Survivor: A Novel
by Chuck Palahniuk
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Book Reviews of Survivor: A Novel
Book Review: "Empty and soul-less. I hoped for more."
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the third Palahniuk novel I've read, and sadly, the worst. The first half of the book focuses on the slave-labor existence of Tender Branson (the main character). His life as an unimportant drone member of The Creedish, (a cult) requires him to work as a slave for a wealthy couple. He cleans their fine home as well as prepares their meals. The strange thing is, however, he never meets them. He is required to account for all his actions to a social worker, who is also an alcoholic. He dresses in shabby work clothes and chops his hair with pruning shears. One interesting aspect of this book is all of the cleaning and cooking advise he gives to correlate with the story. Anyway, not to get sidetracked, Tender also has his own suicide hotline, except instead of talking people out of taking their own lives he tells them to kill themselves. One poor victim just happened to be the brother of a girl Tender becomes interested in. This adds a new twist to an already twisted tale. One of the requirements in being a member of the Creedish faith is that the member must commit suicide, which Tender totally intends to do eventually. As the book goes on, the population of the Creedish religion dwindles till Tender is the only known living member. The media gets wind of this fact and has a heyday. Suddenly Tender is a superstar. He becomes a TV evangalist, is on commercials, has his own product line, well you get the gist. Tender is constantly flying around the country as part of his famous lifestyle. In a flight to the south pacific Tender decides to perform his suicide mission into the outback territory of Australia. This part of the story is made known at the first of the book. In fact to make my review a little bit more comprehendable? The first page of this book is actually the last. I realize this review may absolutely make no sense at all to you, the reader. But basically, this book is about the same. I've read Fight Club, Choke, and Survivor. I enjoyed them in the same order. While it's true, this book does leave a lasting impression, with me it wasn't a good one.Book Review: Another comically bleak character study
Summary: 4 Stars
"Give Yourself, Your Life, Just One More Chance. Call Me for Help."
Tender Branson, one of the last remaining survivors of an offshoot Christian death cult (the Creedish), puts these signs up near every payphone in his city, ready to receive desperate cries for help each night so that he can answer them with "Kill Yourself." Thus is born another comically bleak character by minimalist pop writer Chuck Palahniuk.
With the pages numbered backwards, and the chapters feeling like a countdown, the reader dives in to Survivor to discover that the narrator is the only person on a plane that is quickly running out of gas and headed for a crash in Australia. With that bit of exposition aside, we dive right into the story of Tender Branson's life and how he ended up in such a predicament.
Survivor is so full of vivid images and beyond-satirical characters it's equal parts hilarious and disturbing. The Creedish cult, the sassy red-headed love interest (if you can call her that) who can see the future, the twin brother who may or may not be alive and may or may not be out to murder the protagonist, the lifestyle of a too-famous celebrity preacher and steroid addict, and the caseworker who is constantly curing her patient of a new condition. Survivor is chock full of these colorful characters, so much so that the novel can start to feel a little too heavy handed in its stressing of the terrible waste that life on earth is.
Like all of Palahniuk's writing, though, it's hard to put down once you've started. With no chapter being longer than eight pages, and the story moving so quickly, on a collision course for conclusiveness, the reader starts to feel like maybe they're the one trapped on the doomed flight with no means of escape.
While Survivor isn't as short and sweet as Fight Club, and lacks the consistency of Invisible Monsters, it's still a quick and exciting read and Palahniuk's style makes up for the lack of subtlety he displays in getting his point across here. For a good read on an airplane or at the beach, check out Survivor.
Book Review: call your therapist and make an appointment for a week after you read this
Summary: 5 Stars
chuck palahniuk will mess you up. he messed me up. 'fight club' put chuck on the map, but in my opinion, 'survivor' is where he really earned his paycheck.
as others have mentioned, the book starts on page 247 or so and goes backwards to page 1. a simple, but clever gimmick that made me buy the book in the first place. and since the novel's protagonist, if we can call him that, is on a doomed airplane, the page numbering is highly appropriate.
palahniuk expertly traces one man's rise to fame. tender branson is the sole survivor of 'the creedish cult' who decide to stage their own johnstown massacre. consequently he becomes something of a media darling, everyone wanting a piece of the action. palahniuk illustrates just how really susceptible we americans are to clever marketing and the completely ridiculous idea of celebrity. what, exactly, is our fascination with 'celebrities' and hollywood types? i started thinking about the ridiculous number of tv shows dedicated to following celebrities: et, access hollywood, celebrity justice, etc, etc, etc, and not to mention an entire tv channel (E!) devoted to a shoving unrealistic hopes, dreams, and ideals down the throats of the every day, average american who has no hopes of ever achieving 'the hollywood life.' i'm pretty sure hollywood is ruining america.
i think palahniuk's masterstroke, however, is showing us tender branson's 'book of prayer.' it's a sorry commentary on the state of christianity in america. so-called 'christians' who actually try to sell prayers. unreal. (and this from a VERY christian individual) it wouldn't be as funny if it weren't true. he shows our proclivity to bandwagon, to flock to 'the new thing' simply because it's 'the new thing,' regardless of it's actual value or merit.
chuck palahniuk isn't for the faint of heart. like i said, he'll mess you up. this book stayed with me for weeks after reading it. it'll do the same for you. but i don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.
a biting commentary on contemporary american culture.
Book Review: a real page turner
Summary: 4 Stars
Given that the story begins at its ending, with the reader already knowing the conclusion to the unfortunate life of Tender Branson, it's no small wonder that Palahniuk is able to craft a story that maintains reader attention throughout. Even more amazing than this is the fact that you won't find yourself questioning why you're reading the story you already know the ending to, because you can't help yourself. Nothing about this story should be surprising, and yet - wonderfully - it is.
This is the first of PALAHNIUK's novels that I've had the pleasure of reading, so I can't draw any comparisons, contrasts and so forth with any of his other works. What I can do, however, is say that if all of Chuck's novels are this good, then I eagerly look forward to reading more.
From page 1 `Survivor' is compelling in a way that I've never experienced a book to be before. Though it took me a mere two days to devour the novel in its entirety, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to find that I could re-read it again in a single sitting. It's not that there book is short, or even that it's lacking in substance, but rather that the style is so sharp, so well-rounded, that everything is a pleasure to read.
If the novel has any faults, it is the all too sudden ending. Then again, the life story of Tender Branson is short in itself - a supernova, burning brightly for an instant then fading just as quickly. The final quarter of the book feels rushed, though this could be an attempt to convey the frenzied state of mind our tragic hero is in. Still, however, this makes the book no less enjoyable.
The plot moves in alternating bursts of speed, sometimes lingering on one event or occasion for a long time, and others completely skipping large gaps of time - something which can be, at least at first, somewhat confusing. All of this just adds to the frenzied atmosphere that `Survivor' puts across, as it draws you into the mind of the Creedish Antichrist.
Book Review: Dark satire has been redefined and given a new direction.
Summary: 5 Stars
First there was God, then there was Vonnegut(*). A new suitor has come forth to carry the torch into a new age of cheeky sarcasm and nihilistic verve to amuse, provoke,enlighten, disgust, and in every way kneed your brain into a mushy bread dough. Palahniuk is to writing what Dali is to art:that is, he's an innovater who's willing to take the risk of stabbing at the unconventional, blowing it up into something outwardly uncomfortable to look at but we are compelled to look at it anyway because it is in its raw form with undeniable elements of truth. Survivor tells of the rise and demise of the last surviving member of a suicide cult in Nebraska. The irony is edgy to say the least(move over bacon, there's something leaner!). We have a lead character who gets his kicks convincing suicide hotline callers that they'd be better off dead:his phone number is one digit different than the local suicide hotline. Conflict arises when he realizes that one of the callers was the brother of a girl he's enamoured with. Fertility Hollis is her name and she is a real piece of work.She's a surrogate for hire who's infertile. There's a grief counselor who's diagnosed Tender Branson, the lead character, with every disorder in the DSM-4 when he's rather normal and adjusted until she steps into the picture.The abandoned cult compound becomes the world's largest pornographic and sex toy dumping site. Palahniuk puts a refreshingly sadistic twist on Martha Stewart in Tender, who's endured a life of servitude to others and has gathered a large collective of amusing anecdotes to remove any stain from any surface. The absurdity of a person becoming the intellectual property of a corporation is brilliant and biting. The messionic ending is imaginative and gripping. If i ever were in a position of having to resort to cannibalism i would hope some day to dine on Chuck's dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.I imagine it to be rich and chewy with an unusual aftertaste.