Does anyone else kind of sort of hate Lullaby?

I actually enjoyed Lullaby greatly. Do i think it is Palahniuk's best book? No, but it isnt his worst (none of his books are anywhere near bad though). Wrong forum by the way.

Man this is some crazy shit....
I freakin loved Lullaby...
One of my favorite books that Chuck wrote...
So I have no idea what the hell you two are talking about...

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DillingerEscape [/i]
[B]Man this is some crazy shit....
I freakin loved Lullaby...
One of my favorite books that Chuck wrote...
So I have no idea what the hell you two are talking about... [/B][/QUOTE]

You obviously didnt read mine clearly. I said i enjoyed Lullaby greatly there buddy. I would give it a 9/10 and a strong reccomendation to everybody.

Well I thought that Lullaby was ok. It's not my favorite but I like it. I was not excited when i thought it was going to be a horror novel. Then i realized that it is actually a comedy and has just as much meaning as his other books (sort of). So what it boils down to is...it was ok. Thats my opinion anyway.

Not me, I thought it was great. It took a bit to get used to, but about a third of the way through I was totally with it.
By the way Dillinger, I got Irony is a Dead Scene in the same order as Lullaby, that was one terrific package.

Yeah, I really like this one aswell! Could you give some more specific drawbacks with it for us, Bryony?

Bryony is upset because it was not set in his motherland, the great and grand and glorious glory-hole called England.

(and yes B, this is a joke).

I hate to admit it, but I thought Lullaby was kinda weak compared to his other stuff. I'm gonna read it again sometime in the future, but my initial reaction was that it wasn't very good. It's kinda missing that searing wit where Chuck rips into various aspects of society.

i finished lullabye in a sitting cuz it was so good........it's not my favorite, but i don't think it lacked much.........it's different, but it still has chuck's signature style, with underlying themes (there's plenty wit about society in there, zeropointzero, you must've missed it) along with the plotline that is sometimes humorous.............i liked the fact that chuck tried to do something different with this book, i mean, by writing a supposed "horror" novel.............but he never lets go of his unique style..........shit, i just love the man...........i was so bored the day at work that i finished it that i seriously thought about reading it again, right after i had just finished it...........it didn't have as much impact on me as some of his other works, but don't hate lullabye cuz it truly is amazing..................

Sorry, I didn't mean altogether missing. I'm not sure I would use the word "plenty" though. I mean, I think it took me longer to read Fight Club than Lullaby. Oh, and I picked up on some themes in all, like the whole noise-aholics thing, the irony of a poem that kills when recited and people would have to wear ear plugs or something.

It just didn't hit home, it didn't speak to me. Plus, I really didn't laugh out loud all that much. The necrophilia thing was worth a chuckle, but it wasn't like say, Invisible Monsters. That had me in stitches.

invisible monsters is my favorite!!!!!!!!!.........i finished it in a few hours (okay, maybe more, but you get the point)...........it's chuck's best work that i have read..............god i love it *shivers*..........

i liked lullaby, but it WAS very different from his earlier stuff...kinda reminds me (as a nin fanatic) of when the fragile came out and ppl were like, "this is different! eww!!!"

to each his own, however.

My bad NexSplbrg, didn't mean to put words in your mouth.
William: Try on The Dillinger Escape Plan without Mike Patton if you liked that. It's all freakin good.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DillingerEscape [/i]
[B]William: Try on The Dillinger Escape Plan without Mike Patton if you liked that. It's all freakin good. [/B][/QUOTE]

Hell yes it is, I've enjoyed Calculating Infinity for quite some time. Any idea how the new singer is, though? Have you seen them live since he joined (I missed my chance last year when they were with QOTSA, though I did make it to see Tool the week before, and if I have to choose, well....but I will definitely try to catch both DEP and QOTSA next time they are around).

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by William [/i]
[B]Hell yes it is, I've enjoyed Calculating Infinity for quite some time. Any idea how the new singer is, though? Have you seen them live since he joined (I missed my chance last year when they were with QOTSA, though I did make it to see Tool the week before, and if I have to choose, well....but I will definitely try to catch both DEP and QOTSA next time they are around). [/B][/QUOTE]

Man, I live in Alabama, we dont get shit for music here. I have to go to New Orleans or somewhere in Florida to see a good show. And I usually don't know what's going down over there. I havn't heard thing about the new guy, hopefully he will kick as much ass as the last guy. Yeah and Calculating Infinity makes me wanna slap my Mom it's so damn good.

Lullaby is my least favorite of his books, but I got it the day it came out and read it fast. I will let it sit a while and then go back and read it again - I've read all of the others at least twice.

Mind you, I *do* think that Lullaby has some of his best scenes and some of his best writing - the whole bit about the building the models and smashing them is among the most inspired stuff he's written yet.

I do believe that my opinion of it will grow better upon the next reading.

I don't know, I'd almost say it's my favorite.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by decalogue [/i]
[B]Lullaby is my least favorite of his books, but I got it the day it came out and read it fast. I will let it sit a while and then go back and read it again - I've read all of the others at least twice.

Mind you, I *do* think that Lullaby has some of his best scenes and some of his best writing - the whole bit about the building the models and smashing them is among the most inspired stuff he's written yet.

I do believe that my opinion of it will grow better upon the next reading. [/B][/QUOTE]

It certainly deserves a second read.

i enjoyed it a great deal more the second time around.

i thought id replied like, ages ago to this but then my computer crashed and i wasn't sure it had gone up.
Anyway, i basically said that i'm quite addicted to NyQuil.

Also, regarding Lullaby- it was just so weak, there was this assumption that all that crap about some poem just killing people wouldn't be questioned by the readers, and all the magic at the end, it just seemed to take too much for granted. Like, i would have liked a little explanation and have the characters question the possibility or probablility of any of what happened really happening.
The characters seemed underdeveloped, ie, the main guy's family died, but thats pretty much all the explanation of his background and what's supposed to drive him to do what he does in the book. And the secretary/witch-girl, did she have to be such a new-age hippy stereotype? it would have been far more interesting if that characters' actions if they hadn't been so pre-determined. also, a high-class real-estate agent wouldn't have a girl with dreadlocks working in her office.
There was unnecissary economy with the characters, it seemed to me that it could have been bulked out better with more characters, even ones just on the sidelines, not main ones, and those that were in the book could have been better defined.

And it was so obvious that the secretary was going to run off with the book, why didn't he just kill her straightaway as soon as he figured it out? it might have looked suspicious, but what about all the people he'd killed before?

overall, i felt that the book seemed to be rushed, under-developed, and flat, without the vibrancy of Chuck's previous books, all of which touched me and resonated with me. It was very disappointing.

"Lullaby" sits right in the 2 spot for me, only one I liked more is "Choke". But "Lullaby" was much better the second time i read it. Liked it alot the first time, but I liked it more the second time.
"Lullaby" is a work of art.

I just finished Lullaby, i really liked it. It just seems like some people dont connect with some topics, or take them the wrong way.

Its weird when people tell me the read the books in hours. I always try to prolong the read. I read just a couple chapters a day otherwise it will be gone so fast. I read invisable monsters too fast, i had to read it again right after i finished.

on the subject of DEP, i think under the running board is still a great cd, although sugar coated sour is one of my favorite songs off caculating infinity.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by buggzero [/i]
[B]
on the subject of DEP, i think under the running board is still a great cd, although sugar coated sour is one of my favorite songs off caculating infinity. [/B][/QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong.... All their CDs are great. I just usually like the first CD I hear from a band the most. No idea why, it just sticks with me like that. But Under the Running Board is damn good.

I agree with Buggzero about reading books too fast. I can only read a few chapters at a time cos I like to run each idea and situation through my head a few times. I've got a mate who read all of survivor on our flight to NY last year, and when I asked her what she thought of it, she had nothing beyond, "Yeah, it was really good." I wanted a big discussion, and she couldn't even give me two minutes worth on what happened at the end.
I just don't see the point in racing through a book and not getting anything from it.

As for Lullaby, I have to admit my first impression was slight disappointment. I liked it a lot, there were some great one-liners and some great scenes, but on the whole it didn't grab me as much as the others did. I found it too easy to detach from, and I felt that some of the ideas (particularly the haunted house theme) just weren't fleshed out enough.

Anyway, as others have said, that's my first impression and I really have to read it again to decide. For the record, IM and Survivor are still my faves.

Too be honest When I read Lullaby last month I was kind of dissapointed with it, don't get me wrong I thought it was good but it was no "Survivor" or "Fight Club", but now that I look back on it it is starting to grow on me a little bit, sometime in the not too distant future I will have to re-read it and see what happens.

Okay, I'll bite, explain the pro-feminist theme to me.

There was more backstory on his family if you read more carefully. His family didn't just "die".

I dunno, i thought this book was amazing. So very well writen lots of suspense at the end, I didn't want to put it down.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Zachthewell [/i]
[B]You didn't find his views and thoughts on noise pollution or noiseoholics interseting and very true. Ever since I read that book, I look at every one and all of them need noise. People driving, saying "I can't stand it being quiet" and turning on a cd that they have listened to for the last 3 weeks straight. Maybe thats just me. [/B][/QUOTE]

I listen to music loud to keep big brother out, not let him in

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Zachthewell [/i]
[B]You didn't find his views and thoughts on noise pollution or noiseoholics interseting and very true. Ever since I read that book, I look at every one and all of them need noise. People driving, saying "I can't stand it being quiet" and turning on a cd that they have listened to for the last 3 weeks straight. Maybe thats just me. [/B][/QUOTE]

True, yes but not as interesting as say, "People will do pretty much anything to avoid a fight." And not as funny.

Chris?

Sacrilege! Lullaby is Chucks best book yet. I suggest you read it again and this time with feeling...Let yourself go - imagine the possibilities of a Judas cow preaching to the so called civilized and converting them. Comical it is but that is the method of Chucks "madness" - What do people do with power, good or evil? do they even know? Is thinking about it as bad as doing it, or does it perpetuate that action? Should we think, or think without thinking?

think about it...

LMFAO... that's such a sweet sentiment, isn't it? Bozana is my new favorite new cult member who's new. Anyone who can suggest "read it again and this time with feeling"!!! has to rock so hard it's not even funny.

Are you in anyway involved with drama? It's such a directors/producers/audition thing to say. I can imagine Chuck going into his agent and his agent shaking his head and saying, "That was good, Chuck. But next time, could you read it again with feeling?"

Bozana gets my "Casting Couch Reader" Award of the year. Heck yeah! Love!!!

will what kind of drugs are you on to be so positive all the time? my shrink and i would like to know.

I don't know what to say to that, Kitty Kat. Honestly, I don't really do Nyquil; I was sick one week and I did a bunch of bottles of it, right around the time the site went live, and all those facts kind of rolled into each other.

I don't smoke anything, I drink red wine on occasion, and I do have a love for black, bitter coffee. But other than that, boy. I do get down sometimes, but it's just boring. So I try not to.

Life is awesome! The alternatives are boring until you get there. I figure, have fun, be kind. Good things happen. And love everyone and everything in everyway you (consentually) can, and all that will come back to you manyfold.

That's it! That's my drug. Right there. Good job, Kitty Kat!

It's love!

*PUKES*

sorry. you hurt my jaded soul.

Oh, I didn't mean to hurt you in anyway at all. I'm sorry about that myself. I should have also mentioned that I love to run, and the gym is a second home to me. I'm not particulary ripped or anything, but I am very comfortable in my own body. And I can do 18 miles on the track and still have enough wind to hold a conversation with my friends at dinner. So maybe adrenalines my drug? Maybe. I don't have a TV (a move I stole outright from CP), and that helps my moods too, I think (TV's make you sleepy).

That's maybe just a little more accurate. The love thing is the most important part, though. And I'm bummed you're jaded, and I hope you'll realize that being jaded is your choice, though. And that the world could use more diamonds and less jade, to make a horrible pun, which I just did.

But look on the bright side, you're definitely going to be the first to hit the big 1,000 posts Yeay!

endorphins.

and it's not my choice to be jaded. that's all i'm gonna say.

Do you believe in free will (good movie - I was trapped in a dungeon with a million and one republicans), kitty kat? Or are you controlled by sources outside yourself?

I may be naive (I really don't think I am, though), but I think everyone has the opportunity and freedom to do, feel, think, say, be, whatever in the world they want.

"Man's Search for Meaning," by the late Dr. Victor Frankl, discusses a school of psychology called logo therapy, where patients use symbols in their own life to create new stories which offer them happier outlooks and better lifes. Frankl, to be blunt, was the shit. The first half of the book is all about his time as a prisoner in Nazi War Camps, and how he and his friends there - in a FUCKING NAZI WAR CAMP, mind you - figured out to pass their days in a fulfilling way.

It's a short little book. I am near CERTAIN that Chuck has read it, and if you feel controlled by your jadedness, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that you'd love it.

[QUOTE]that's all i'm gonna say.[/QUOTE]

This is actually my favorite book of C-funk's, behind Fight Club. Yup, a NOOB who loves Fight Club the best out of ANYTING IN THE WORLD. Hey i love it its my favorite movie/book/story whatever. and then i love lullaby too.

C-funk. lol.

Word, C-funk make ya wanna GET DOWN! GET DOWN WITH sex addicts and naked hippies with foreskin piercings. and being the proud owner of (that's right) FORESKIN, i must say that would SUCK to get that pierced. i'd never do that.

I've yet to read it.
Goddamn.

I loved lullaby. basically what i gathered from the posts of people who didn't like it is that they thought it didn't create suspension of disbelief, that it, wasn't realistic enough. i suppose you could say all of chuck's previous books could actually have happened, with the exception of fight club, since jack's disorder differs from actual dissociative identity disorders. but the characters have no reason to question the existance of magic. helen and carl experienced the magic of the lullaby over 18 years before the book began. oyster and mona are wiccans, so obviously they believe in magic, if they were serious about their religion. i will grant that the characters could've been a bit more developed. at first i was disspointed with the somewhat indeterminate ending, i thought that carl should have either confronted oyster and mona or decided to give up his search or something. but now i think maybe this was better. the power struggles of the world are still far from over so why should a book about power be wrapped up in a neat little package. perhaps the reason some people hated this book was purely because it is different from chuck's previous works. i mean, no offense, but your criticims remind me of people who bitch about their favorite band selling out; that because they changed their style, it has to have been due to a desire for more $ and more success, and not an artist's personal choice, therefore it sucks. or maybe some of the messages, e.g. oyster's vegan stuff hit too close to home for some of you?

I loved it! In my mind it had the biggest comments about society of any of his books (haven't read invisible monsters though).

If you see past the plot which is pretty irelevant and look at what it's saying you'll like it a whole lot more (but that's the same with any CP book).

Regarding your signature: "It's never too late to stop killing people." I am so glad to see another fine Christian on this forum which is usually so overcrowded with the unsaved and unrepentant that I can barely tolerate to read more than a few posts on any given thread before I am just sickend - Sickened! - and have to lie down a spell with a cold compress upon my forehead.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by John S [/i]
[B]Regarding your signature: "It's never too late to stop killing people." I am so glad to see another fine Christian on this forum which is usually so overcrowded with the unsaved and unrepentant that I can barely tolerate to read more than a few posts on any given thread before I am just sickend - Sickened! - and have to lie down a spell with a cold compress upon my forehead. [/B][/QUOTE]

I hope he's joking.

I felt Choke was his most powerful and most complete work. Lullaby was great and highly entertaining, Fight Club excellent and hilarious, Survivor the most interesting and satirical, in my opinion. Invisible Monsters good, but it was obvious that it was a first, as his style was not yet fully developed.

But Choke was just....I don't know....

It felt like a complete work to me. And especially due to the fact that I heard from people that it was the worst of his books when it first came out. So I had (fortunately) low expectations, because they were far far exceeded.

I was amazed at how great it was.

Now, Lullaby, my expectations were very high. I was just waiting and waiting and craving for more Chuck. The book was great, it was funny, it had a great, fast style that was highly enjoyable. But it wasn't as quick and witty as Fight Club, as interesting and satirical as Survivor, as twisted as Invisible Monsters, or as complete and whole as Choke.

But then again I guess it's just....itself. Lullaby is its own book, and just because it's written by Chuck doesn't mean it should be compared definitively to each of his other books.

Wow. Major contradiction.