Guest Choken One Report post Posted April 17, 2003 It is in my opinion that Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Choke, Survivor, Lullby) is the best modern day writer. What are your opinons on him? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Amazing Rando Report post Posted April 17, 2003 you forgot "Invisible Monster" which is a great book. Fight Club is one of my favorite books of all time, and I feel that it is better than the movie in many regards...and I freaking LOVE the movie... I always recommend him to people who need newer books to read and I hope he continues the trend he is on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted April 17, 2003 He graduated from my school, so if you don't love him here, you're a freak. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted April 17, 2003 His irritatingly terse prose is an affection I can live without. Fight Club was pretty solid, but practically indistinguishable from Survivor or Invisible Monsters. I have no desire to read anything else by him ever again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted April 17, 2003 I've never read him. I guess I'll make a trip to the library. But of the authors I HAVE read, Elmore Leonard owns all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vyce Report post Posted April 17, 2003 Chuck's one of my favorites. Totally agree with the recommendation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Edwin MacPhisto Report post Posted April 17, 2003 Definitely NOT the best "modern day writer" (which I assume means still writing now?). Don DeLillo (White Noise, Underworld) scorches him in his own snarky style, even, and is a much better flat-out writer of prose who seems much more comfortable in absurdity. I've read Fight Club and Survivor, and while Fight Club was good, Survivor was...weak. Clever at parts, but he hits the same themes and once again goes for the big twist. I've not read his other works, but a friend of mine read at least two others--I'm not sure which--and said he pulled out the same unreliable narrator/twist trick again. I really can't stand stuff that's absolutely unreasonable as far as twists go, and although Fight Club is really funny and altogether pretty slick, I can't buy the twist for a second. He uses cheap writing tactics to get around exposing the trick for the first 3/4 of the novel, and that's just plain lame. Honestly, I would have preferred... Spoiler (Highlight to Read): ...if he'd done something more creative, like reveal the split personality bit way earlier and done something that actually requires capable control of the text, like alternate narrative voice for the chapters. Or even just not use cheap tactics like the characters--especially Marla--never addressing the narrator by name. That's just silly writing. I could buy it as a gimmick for the length of a good short story, but not for a full-length novel. Bottom line: there are a lot of worse writers out there, but a ton of better ones, too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted April 17, 2003 I meant like the Best New Writer... Hasn't DeLilo been around for a while? I have Invisible Monster but I haven't gotten to it but I have waiting in the bathroom just in case Can Anyone recommend others similar to DeLilo and Palahniuk? I'm trying to get a wider range here... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Edwin MacPhisto Report post Posted April 18, 2003 Bret Easton Ellis has a similar disregard for society. He writes well, but disturbingly. Very darkly comic and a bit more depraved than either of those guys, but something you may want to check out. American Psycho and The Rules Of Attraction are his two most famous works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted April 19, 2003 They were ok but nothing special... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted April 19, 2003 Don DeLillo (White Noise, Underworld) scorches him in his own snarky style, even, and is a much better flat-out writer of prose who seems much more comfortable in absurdity. I've read Fight Club and Survivor, and while Fight Club was good, Survivor was...weak. Clever at parts, but he hits the same themes and once again goes for the big twist. I echo this sentiment. Palahniuk is a one trick pony. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest red_file Report post Posted April 20, 2003 I echo this sentiment. Palahniuk is a one trick pony. Agreed. And even his one trick has trouble carrying an entire book. Choken One said: Can Anyone recommend others similar to DeLilo and Palahniuk? Similar in what way? Style? Subject matter? Ethos? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted April 20, 2003 Style pretty Much... Most people tell me Ellis and Hempel... I've read Ellis and I can't find Hempel...So anyone else? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kotzenjunge Report post Posted April 20, 2003 Fight Club was structured like a Vonnegut work, which is all I can comment on, since I've only read that. The only difference was that the new reality facing the main character/s was sudden in Fight Club as opposed to the usual gradual "do you get it yet?" Vonnegut style. But, since he is so similar to my favorite author of all time, I expect I'd enjoy other work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Retro Rob Report post Posted April 21, 2003 I also enjoyed Fight Club enough to buy Choke, which I haven't read yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moral suasion 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2003 Although both books rock, Choke is better than Fight Club in my opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted April 21, 2003 I got Choke right on my Table next to me...Tonight, I will read it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nl5xsk1 Report post Posted April 21, 2003 In regards to him being a one-trick pony, the same could be said for Hemingway, or Stephen King, or Charles Buckowski. And it's tough to knock their credibility as writers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest red_file Report post Posted April 21, 2003 In regards to him being a one-trick pony, the same could be said for Hemingway, or Stephen King, or Charles Buckowski. And it's tough to knock their credibility as writers. I'd disagree with this. King has been repeatedly criticized in recent years for telling variations of the same story; his insistence on putting a writer in virtually every novel makes the retreading doubly annoying. However, his early books did show that he was at one time willing to explore a range of themes and use a variety of techniques to achieve his goals. Granted, all of his works revolved around the theme of ordinary people crumbling or surviving under the stress of extraordinary sitautions, but for a while he was using the genre to expore some fairly interesting territory: adolescence (Carrie, alcoholism (The Shining, technophobia (The Stand, Christine, etc. Hemingway, too, covered multiple themes and used many techniques throughout his works. There are stylistic similarities in all of his works, but they are hardly interchangeable. Alas, I have not read any Buckowski, so I can't comment. When I say that Palahniuk is a one trick poney, I mean that it seems as though he had one thing to and said it three times in the same way (Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Survivor; I haven't read Choke or Lullabye). All three of those novels concern themselves with the poisonous nature of an overly commercial, feminized society as seen through the eye of an unreliable, distanced narrator who finds that the way to solve the problems of this overly commercial, femminized society is to take back the mantle of masculinity and turn towards violence. Sure, Survivor looked like it might deal with religion, but really it just turned back to the staple of how everything is soulless and commercialized. Invisible Monsters appeared to present the feminine perspective, but ultimately we still got our masculine Tyler character and our narrator stayed distant thanks to the missing jaw. It's not that I have a problem specifically with the theme and style that Palahniuk has pumped out, I just wish that he'd show a little growth; if I want to read the same thing, I'll just reread the first book. I was told that Lullabye was a departure for him, so perhaps he's learning new tricks. Choken One said: I've read Ellis and I can't find Hempel...So anyone else? You might check out Mark Leyner. My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist is stylistically similar to some of Palahniuk's stuff, and Et tu, Babe covers a lot of the same material. Many of the criticisms that were used against Palahniuk were used against Leyner. You might like J. G. Ballard. He has a similar sparse style, and covers some of the same territory, though he does stray into the surreal more often than not. Will Self comes to mind, though he seems to have a more direct connection to Ellis, who I always link in my mind with Palahniuk. My Idea of Fun might work for you, though I know a lot of people who hate the fact that his works rarely have redeemable elements. I've found Haruki Murakami's books to be stylistically similar to Palahniuk, but Murakami covers very different topics. Steve Aylett might be worth a look, though he's along the same lines as Ballard. Similar style, though in a sci-fi setting. And if the sparse style is the attraction, you should probably read Carver, the father of minimilism in writing. Sorry I can't be of more help, but I'm not particularly fond of that style of writing; I'm more partial to the excesses of someone like David Foster Wallace or Thomas Pynchon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted April 21, 2003 Nope...Were a good help... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
