Snuff
by Chuck Palahniuk
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Book Reviews of Snuff
Book Review: Finally, (after 4 duds) a return to form for this author!
Summary: 3 Stars
If like myself YOU raced through 'Rant', hated 'Haunted' didn't like 'Diary' and were lulled to sleep by 'Lullaby' then you'll be glad to know that Chuck Palahniuk's best work didn't stop after 'Choke' in 2001. Here in his 9th novelistic effort he turns the porn industry on it's head and satirically skewers it in the way that only he can. With a story about a 600-man strong gangbang of a washed up porn star you'd probably be thinking "low grade porn", but you'd be wrong. What you get here is anything but titillating. In fact like most of his work you see only the seamiest, nastiest and most extreme sides of a very dirty industry. This is a quick and breezy read that has a lot in common with a bad accident at the side of the road. You know you shouldn't and don't really want to look, but you just can't help yourself.... As always with Palahniuk though the laughs come at you out of nowhere like a left hook.Book Review: Fresh out of meaningful insights
Summary: 2 Stars
At the heart of some of Chuck's better work is some insight into ourselves a la 'fight club'. You get into the stories. They entertain. You think he's a great guy for writing the way he does, so real and immediate. Then you close the back cover, reflect on the story and what happened to the protagonist and you have some thoughts about the way you live your life. You want to find a mission, you want to find meaning.
This book, unfortunately, is not up to the task of being thought provoking. It's cotton candy for the brain, without the usual substance and depth of cotton candy. It's a Jerry Lewis movie, minus the lovableness of the character. It's a Will Farrell movie without....well, it's just a Will Farrell movie. It's an Eddie Murphy movie with hours of folks sitting around the dinner table farting, and then the credits roll.
Do yourself a favor, skip this tripe and read 'fight club' again.
Book Review: Not up to Snuff
Summary: 2 Stars
Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors. Once a year I wait with anticipation for Amazon to ship me his latest offering. This year I could not wait to tear Snuff from the cardboard Amazon package that arrived two days after the release date. Nothing quite like setting down with a new Chuck Palahniuk Novel. So I began reading and after 197 pages I felt nothing. No sense of Wow! Just felt like I read any book by any random author. It didn't have any impact on me whatsover. Although I should have expected it because the fullfilment level has been dwindeling with each recent release. Fight Club 5 stars. Survivor 5 stars. Invisible Monsters 5 stars. Choke 4 stars. Lullaby 3.5 stars. Diary 3 stars. Haunted 3 stars. Rant 2 stars. It seems like a pattern. I found myself not carring about any of the characters in this book and the ending is absolutley goofy. Soddered together........come on Chuck.Book Review: Kinda boring
Summary: 2 Stars
After reading the synopsis, boring was the last thing I expected this book to be. I picked it up at the airport because it sounded interesting.
The plot twist that Mr. Palahniuk I've heard is known for, probably sounded really good when he first thought them up, but they just didn't deliver. I think it could have been much better.
Also, this book was tough to read. Conversations between characters could be in quotes in one sentence, then the next sentence, the converstion was in the character's first person's thoughts, in their "uneducated" english. I'm sure the author did this on purpose however I didn't enjoy it.
The first 10-20 euphamisms for male masturbation was funny, then it stopped being funny, just became repetitive and boring, and the same was true of the porn movie names.
I did find some of the hollywood trivia scattered thoughout the book interesting.
Book Review: What Could Have Been...
Summary: 2 Stars
Reading this book reminded me a lot of reading John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas," in that I wanted both to be so much more than they actually were.
Both are fine examples of very capable authors writing very below their means. Both are formulaic, their predictability simultaneously satisfying and disappointing, reminding the reader of what could have been...if only the author had tried just that much harder. Okay, if they had tried A LOT harder.
Don't get me wrong, "Snuff" was an enjoyable read, with it's attitude, trivia and plot twists, but it wasn't the challenge most Palahniuk books are. By that I mean, I didn't have to take the time to process what I just read, to think on a deeper level or, really, to think at all. And maybe that was the point, maybe it was just meant to be a quick summer read and maybe, just maybe, the joke's on us this time around.