eschewed's review against another edition
4.0
Seeing as this is one of the two Chuck Palahniuk books I actually own (the other being Pygmy) and the only one I ever read and finished, I liked this immensely.
asexualslut's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
at first i didn’t understand why people thought this was funny and then we got to the stairclimber chapter and i understood
librariann's review against another edition
Entertaining and typical Palahniuk, the brain-wash I needed. Little language, which is unusual, but also nice (given the narrator's background as an indoctrinated child of a cult, it would be unexpected)
dylanperry's review against another edition
3.0
Just to get this out of the way: the only other Palahniuk novel I've read is Fight Club and this did not stack up to that wonderful book.
Survivor was a solid read. I blew through it in 2 days and was engaged and entertained for the most part, although I had problems with it. Despite being less than 300 pages long, sections of this book dragged. I wanted more from the villain than we got, and somewhere around the halfway point the character Fertility (no, really, that's her name) becomes a plot device rather than a person with wants and needs. She's there to move the story along. Also the last 40-50 pages didn't feel emotionally satisfying to me and rushed in places.
I also think the formatting of this book wrongly setup expectations of how the story would unfold. The chapters and page numbers are in reverse. So you start on chapter 47 and page 289 and count down from there. It was intriguing but I think when I saw this I almost expected it to tell the story in reverse, which sounded like something Chuck Palahniuk would do. But what we get is a much more traditional structure. We open on a plane hijacker talking into the black box and telling his story. Then it flashes back and the rest of the novel is spent seeing how he got there. This was not so much the fault of the author and more, I believe, on whoever decided to design the book that way--although now I'm interested in reading a book told in reverse.
It may sound like I hated the book, and I didn't. I am however the slightest bit disappointed. I expected more, or maybe my expectations were too high after loving Fight Club. I do not regret reading this, and will read more of Palahniuk's books in the future. This one just fell a little flat for me.
Survivor was a solid read. I blew through it in 2 days and was engaged and entertained for the most part, although I had problems with it. Despite being less than 300 pages long, sections of this book dragged. I wanted more from the villain than we got, and somewhere around the halfway point the character Fertility (no, really, that's her name) becomes a plot device rather than a person with wants and needs. She's there to move the story along. Also the last 40-50 pages didn't feel emotionally satisfying to me and rushed in places.
I also think the formatting of this book wrongly setup expectations of how the story would unfold. The chapters and page numbers are in reverse. So you start on chapter 47 and page 289 and count down from there. It was intriguing but I think when I saw this I almost expected it to tell the story in reverse, which sounded like something Chuck Palahniuk would do. But what we get is a much more traditional structure. We open on a plane hijacker talking into the black box and telling his story. Then it flashes back and the rest of the novel is spent seeing how he got there. This was not so much the fault of the author and more, I believe, on whoever decided to design the book that way--although now I'm interested in reading a book told in reverse.
It may sound like I hated the book, and I didn't. I am however the slightest bit disappointed. I expected more, or maybe my expectations were too high after loving Fight Club. I do not regret reading this, and will read more of Palahniuk's books in the future. This one just fell a little flat for me.
avocadorocketship's review against another edition
3.0
I just re-read this for the second time.
I have been thinking that this is my favorite Palahniuk book for a long time, but I didn't like it as much after the second read.
I hate when that happens.
I have been thinking that this is my favorite Palahniuk book for a long time, but I didn't like it as much after the second read.
I hate when that happens.
sightofthestars's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rogy's review against another edition
3.0
Certainly not my favorite from Palahniuk, but he set the bar pretty low for me with “Damned.” Unlike some other stories I’ve read by the author, “survivor” isn’t overwhelmingly gross, and that’s the main reason I think this book is okay.
My issue with “Survivor,” is that many of Tender’s crimes were sort of left behind in the background. He’s probably the worst person to ever exist in the fictional world, but that’s totally forgotten by about the 5th chapter. Reduced to the single case of Fertility’s brother’s suicide for the rest of the book.
And holy moly, I don’t give a damn about your religion, if you encourage people to commit suicide, you don’t get to slut shame.
This wasn’t all bad though. I actually quite enjoy stories that get you rooting for the bad guy, I just hate how sometimes a characters evilness is forgotten. “Survivor” is the kind of story I probably would have really enjoyed if it were a movie, but I worry it would only encourage shitty young men and boys to be even shittier. Take a look at any 15-23-year-old boy who loves “Fight Club.”
My issue with “Survivor,” is that many of Tender’s crimes were sort of left behind in the background. He’s probably the worst person to ever exist in the fictional world, but that’s totally forgotten by about the 5th chapter. Reduced to the single case of Fertility’s brother’s suicide for the rest of the book.
And holy moly, I don’t give a damn about your religion, if you encourage people to commit suicide, you don’t get to slut shame.
This wasn’t all bad though. I actually quite enjoy stories that get you rooting for the bad guy, I just hate how sometimes a characters evilness is forgotten. “Survivor” is the kind of story I probably would have really enjoyed if it were a movie, but I worry it would only encourage shitty young men and boys to be even shittier. Take a look at any 15-23-year-old boy who loves “Fight Club.”
ferndavey's review
2.0
I’d give it 2.5 stars, the story was a bit lack lustre I was expecting more twists and a load more gross from a palahniuk! But I love how he writes so I still couldn’t stop reading it.