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semisinful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Man some of this was really hard to swallow. I loved it though. It was so brutal but it felt incredibly authentic. My problem with a lot of books this brutal is inauthenticity. This was great.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
chapter_one_athenaeum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
alma_lurie_04's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
melanieg123's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
gniu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
msorce's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Any content warning that you could possibly have could fit this book.somelibrarychick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt
zakcebulski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What can one say about Fight Club that has not been said for either the book or the movie adaptation.
This book was outstanding. For the debut novel this, to me, is comparable in another medium of entertainment- Nas' Illmatic in hip-hop music. This book is crass, vulgar, funny and littered with vivid depictions of squalor and dereliction that rubbed off on me and stayed with me for days after finishing it.
This book takes place from the point of view of the insomniac worker-bee, the unnamed protagonist. He lives day in and day out working at a corporate job just to buy things that he doesn't need. To help combat his insomnia he attends support groups for people with terminal illnesses. Here he meets the fatalistic Marla Singer- a strong- willed woman that is described as crazy throughout the book. She is the heel to the narrator who finds that his insomnia cure doesn't work when there is a person there who knows that he is a phony.
That is until one day when his fuckin' condo gets blown up and all of the unnecessary things that he spent years of his life acquiring, slaving away for, are destroyed, leaving him with nothing. It is at this time that he meets the suave, confident, sure and terroristic Tyler Durden. These two men, on opposite sides of the spectrum of personalities, team up to start the titular fight club. This is where people go and they beat the fuck out of each other. This allows them to buy in to the more primal way of living and allows for these slaves to dead end employment take back some of their agency.
But, as a shock to all, this does not stay as simple as it is. Tyler has more and more nefarious plans as he creates Project Mayhem- a terrorist organization that is aimed at the 1% to take away their livelihood in forms of destroying their things.
The way that Palahniuk writes this book to go through the everyman slave to the wage lifestyle to go all the way to domestic terrorism is extremely well paced. I think that Palahniuk perfectly matches the Narrator's understanding of what is happening to the point where we are finding things out with him.
This is even more wonderfully crafted when it is revealed that the Narrator and Tyler Durden are one in the same. The Narrator is himself, while Tyler is the Narrator's insomniac insanity induced manifestation of the man he wants to be.
Now, this twist is certainly well known by this point in history- but, in reading the book, I have to commend Palahniuk for his expert writing wherein he is able to give subtle hints to the reveal of the twist while still veiling the whole thing in shadows. I believe that much like the movie, if you were to re-read this book while knowing the twist you'd smack your forehead with exasperation in wondering how you missed such obvious references.
I thought that the commentary regarding consumerism was very interesting. I did think that the view of consumerism is a bit... surface level, or perhaps simplistic? However, I read it more as a cautionary tale of "hey lol don't let material shit hold the rope". This is interesting and is something that I think has more and more prevalence today than even it did in the 90s. I loved the commentary regarding one's own agency which I think is perfectly summed up in the quote "Once you've lost everything, you're free to do anything." This ties in expertly to the way that the Narrator looks at his own life.
I loved this book. I thought that it was such a fascinating read. It is definitely one that I think I would be pleased bumping up to a 5 star upon subsequent reads. It has absolutely inspired me to seek out more books by Palahniuk.
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
vampirerat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
cianarae's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Abortion