Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Fight Club was the inspiration for the 1999 cult film starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. It was also the novel that changed Chuck Palahniuk from an engineer for a freightliner to a bestselling novelist and cult-figure in popular culture (eventually).
Fight Club is definitely not a book that I would recommend for younger readers as it contains swearing, sex, and pretty graphic descriptions of violence. But then again, what do you expect from a novel called Fight Club? Fans love his work and critics love to hate it but there’s a reason why Chuck Palahniuk has the largest website of any author. His novels constantly challenge the status quo of literature and common society.
The book takes an exciting turn after the Narrarator meets the young and exciting Tyler Durden. He plays disgusting pranks at his jobs as a waiter and a film projectionist. They start up an underground boxing club in a bar basement as a bizarre form of self therapy and the mayhem begins. After beating each other to a bloody pulp isn’t enough Tyler starts up a terrorist group called Project Mayhem where he blows up buildings with other members of the fight club.
This book is not only a great read with three very interesting characters it might also make you change your mind about some of your beliefs. The author talked about how he read a lot of this book in front of a writers group in a bar next to a cappuccino maker and a football game (or some other sport I don’t remember right now) so he had to make it more exciting to compete. So the violence is gory, the sex is descriptive, and the horror is visceral. This is definitely not a book I would recommend to someone squeamish and if you do read it there’s a pretty good chance you won’t like it. But it is a book that you won’t easily forget.
by Joseph, 18
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