The book largely seems like an indictment of reality TV. Let's hope that eventually people are not killing and being killed for the sake of one's 15 minutes.
The structure of the novel is interesting. It is a novel about writers who are writing short stories throughout the novel. Every other chapter is a short story "written" by one of the characters. Really, the stories are confessions from each one's past.
The short stories are far more interesting than the novel proper. No less unbelievable, but very memorable.
While Haunted is vastly different from Choke (and one of Palahniuk's more minor novels) I'd say I did draw one more conclusion about the author's style.
He has a talent for making the most far-fetched idea seem, at least, plausible.
I am impressed that he could use the shocking details and such an angry protagonist to make some pretty great points about who we are--and who we think we are.
Looking forward to reading another Palahniuk novel now.
I admit that I have gotten very little reading done over the last few months. Sometimes life just gets in my way. So, joining a book club probably isn't the smartest thing for me to do at this point. That's always part of the fun of doing something anyway really. Here I am trying again...
I have awful luck with book clubs in Connecticut. I have been a part of three. I tried to start my own. All of those were disasters.
I really do think it's my fault though. I am way, way, way too much of a nerd. I want to do things like read quality literature, examine the novel, and discuss issues raised in the book. What I've learned about the women (men rarely seem drawn to discussing literature in an group) I've met so far is that they want to read things that are "light" or "fun." They want to talk--just not necessarily about the book. And they like puppies. And kittens. The more puppies and kittens in a book, the more chance a book club will absolutely love it.
The book club I went to was discussing The Road and I thought the selection was a promising one. Sadly, the deepest question we got to was "What did the road symbolize?" And that was from Oprah's suggested book club questions that someone invariably has printed out and brought along. Sigh.
But, I am determined to be more easy going about it this time. I am going to read the next two books. No matter what. I am going to look at this as primarily a social group instead of primarily a book group, and see where it leads me. I'm just going to put the little nerd inside me on the shelf for a couple of months. She'll be there when I get back. She'll be reading Proust anyway and too busy to notice I've even been gone.
Then last night I had a dream and I knew I had made the right decision. I dreamed that I was distracted by a puppy while people robbed me of all the possessions I had left in the world. The puppy didn't eat me. Yep, I'm definitely on the right path.
Enjoyable read, a little too tongue-in-cheek maybe for such a topic, but well researched.
Nothing shocking, or even revealing, if you know much about intersexual issues. The side issue (of incest) was the topic I found much more interesting.
Desdemona was a great, great character. Maybe one of my all-time favorites. It was worth the read just for her.
Chilling. The most disturbing thing to me personally was the idea that the way to kill humanity is to attack the structure and vocabulary of language.
Orwell's novel is the most complete vision of dystopia that I've ever read. It's a masterpiece.
Everyone should read it...preferably after high school.
I really enjoyed Everyman. It was my first experience with Roth and I found the story rather poignant and haunting. Villages was my first experience with Updike as well. Whereas I was able to sympathize with Roth's protagonist, there was nothing to like about Updike's main character who learns nothing by the end and neither has the reader.
I am not going to make a crazy list like last year. Twenty books, while not a lot to some people who read like 200 a year, was in fact, quite challenging for me. But then the real challenging part is just sticking to what I pick. So in the spirit of balance, I am giving myself a break and going with a list of 12 book this year. I am sure I will.read more than that in 2009 but I need to bring back some spontaneity.
1. Hedonism Handbook by Michael Flocker
2. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
3. Blindness by Jose Saramago
4. Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart
5. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
6. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
7. Remembrance of Things Past* by Marcel Proust
8. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
9. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
10. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
11. On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev
12. Collection of short stories by Graham Green
*I contemplated how much of this seven volume set to try and read in one year. I am going to read the first book, Swann's Way and then see how much further I get. If I get halfway I'll be delighted, but it not, I'll just keep reading a volume or two a year until I finish.
So my first ever attempt at making a list of books to read was successful. I finished just under the wire. I read the 20 on my list plus 8 others that I ran across through the year. While I enjoyed the challenge, I think next year I'll make the list a little shorter. Here's what I'll remember the most:
Top Five Favorite Books:
1. Middlemarch
2. Ethan Frome
3. The Lottery and other Short Stories
4. Madame Bovary
5. The Road
Most like what I expected:
To Kill a Mockingbird
Least like I expected: (tie)
Frankenstein
Wuthering Heights
Most disturbing:
Story of the Eye
Most poignant scenery/tone:
Day Off
Ethan Frome
Housekeeping
Winesberg, Ohio
Now to figure out what to read for 2009...
Winesburg, Ohio is a story of a Midwestern kid who decides to leave and make his way in the "big city." I could identify with him very much, even down to the detail that he had the same job I did when I lived in that small, Midwestern town. It brought back a lot of memories.
And it drove something home. I was reminded of this fact--first by visiting Ohio this summer--and then by reading this book. Those of us who grow up in the Midwest have to decide whether to leave or stay; whichever route we take we always wonder if the other choice would have been better.
Kids in other parts of the country, I suspect, never feel this way. Whether you grow up in Houston or New York City or Seattle, you have a sense of place. In the Midwest, we feel lost for some reason--and Anderson captured that feeling uncomfortably well.
Last December I was reading a forgotten author named William Samson. This December it was Storm Jameson. She wrote over 20 books and was very popular during the Great Depression, but has sense disappeared into obscurity.
So was it worth the hunt? It was. The very short book is one of the most haunting I have run across. It takes place all in one day and is sort of a A Christmas Carol in reverse.
The main character has recently lost her boyfriend and she remembers some of the events that led her to grow so bitter. She is suspicious of everyone who offers her any consideration, and in the end she has a choice and she betrays a woman who is kind to her. In effect, that moment, like Ebenezer repenting on his grave, she seals her psychological fate.
Definitely not as heart warming as A Christmas Carol, but it has just as much to say about the human spirit. Each of us chooses who we become--not by what happens to us--but by how we choose to interpret what happens to us.
Recent Comments
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Smelly Pirate Hooker said:
[this is good]Interestingly, I was obliged to read this for a seventh grade English class. It did not foster my trust in... read more
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Diane Keichinger said:
I will fight to get this Book banned from my sons High School, It read more
on Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
on Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell