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A review by ashrafulla
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
4.0
This is my first Chuck Palahniuk book and I enjoyed the style for the most part. The style is very movie-friendly in that the character is helter-skelter in his narration. I liked the psychological battles and layers that went into the main character, and I liked how many mistakes the narrator made in his narration. He got his brother wrong, he got his church wrong, he got Felicity wrong, he basically got everyone wrong. That's a really nice touch; rather than having a seemingly omniscient (or at least lucky) main character, Palahniuk instead has given the point of view to someone who is being used by every single person who meets him. It's a different form of anti-hero, a powerless form of protagonist.
The book isn't 5 stars because over random 100-line stretches it would just be the same point pounded and pounded until I wanted to skip ahead. It's the opposite of a commercial in TV in that its as if the last frame was frozen for 2 minutes instead. I wanted to skip ahead to what happened next (a testament to the pace of the novel) and that was a bit frustrating. I also didn't like Felicity that much; she's not a free spirit as much as she is the MacGuffin required to justify the events of the story. She doesn't offer much in terms of either a) depth or b) development.
Nevertheless it's a quick read that is a lot of fun. It made subway rides short because you would just roll with the words as events and thoughts changed quickly. That's why it's worth reading, because it's just a fun book to read.
The book isn't 5 stars because over random 100-line stretches it would just be the same point pounded and pounded until I wanted to skip ahead. It's the opposite of a commercial in TV in that its as if the last frame was frozen for 2 minutes instead. I wanted to skip ahead to what happened next (a testament to the pace of the novel) and that was a bit frustrating. I also didn't like Felicity that much; she's not a free spirit as much as she is the MacGuffin required to justify the events of the story. She doesn't offer much in terms of either a) depth or b) development.
Nevertheless it's a quick read that is a lot of fun. It made subway rides short because you would just roll with the words as events and thoughts changed quickly. That's why it's worth reading, because it's just a fun book to read.