Fight Club: A Novel

Great book and movie, paperback edition. Watched the movie 50+ times and read the book once.

REVIEWS Having watched the movie was the strongest reason why I didn't feel the need to read the book. It always bumped in my mental vault, the fact that someone had come up with such a powerful and compelling idea, executed it impecably on screen (Norton's and Pit's acting was phenomenal; perhaps Pit's finest performances). I finally gave the book a try. I was surprised to see that the book was short. It didn't put me off at all, it was just an observation, especially after having watched the movie I expected a lengthier book. As I read through the pages I was aware of the nuances with the movie, something that made my neurons glitch from time to time, for I expected one thing, yet found something else. Yet, Palahniuk's mastery of his unique style and narrative kept me reading and reading, constantly trying to decipher why the writing style was so good and so bold and so... damn original. The story itself is strong, consistent to the bone and detail oriented without being overwhelming. I figured Fight Club was very successful because it defined a putrid, rotten world that exists within the human realm. Fight Club gave this world a face, a personality, a tangible morphology we could finally grasp. This world occupies the mind of the bluest, the raw material of hatred towards the organized, paved by those who seek to control through the creation of rules that determine a beings reality. This reality has a big blind-spot, and the world Palanhniuk described in Fight Club defined this blind-spot and exploited it. This blind-spot is an individual's need to feel unique, and yet, the opposing desire to feel he is part of a movement, a group, to be part of a collective. To be part of Fight Club one had to slay one's reality, to lay naked midst the ugly and emerged reborn, only to join a new set of dogmas. This is portrayed as the idea of propagating organized-chaos, an idea that spread through the mediocre like a virus. The virus lived among society cloaked under the veil of working men, men who seemed to follow a set of social rules; the virus unveiled during the night, during Fight Club. An integrant of Fight Club was a menacing soul in search of freedom, from social expectations and the boxed-in sensation felt by binding rules of how one must supposedly behave midst peers. The soul within Fight Club sought freedom, even from itself, only to be lured by its desire to belong, to be part of the clan: the paradox of wanting to be unique and yet, the inevitability of desiring to be part of cult, to be part of the change. Man's demise is served cold in Fight Club, for example, when Tyler makes soap out of fat rendered by liposuction--society's shame--, sold back to the thinned as soap, purchasing what once was thought as biological waste, now regarded precious and a standard of "high society". To leave aside the story, I would like to mention Palahniuk's writing style. To achieve the deliverance of a message so profound, in such a raw manner, using short sentences and explicit imagery is indeed a literary achievement. I truly enjoyed this read, far better than watching the movie. The movie, however, is also an achievement in itself.

A contemporary masterpiece. An underground fight club goes from a way for frustrated men to vent their rage over the variety of emasculations they think they've suffered and becomes a stealthy, destructive movement sworn to topple a false and dehumanized consumer culture. In the thick of the anarchism is the mysterious Tyler Durden, who's charismatic brand of evangelical destruction alternately attracts and repels. Clearly , he is someone you cannot take your eyes off of as he exhorts his troops to pull the rug from under the engines of Industry. Chuck Palaniuk's satire is vicious, masterful, a vision of a bloated culture set on the cutting board , inspecting with a dissecting eye. This is the perfect novel of terrorism, and Palaniuk extends the violence aesthetic of Mailer's "White Negro" and the various therapies encouraging the psychically wounded to vent until they heal or when the things that are killing them disappears. In both instances, the aim is to free the body from the sterile consumerism its shackled to and to feel alive, and advocates of this sort of expulsion would be quick to add that the violence assumed in their rants and manifestos is metaphorical only; poetry to make a point. Paulaniuk , though, is having none of this grandstanding equivocation on the point; a male either feels that he's had his manhood commoditized and removed from his being, or he does not, and he's willing to take direct action against the symbols and systems of oppression, or there are complacent with a status quo and, hence, part of the problem. The genius of the novel is the author's decision to take the talk of mortal liberation at face value and to follow the logic. Aggrieved males attacking each other , fighting as hard as they can, blows to the body, the head, the groin meant to help them feel something real and independent of programmed responses and advertised results, and in achieving a bond and formed a community, there becomes the united purpose of bringing down the towers of business, the arrogance of faceless, soulless capitalism. Palaniuk's novel is fiction and it is satire, but it is also potent social criticism and disturbingly presents a mindset of a collective for whom acts of grandscale violence, of terrorism are the only sane action possible because they are the only things one can do that means anything. Fight Club is a rousing, disturbing read.

Chuck Palahniuk showed himself to be his generation’s most visionary satirist in this, his first book. Fight Club’s estranged narrator leaves his lackluster job when he comes under the thrall of Tyler Durden, an enigmatic young man who holds secret after-hours boxing matches in the basement of bars. There, two men fight "as long as they have to." This is a gloriously original work that exposes the darkness at the core of our modern world. I decided to read this book as though I’ve never seen the movie and am going to write my review as such. What the hell did I just read? This book was crazy from start to finish. The writing is impeccable and the story is gritty, dirty, and insane. It’s uncomfortable at times but not enough to make you want to stop reading. No, you definitely want to finish it, just to see what the hell happens in the end. How could this story come to a close? The narrator (unnamed throughout the book) hates his life, hates his job, hates basically everything. Everywhere he goes, he hopes something bad will happen that will take him out. He suffers from insomnia. He goes to different support groups to feel better about his life. One day he meets Tyler Durden and his whole life changes. Tyler’s clearly insane but he’s so charming that you can’t help but go with everything he says. Until Tyler gets a little too insane and the entire life of the narrator is coming unraveled. Perhaps everything isn’t quite as it seems? While I did like the story overall, it’s mostly because of the writing. I did not like the narrator at all. I think he’s petulant and self-indulgent. We get it, you hate your life. Do something about it. Don’t just complain. It’s not up to “the man” to change your life and it’s not their fault you’re a loser. Going through life creating destruction isn’t going to make your life better. This book definitely is not for the faint of heart or stomach. If you’re sensitive at all, this book probably isn’t for you. But if you’re into a gritty story with a super unreliable narrator, this might just be the story for you. I said the writing is amazing. The story set up is great. It really is a super interesting concept. Don’t let my opinion of the narrator sway you.

This book was great! I hadn’t seen the movie or really heard anything about it, still haven’t seen the movie but the book was terrific. Arrived in great condition as well.

The central idea of the novel, “Fight Club”, is that aggression is an expression of the repressed subversion of the individual against systematic violence in a society where economic exploitation of the section of society has become institutionalized. Indeed, this literary work has affective appeal and quintessence of portrayal since Chuck Palahniuk shows how violence can truly be liberating as an experience. This cult novel goes on to utilize plot, characters, setting so as to bring out the effect of the story and the portrayal. The author uses the theme of the novel to engage the audience and portrays the central content in the face of systematic violence of society. The author portrays duality of human existence via the characters and society so as to present the intertwined relationship between violence and peace. “Fight Club” is one of the most significant works of literature that resonates in the minds of the readers with the sheer idea of radical societal transformation. This transformation could bring immense change in global society where people presently suffer from the economic hardships and economic system. The author goes on to intertwine the plot, characters and setting so as to manipulate the readers into getting totally engaged to the narrative of the story only to understand how radical the film is in its idea and portrayal of the potential of inner duality of a common man. The cinematic adaptation has only worked to popularize the work of art to the world audience transcending the barriers of culture and communities. Indeed, “Fight Club” is one of finest works of art that talks about societal issues, seeks the identity of the individual, and dares to empower the commoner to be subversive about the entire societal system that is in prevalence. The literary work is truly an exploration of human identity.

The first rule about Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club, but I am going to anyway (or at least the novel ). Chuck Palahniuk is the author with the unpronounceable last name who penned the wildly successful “Fight Club” nearly 20 years ago. The book has taken on something of a cult status in dark corners of the reading world, due in large part to the movie of the same name starring Brad Pitt. MY IMPRESSION “Fight Club” is a fistful of fun and an enjoyable read that will punch you in the face. KA-POW! **Spoiler Alert** What Palahniuk has done is provide a modern take on “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” that Robert Louis Stevenson gave the world back in 1886. In the middle of FC we learn that the mild mannered desk clerk and the wild founder of the underground fight clubs and Project Mayhem are the same person. Palahniuk does a good job of masking it, but ultimately the foundation of originality in the dissociative personality trait stuck in a novel rests with Stevenson. The originality in FC is found on the surface in the fight club concept and the plans of Project Mayhem. Readers also learn all they ever wanted to know about making soap from the extracted fat of the rich and how to sell it back to them. And who in their lives hasn’t longed to have that knowledge bouncing around in their brain? There is also a love story going on in the novel. I was surprised as anyone in reading the afterword by the Palahniuk when he claimed that the novel is a romance. Does it belong on the shelves next to pink-covered Joan Collins novels? I’ll let you be the judge. I RECOMMEND IT “Fight Club” is not a perfect novel and what piece of art is, especially when it is a first novel? There are the little annoyances like quote malfunction in the form of the opening quote being reversed. This may be from the print to ebook conversion, but who knows? Maybe it’s High Art. I recommend this wild read of a novel. It has action, pithy text, original surface contexts and a love story. “Fight Club” is, after all, a “romance.” #FightClubReview #BestBooks

Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club" is an exhilarating book that goes deep into the struggles of the lower class and mentally ill. The 1999 movie under the same title is based off of this novel, except the book is way better. Its non-linear storytelling colliding with Palahniuk’s unique writing style combine to make an introspective, action-packed cult classic that will make you itching for more. Prepare for a ride down a fiery, unique narrative that keeps the reader anticipating what will happen on the next page. This book is told through the eyes of an average guy, tired of his bland life and tortured by his insomnia. Although we are not given his real name (audiences commonly refer to him as “The Narrator”), the readers instantly get hooked by Palahniuk’s writing and vivid characters. Anyways, The Narrator has his routine in life and follows it fairly strictly. Finally, he meets a man named Tyler Durden. Tyler has given up on life, and encourages The Narrator to do the same. As Tyler leads our protagonist through a journey of self-identification, life and death, mental illness, and crazy (and dangerous) activities, the two become underground sensations for starting fight clubs all over America. Fallout ensues, and all hell breaks loose, surprising the readers the whole way through. In my opinion, reading is more tedious and boring than watching a movie. I have always preferred watching the events happen to reading about them. But, my view was changed after reading "Fight Club". It is a riveting tale that has made me interested in finding more books like this.

I’ve seen the movie several times and enjoyed it so I thought why not read the book. All I can say is it didn’t disappoint.

PTT Kargo ile yapılan gönderim hususunda soru işaretlerim vardı ama sorunsuz şekilde ulaştırıldı. Gelen kitap kapağı ile satıştaki görsel arasında fark mevcut. Filmden sonra yeniden basıldığı için kapakta da oyuncuların görsellerine yer verilmiş. Bilginize.

There's no doubt that "Fight Club" fame is derived by the success of its movie adaptation, Palahniuk knows that and he says it at the end of the book. The story by itself is catchy, nice written, with great characters and thrilling situations. Movie and book have its particularities both in storytelling as in descriptions and characters. In my opinion, Fincher adaptation is darker than Palahniuk's story, but the last is less "Hollywood" and "The narrator" is without a doubt less naive and morally contradicted that in the movie. If you have seen the movie and love it this book wouldn't disappoint you.

Una de las mejores novelas contemporáneas que he disfrutado mucho leyendo en inglés. La edición no es nada del otro mundo pero el contenido y la novela es una maravilla.