Anybody read any books by Chuck Palahniuk? He wrote Fight Club. I've read that and Survivor which are similar but I found Survivor even more interesting. For some reason when I read Survivor I hear Edward Nortons voice narrating in my head. I heard that survivor was going to be made into movie which I'm not too angry about because visually that book has some great possibilities.

Yeah I went through a big Palahniuk faze about 4-5 years ago. I read Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Survivor and Choke. I kinda got a bit tired of him after that and haven't read any of his later stuff. At the time Fight Club and Choke were probably my favourites. I also own a copy of "Fight Club' on dvd. I thought "Fight Club" was one of those movies that only comes along every five years or so. For me "Fight Club was the best film since "Pulp Fiction" and Sin City was the best film since "Fight Club". As for Survivor I thought it was a good book for the first three quarters, but find the way some of Chuck's characters take on a Christ complex a bit tedious. But hey who am I to bag him?, he has the runs on the board I don't. Oh yeah, I watched a show last night called Australia's favourite film. They basically conducted a national survey to see what the most popular film in Australia was, and the mighty "Fight Club" came in at number 10 that is fuggin huge for such a hardcore and offbeat film. If pressed I'd say it's probably my all time favourite, if not definatly in all time top 5.  

I've read Fight Club and Survivor. I can't really remember my experience reading Fight Club, so I'll just say I liked Survivor better.

I read 'Diary' which I thought was excellent. I'm now reading 'Haunted,' an anthology of gruesome short stories cleverly tied together by an overarching narrative.

I'm rapidly becoming a huge fan of his work. He has a very unique style and his stories are grotesquely funny.

Check out his short story 'Guts'

http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html

Apparently 70+ people have fainted during live readings of this story. Read it and you'll see why.

CHoke is by far my favorite.  Such a great novel.  Heard it's in pre-prod.

YESSSSSSSSS!

Quoted from leanordjenkis CHoke is by far my favorite.  Such a great novel.  Heard it's in pre-prod. YESSSSSSSSS!

Oh that is exciting, in fact too exciting, I'd better think about the dumpy Tarzan. Lol.

Personally I loved Fight Club and the film was a masterpiece. When I stepped out of the cinema after seeing it, I felt like I was on acid because it absolutely blew my mind.  

Fight Club is my favorite too.. I like each and every aspects of it. Totaly great film..I wonder why it didn't win the best picture that year even the overrated Plue Fiction won an Oscar.

About a year ago I was a big Palahniuk fan.  I ended up reading Fight Club, Lullaby, Survivor, Haunted, and Invisible Monsters (In that order).  My favorite was Lullaby probably, but Survivor is pretty up there as well.  By the time I read Invisible Monsters though I was sick of his writing and I didn't like the book at all.  I haven't bothered reading anything else by him since.

I do give him credit for originallity, he certainly has that in his stories.

-Pat

I read Lullaby and it was my favorite out of Fight Club, Choke, Survivor and Invisible MOnsters. All of his main characters have that OCD type of live that i found agitating after a while but Lullaby is cool cause it's about an african poem once read kills someone. it's interesting with a fucked up endinG!

Choke is going to be a movie. It will be directed by Clark Gregg (or Gregg Clark, I can't remember). He wrote the screenplay for that Zemeckis thriller What Lies Beneath and is currently on The Old Adventures of New Christine. He adapted the novel and it will also mark his directorial debut. Sam Rockwell, Annett Benning, Glenn Close and Julieanne Moore are all rumoured to be linked to the project. I've never read the novel, so I don't know what the story is about, but is this good news or bad?


Cheers, Chismeister.

Choke is about a sex addict who pretends to choke in restuarants in order to pay for his mother's intensive care... what'd you expect from the guy who wrote Fight Club? Anyway, I tried to read this a really long time ago and honestly couldn't get into it (maybe I was too young, I wasn't even in high school at the time). It'd be interesting to see it adapted though. Not exactly a Hollywood plot if you ask me. I just saw the Green Mile (excellent film) so I'm pretty sure Sam Rockwell being rumored is good news. Not sure about the director though. What Lies Beneath wasn't horrible but it was pretty formulaic mainstream fodder and I don't think those kinds of sensibilities fit Choke well (maybe if this was Survivor, it'd be a different story). Anyway, can't really say if it's good or bad news. Interesting though. Never thought they'd make Choke into a movie.

As for Palahniuk, the only thing I've read all the way through is Guts, which I loved. I've dabbled into Choke and Survivor but they didn't really grab me for some reason. Fight Club was a good flick though as far as the story's concerned. I'd say the guy's a decent writer.

I read Guts and Fight Club.

Loved both. And Guts did certainly leave me with the taste of blood in my mouth. But an amazing read. It made me queasy in a way I haven't felt since I read a short story called Child's Play by Villy Sorensen, about three young kids home alone who decide to play doctor when their friend hurts his knee. The only thing you need to know about the story can be said in one word: Amputation.

It's in the anthology of short stories "Fine Frights: Stories that scared me" by Ramsey Campbell.

When we read the story in high-school had to be excused because I felt like throwing up.

Haunted is amazing. I'm surprised with the cast amount of horror fans here that it hasn't been read more. The "current" story line of the book is silly but you get into it and the short stories are incredible. I remember reading the short story "Guts" on a plane to Ireland and having to stop halfway through because I was actually feeling ill. No written word has ever done that to me. Seriously, pick it up.

Some readers and critics felt that Haunted was just over-the-edge. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

My favorite Palahniuk novel would have to be Lullaby. I just love the idea of the story, of the dual narratives... it's great stuff. And what I love about it is, like Being John Malkovich, it takes the fantastical and sets it perfectly in the real world, so much so that you focus more on the humanity of the piece rather than the logicality. Great read.

Chuck's new book Snuff has just been released. It revolves around a couple of guys who are queuing up to shag some chick in a porno movie gang bang.    

There's a great article about Chuck in the May issue of the Advocate.

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid54713.asp

(Did y'all know he was gay?)

Quoted Text (Did y'all know he was gay?)

Not to sound mean, but every Palaniuk fan knows this. He's pretty open about it.

At any rate, just thought I'd comment on this thread because I finished up Haunted. All I can say is that its a must read for any writer. the stories in that book are incredible, especially the nightmare box. in all actuality, "guts" is just the tip of the iceberg. you've really got to read the entire book.

Quoted from albinopenguin At any rate, just thought I'd comment on this thread because I finished up Haunted. All I can say is that its a must read for any writer. the stories in that book are incredible, especially the nightmare box. in all actuality, "guts" is just the tip of the iceberg. you've really got to read the entire book.

I read "Haunted" over my recent vacation.

"Guts" -- the first story in the book -- is a brutal slap in the face that really gets your attention -- but to me, the remainder of the book fails to live up to the promise of that first story.

There is some great work that follows -- don't get me wrong -- but some of it is just silly, too.  That foot massage story springs to mind.

The narrative that ties these stories together is also a bit odd -- it is not realistic, but I do not think it was meant to be realistic -- and what he was trying to say with those segments kind of eluded me.

Fascinating narrative structure, though.  It was seldom a dull read, but uneven overall.

I think he peaked at Fight Club, Bertrum. Choke was pretty solid too. But I think he's past his best from what I can gather from the lack of buzz around his later stuff.

Quoted from Death Monkey Loved both. And Guts did certainly leave me with the taste of blood in my mouth. But an amazing read. It made me queasy in a way I haven't felt since I read a short story called Child's Play by Villy Sorensen, about three young kids home alone who decide to play doctor when their friend hurts his knee. The only thing you need to know about the story can be said in one word: Amputation. It's in the anthology of short stories "Fine Frights: Stories that scared me" by Ramsey Campbell. When we read the story in high-school had to be excused because I felt like throwing up.

Oh man, Guts was fantastically disgusting. I don't think I've ever been so physically grossed out by a short story before.

Oh, do you know if they still have Fine Frights: Stories That Scared Me to purchase? I looked on Amazon and saw on old paperback version, but most of them are just cheap used copies.

I didn't know he was gay. I'm not the type of bloke who cares.

The man's handy with a phrase and to me, that's all that matters. I did go out with a young lady who went to one of his readings. I'm not sure which piece it was but it involved a young man in a swimming pool and his antics near the pool filter. Apparently several walked out. I laughed my ass off when she told the story. Jesus!

I just thank the man for Fight Club. And for all that followed. We need more like him.

Re