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I wrapped up the book Choke by Chuck Palahniuk early last night and I have to say that I was really under-impressed. But before I delve into that, let's cover a little history on Palahniuk.
Chuck Palahniuk first hit fame after publishing a short story that would later be expanded into the novel Fight Club. That was in 1996, twelve years later have seen Palahniuk publish eight more novels since, and a new one scheduled to be released some time in the spring of 2009.
Chuck Palahniuk
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Choke, his fourth novel published in 2001, became Palahniuk's first New York Times best seller and was adapted into a film which debuted September 2008 to mixed reviews. I certainly haven't seen it yet, but when it comes out on DVD I think it'll be a definite rent.
Now on to the review. From start to finish I was pretty disappointed with the book. Going into it was't really sure what I was expecting. The little tidbit about it on the back of the book made it sound quite interesting. Also, it was recommended to me by a person I chatted with in the bar one night. I don't how we got onto the topic, but we started discussing Chuck Palahniuk and at the time the only Palahniuk I'd read was Fight Club. So he said I should definitely check out "Snuff" and "Choke."
When I went to the bookstore and they only had Snuff which wasn't what I wanted to buy first. Snuff just came out this year, which made me want to purchase Choke just for author continuity. But, the situation being what it was, and me really needing a new book to read, I picked up Snuff.
I loved Snuff ! It was great! The novel unfolded fantastically, and had humour, drama, tear-jerking-sadness, uplifting moments, redemption, suffering, it was all there. Plus, it was a story unlike any other I've read. I don't know any other author who could take the idea of a porn star trying to break the world record of the most people banged in a row and make into such a literary work of art.
Choke has an equally intriguing plot, it's about a man (Victor Mancini) whose sick and dying mother is racking up hospital bills, bills that Victor can't pay. So he resorts to grifting folks by choking in restaurants, having a good samaritan save his life, and having that same samaritan send him money to pay for fictional bills so he can pay for his mother's medical bills.
Did I mention Victors also a sex addict? Yeah, there's that, and his mother is an old insane criminal too.
Now, all of this is well and good. But for some reason the whole thing just didn't work for me. I found Victor Mancini's problems to be trite, and that he whines too much. I know that the book deals in depth with Victor's problems and the reasons for why he acts the way he does, but when I find a character to be whiney, there's chances are slim that I'm going to start thinking otherwise. Also, the way Victor deals with his issues is just nonsensical. He just makes poor life choices (something I think we've all been guilty for at one time or another.) all the time. You think you might pick up on the issue after a while.
Another reason I was maybe a little disappointed was because I was expecting something more like Fight Club or Snuff, both of which are books that start right close to the end of the story, and sort of recap what happened up until that point and then wrap things up with a bang. In that sense, Choke is completely different from either of those two. It follows a present day storyline with a twenty-something Victor and has flashbacks to his past. This is cool, it even had the big bang surprise ending, but I can't explain why it did nothing for me.
There's not much else I can say about this book. It fell flat. Maybe I just didn't get it. I'll have to re-read the book sometime and put aside my Palahniuk expectations. To give this book a final rating, I'll place it as:
5/10
Based on my review of the book, I say pass this one up and go check out Snuff instead, but if you're looking for a different read, this is one you'll want to borrow from a friend or check out of the library. Not something to purchase.
3 comments:
Hi Jake! I've read your comment on my blog! I´m glad you like it. Thanks!
Gaby
Jake,
I've read this book as well, and I'd have to say I agree.
As much as I should feel sorry for Victor Mancini, with his ailing mother, her mountainous medical bills, and his hopes and dreams of being a doctor left at the side of the road...I just don't.
I agree, he's whiney. His circumstances suck, but to be realistic, lots of peoples circumstances suck. What makes his life soo much worse?
However, I did like the insight into a sex addicts mind. It was interesting to see what exactly makes him tick.
Did you find that Mancini's means of income (choking and letting people save him) was a little over the top? I don't think most people would be compelled to send someone money after they just saved that person's life.
After reading your blog I will most definitely read "Snuff."
And may I suggest "Rant" by Palahniuk, if you've never read it. It's written as an oral history. A form for which several witnesses are interviewed and their testimonies are compiled. It's a little confusing at first, but you see soo much more of the story that way. I just started it and am only half way through, but so far it's kept my attention. You might enjoy it.
Awesome! I'm glad I'm not the only who found Victor to be a whiny guy. You're right about the sex addict thing though, it was interesting, and how he got hooked on the casual sex thing was good too.
One thing that Pahlaniuk does really well is facts. Even if it isn't true, the little 'true life facts' he gives in his stories seem so true. This book had less of them, but the ones that were there were still good.
I will definitely go read Rant. I plan on checking out all of Pahlaniuk's books, and I'm glad someone recommended the next one for me to read. I shall look at that one and discuss it with you.
By the way, your descriptioon reminded me of another book, World War Z, which if you like testimonial books, that's awesome one. It's all about how the world deals with a zombie outbreak. It's creepy because it seems so realistic. Other than the zombie thing, it paints a real good picture of what might happen if another epidemic like SARs broke out.
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