Fight Club – Chuck Palahnuik
This book is an all time favourite. You’ve probably seen the movie and you either loved it or hated it. The good news is the movie gets as close to the book as possible. In the movie you get to see, in proper characters, the likes of Edward Norton, Helena Bonham, Brad Pitt and even a younger Jared Leto.
The book is even more engaging than the movie. The raw narrative begs no excuses for its language or its anarchic ideas.
“Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is You Do Not Talk About Fight Club!…”
The narrator, who remains nameless throughout the book, is an insomniac. When he seeks medical help from a doctor for his insomnia, the doctor tells the narrator that if he wants to experience real pain, he should see people in support groups for terminal illnesses. After visiting these support groups, the narrator becomes addicted and it is at these groups that he meets Marla Singer, a tourist much like himself.
The book revolves around the life of the narrator and Tyler Durden whom the narrator ‘meets’ on a plane and ends up living with, and Marla Singer, whose greatest tragedy is not dying. After discovering that his apartment has been burnt, the narrator on an off chance calls Tyler and they meet for drinks at a bar. They then fight on Tyler’s insistence outside the bar, which is the beginning of Fight Club. Fight Clubs pop up all over the city and in different states. These clubs turn into movements for civil disobedience and eventually Project Mayhem. Fast forwarding to the opening scene in the book, the narrator shoots himself in the cheek and ends up in a mental institution where is he assured that plans are underway and they can’t wait for him to join them.
The book is an excellent read and a real head scratcher as it keep you guessing, the real identity of the narrator.
