Just finished Invisible Monsters
I just got back from my 2nd tour in Iraq, where I kind of developed a sicker, darker sense of humor than I had before. I saw my friend reading this book shortly after we returned and I asked him about it, because I like books, too. He said that it was absolutely his most favorite book of all time, and that he had read it word for word his senior year in high school and had done so again three times since and was doing so again now. So, that is probably about as big a recommendation as you can get. He said that it was sick and dark to go with my newly acquired sense of humor, so he said I should read it ASAP. So I picked it up at a bookstore when I went home to Utah for the Christmas break. I was in the middle of editing my own first novel, so I didn't get around to reading it until just a few days ago. I have to say that this is now is also "one of my most favorite books of all time."
Spoilers follow!
This is when I literally gasped:
When it was revealed that Manus and Seth were one and the same
When it was revealed that Brandy and Shane were one and the same
When it was revealed that Evie was a transsexual
This was when I cringed
Anytime Shannon's parents would talk engage in nasty sex talk
When it was revealed that Manus had sex with Shane/Brandy when their father was being accused of beating him
This is when I cried "Oh, COME ON!"
When it was revealed that Brandy and Evie knew everything all along
When it was revealed that Shannon shot her own jaw off
I say that if a novel can do those three things (1. Gasp, 2. Cringe, and 3. Cry "Oh, COME ON!) then it is definitely worth my time and money. Those three things are what I can define as having a completely unique experience.
So I say "Huzzah for Invisible Monsters!"
Which CP novel do you people recommend for next?
[B][URL="http://www.sugarraydodge.com"][COLOR="Orange"][FONT="Fixedsys"]Sugar Ray Dodge![/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][/B]
I know that it's pretty easy to say you completely knew something was gonna happen in a novel AFTER you've read it. But I totally knew as soon as she mentioned that Shane was dead that he and Brandy were the same person. I dunno if I just sorta expected it since I've read alot of Chuck's work. But I didn't see the Manus being Seth or the Evie being Evan or Shannon shooting her jaw off happening.
So at least he managed to surprise me more than once
"Praise God. There's no real risk. This is just our default setting."
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dude. to this day, i still cant decide between [i]invisible mosters[/i] and [i]survivor[/i] as my personal favorite, but it's one of the two
also.. if you really have a dark side, just wait until you read [i]haunted[/i]--man.. that's some fucked up shit. especially the stories [i]guts[/i] and [i]xodus[/i]. just try and keep yourself together while reading them. go ahead, just try 
[i]lullaby[/i] was chuck's first stab at horror and he wrote it in something like six weeks, but his father was just murdered at the time and i think that had a bit to do with the change in his art. i say that because i know something like that would influence my art.
i enjoyed [i]diary[/i] a whole lot, but there are many who say it wasnt very good.
i'll tell you i read an arc of [i]snuff[/i] and it reminded me of [i]invisible mosters[/i] in that it was shot as an actual porn movie and [i]im[/i] was shot as a glamor fashion magazine, so instead of
FLASH give me anger
FLASH give me a break
there is no flash, only weird shit to see via camera direction.. but i cant say more without giving something away, but i loved it. also fucking loved rant
[i]choke[/i] was my least favorite, but it remains the most loved around here and the movie does look quite good. don't get me wrong: i loved the novel. saying that it remains my least favorite palahniuk is like saying "Yeah, Faulkner was a pretty good writer" when what youre actually saying is that [i]sound and the fury[/i] changed your life
another book that changed my life:
When you exhaust yourself of all of chuck's books, don't worry, you still have fucking great reads ahead:
when i first read [i]kiss me, judas[/i] by Will Christopher Baer, the first thought that occured to me was a simple but powerful one:
"I can't believe I found an author I enjoy reading more than Chuck."
Baer has three novels out and is currently working on an amazing noir epic fantasy titled [i]godspeed[/i]
baer's first short story is located on this site, from 1997, titled [i]suffer the fool[/i] and can be found here: http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/features/shorts/suffer-the-fool
Craig Clevenger wrote a novel titled [i]the contortionists' handbook[/i], the novel chuck raved as "The best book I've read in easily five years. Easily. Maybe ten." it is a great book, a great read, especially if you like to "hide" by nature. many of chuck's fans have declared that [i]TCH[/i], or just [i]the handbook[/i] as it has often been called, is similar to chuck's writing style, Minimalist Writing. Clevenger was never a fan of the lable, but he could definitely craft some lines that really smoked. his second novel, titled [i]dermiphoria[/i] is pretty much one of the only novels i've ever read that was written perfectly, flawlessly: the story wasnt handed to you, you had to work a little for it, but it can just blow your mind.
another fan favorite around here: [i]HOL[/i]
[i]house of [b][color=blue]leaves[/color][/b][/i] is like the freakfest bookclub pick of the writer's cult. it is monster in size and content and form, not the easiest read, but it'll fuck with you. imagine a house that is much bigger on the inside than on the outside. imagine infinity. good luck with that one.
a newer favorite, regardless of oprah's "sticker", [i]the road[/i] was a killer fucking experience. not typically my type of story, post apocolyptic raining ash sci fi, but the writing is phenominal. the best writing i think i've ever come across. as clevenger pointed during the cleveger intensive here: "Cormac Mccarthy can show you the end of the world in two sentences: [i]The clock stopped at 1:17. there was a long sheer of light and a series of low concussions.[/i]"
anyway.. ray dodge, welcome to the cult
also.. is that name a character in your novel. tell us a bit about it, the novel in progress. what's it about, how far along are you, that sort of thing...
-kabol
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
[i]house of [b][color=blue]leaves[/color][/b][/i]
hahahahahaa
[b][i][color=blue]House[/color] of Leaves[/i][/b]
i was juss tryen ta see if yaw woulda done read ta whole actule post is all
ohright
kabol
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
i also recommend Haunted. although the setting seems contrived, the short stories are awesome. you may want to pick up Survivor too. if you want to move a little from Chuck, try Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.
oh and welcome, by the way.
Welcome to the Cult. More importantly Welcome Home.
Read them all! I started with Fight Club, then purchased the whole stack and started oldest to newest.
[SIGPIC][IMG]http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/McMuddle/song-of-south.jpg[/IMG][/SIGPIC]