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mabelsyrup's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
“What would Jesus NOT do?”
let me start by saying that this taking me so long to finish is part reading slump part I-went-on-a-holiday part i-read-something-else-in-between part NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS HERE
I enjoyed Choke and i don’t really know what my expectations were but this was so not what i thought it’d be, it’s kinda funny actually, but the constant day to day got a little repetitive and it felt like a bunch of filler then an interesting chapter then more filler and then another interesting chapter, it made it go really slow sometimes
The tone is satirical and irreverent, the things that Victor gets involved in range from side-eye level to amusingly(?disturbing, and generally he was really fun to read from, i loved being in that weirdo’s head for serious. Oh to be 24 during the opioid crisis/j
Now, is this book talking about existentialism? the US addiction problem? mental illness? none?
all of the above?? well yes
the last few chapters did get me good lmao “fear not for I am Christ” girl stfu 😭😭
“Every addiction, she said, was just a way to treat this same problem. Drugs or overeating or alcohol or sex, it was all just another way to find peace. To escape what we know. Our education. Our bite of the apple.”
“this is America. You start out with handjobs and progress to org¡es. You smoke some dope and then, the big H. This is our whole culture of bigger, better, stronger, faster. The key word is progress.
In America, if your addiction isn't always new and improved, you're a failure.”
“It's not that I'm an ingrate, but if all you can cut me is fifty bucks, next time just let me die. Okay? Or better yet, stand aside and let some rich person be the hero.”
“"What if Jesus spent all his growing up getting things wrong," I say, "before he ever got a single miracle right?" (…)”How is it we don't read about Jesus' failed first attempts," I say, " or how he didn't really crank out the big miracles until he was over thirty?"”
“These are people who don't want an orgasm as much as they just want to forget. Everything. For just two minutes,ten minutes, twenty, a half hour. Or maybe when people are treated like cattle, that's how they act. Or maybe that's just an excuse. Maybe they're just bored.”
let me start by saying that this taking me so long to finish is part reading slump part I-went-on-a-holiday part i-read-something-else-in-between part NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS HERE
I enjoyed Choke and i don’t really know what my expectations were but this was so not what i thought it’d be, it’s kinda funny actually, but the constant day to day got a little repetitive and it felt like a bunch of filler then an interesting chapter then more filler and then another interesting chapter, it made it go really slow sometimes
The tone is satirical and irreverent, the things that Victor gets involved in range from side-eye level to amusingly(?disturbing, and generally he was really fun to read from, i loved being in that weirdo’s head for serious. Oh to be 24 during the opioid crisis/j
Now, is this book talking about existentialism? the US addiction problem? mental illness? none?
all of the above?? well yes
the last few chapters did get me good lmao “fear not for I am Christ” girl stfu 😭😭
“Every addiction, she said, was just a way to treat this same problem. Drugs or overeating or alcohol or sex, it was all just another way to find peace. To escape what we know. Our education. Our bite of the apple.”
“this is America. You start out with handjobs and progress to org¡es. You smoke some dope and then, the big H. This is our whole culture of bigger, better, stronger, faster. The key word is progress.
In America, if your addiction isn't always new and improved, you're a failure.”
“It's not that I'm an ingrate, but if all you can cut me is fifty bucks, next time just let me die. Okay? Or better yet, stand aside and let some rich person be the hero.”
“"What if Jesus spent all his growing up getting things wrong," I say, "before he ever got a single miracle right?" (…)”How is it we don't read about Jesus' failed first attempts," I say, " or how he didn't really crank out the big miracles until he was over thirty?"”
“These are people who don't want an orgasm as much as they just want to forget. Everything. For just two minutes,ten minutes, twenty, a half hour. Or maybe when people are treated like cattle, that's how they act. Or maybe that's just an excuse. Maybe they're just bored.”
ellie_83's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
kerriespaghetti's review against another edition
2.0
Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorites, but Choke left me feeling confused when I should have felt enlightened. I get what he was trying to do, but I don't think he accomplished it as beautifully and eloquently as he did with Fight Club. Onto Invisible Monsters!
ekcd_'s review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Psychological books where the main character hates themselves and is questionably delusional and have a fuck ton of trauma and nothing really happens or gets better but I still feel honored to get to see inside their sick little brains is my jam. Truly a horrifying and disgusting book, I am obsessed with it.
stanleythrewbricks's review against another edition
2.0
This book painfully proved to me that Chuck Palahniuk has become algorithmic. Where in fight club and haunted his controversial approach to writing intrigued me, in choke it fell flat.
I fought my way through this book, desperate to not give up on it. The last chapter was surprisingly redeeming.
I fought my way through this book, desperate to not give up on it. The last chapter was surprisingly redeeming.
jinxin4no's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
_misanthropologist_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5