Choke by Chuck Palahnuik.
So I've never read anything by Mr. Palhnuik, and I still haven't (technically). I listened to Choke on CD, as the author reads it. The text was unabridge so it's like reading the book, and to be frank, I don't have the time for idle reading.
The major thing that struck me about this book is the writing. I'm not sure I would be able to read it. Listening to it at times became taxing. The repeative, "I say 'Dude,' I say." I felt like Foghorn Leghorn had written this story. I was not at all impressed with the writing style of this book. The juxtapostion of some of the prose with the other parts was distracting to no end "see also being pulled out of the story, see also the horrible quotations, see also see also references."
Now to the story. This was listed according to some sites as satire and black comedy. I found it more absurdist, which I like. The characters are over the top, and unrealistic in that way, but that's good absurdist writing. The narrator was very unreliable. I don't like this so well in writing. This is just my particular preference. But the main issue with this story, is that I was not satisfied at the end. The character has a change. His hole sick little world fell apart as anal beads descended from his colon, but I'm not sure he learned anything, and It had been a stretch for me to care about the characters from the start. (This is a problem with absurdist fiction at times.)
The one thing I have to say about Palahnuik is that this is a man's book. There is no frilliness to it. It lacks any foofoo. It's hardcore as a book about sex addicts should be.
The unfortunate thing is I'll probably never pick up another Palahnuik book again. This one ruined me on him. But I will credit that I don't hold him in the contempt I hold Scott Smith and his The Ruins in. I actually pick up copies of that book and openly make fun of it in a book store. I won't do that with Palahnuik because I think he has some positive qualities in his writing, but it's just not for me. See also Earnest Hemmingway, see also Stephanie Meyer, see also H.P Lovecraft.
