicked on 'existentialism' that the tears had to just come pouring down. Why you ask? I felt very pea-brained. I suppose in spite of it all, a 2/5 seems fair from me.
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