…because you couldn’t decide whether or not you really wanted to read this book.
Yeah, right.
So, um, yeah, a great book, this Fight Club. Hands-down (well, almost—I’m not sure about Americana) this is the best first novel I’ve ever read, i.e., the best “this-is-so-and-so’s-first-novel” book, so-and-so in this case being Chuck Palahniuk. Brilliant, really. I’ve read Survivor, Lullaby, and Choke, and thought they were all swell but. This book’s kinda like the grandaddy of them, and so scores some points in originality. Which isn’t to say that the others aren’t original in their own way, but some of the conventions (sorry, can’t think of a better word) get re-used, whereas they’re fresh and crisp in FC. Why? I don’t know.
But it’s great. The word frenetic comes to mind. The pacing in this book is absolutely ridiculously genius. You pick up the book and start reading, and right away it’s:
“Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler’s pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die. For a long time though, Tyler and I were best friends. People are always asking, did I know about Tyler Durden.” (page 1 [or whatever; the first page of the story, I don’t think it’s page one—okay, so it’s page 11])
Anyway, FC the Movie is remarkably faithful to the book, which, if you happened to like the movie, is a good thing. If not, keep in mind that the book does a better job than the movie at most things, visual representation not being one of them. But if you haven’t? Read this book. You’ll thank me or you won’t.