Snuff: The Reaction (Yes, Spoilers, 'lots of 'em)
And I finished it in one day, maybe a couple of hours and i was pacing myself too. Then again it was a 197 page book.
I must say, i agree with most people when they say this is an appetizer for Chuck fans. Short, quick, funny book. And because of this initially i was disappointed... Okay yes, INITIALLY....
I was also disappointed because it didnt have the thing people kept bitching about through out all the other novels: A Tyler Durdenesque character.
Which i must admit i loved his "appearence" in every novel/book.
But now, in retrospect. I loved this book. Its a departure from his normal aresenal. Okay not that much but yeah.
I loved it for the absence of the Tyler Durden character and his ability to narrarate chapters with four different characters.
Mr. 600 and his "Dudes."
Mr. 137 and his "Wouldnt you know it?"
Sheila with her feminism and constant description of all men as, "jerk jockeys, pud-pullers, monkey-milkers, chicken chockers..." and of course her chorus of, "True fact."
And Mr. 72 and his, "I dont know."
I loved this book because its sort of in "real-time." Because its taking place in one day, or one shoot, it has to be short and quick. I cant imagine a book like this lasting 300-plus pages. Men half naked in the green room, eating, spraying cologne, spraying bronzer, gel, all that. Lasting and keeping my attention for more then 300 pages, i guess that'd be too much to ask for maybe even a stretch.
And yeah the twist I'm pretty sure everybody saw coming. Well i did. This is the line that hinted it the most:
"... and Ms. Wright says, "But maybe it's time I do something for my kid."
Reaching to take the tissue, i say, "Your little boy?"
And Ms. Wright dosent say anything. Picks up the tissue kissed with her perfect lips. Hands me the dirty tissue. (152)"
The fact that she didnt respond made me suspicious. Add to the fact that Mr. 72 and Sheila are both the same age. It was pretty obvious.
I'll say now that i was hoping that Mr. 137's Mr. Toto was the actual dog from the Wizard of OZ and that he was the guy that bought it... But hey, i guess that was the connection.
In conclusion to this long rant i say this: I loved it.
I know some of you's might hate it, dislike it, call him a hack and all this but fuck you. Yes, FUCK YOU... Okay kidding, I love you culties....
(I still say Rant and Invisible Monsters is his best works)....
Please, discuss your reaction my fellow loving darlings....
I kept waiting for the twist, and it never came. No pun intended. The two things that I think were supposed to be twists were the smaller, his pill being cyanide not viagra, and obviously Sheila actually being her daughter, were both quite obvious. I didn't find the book that discusting as I expected it would be, and i actually know a guy who pissed inside of a girl, and he is quite nasty. Normally I would love all the little tidbit that were stuck in there survivor-esque, but I found myself not caring about them at all, considering I knew who very few of the people they were talking about were.
I'd say I'd put it well above diary and slightly above lullaby. I'm going to reread the last 50 pages or so to make sure I didn't miss anything, btu overall I am thuroughly dissapointed. Did I hate it. No. Will i try to return it to Barens and Nobels. Yes.
Did I hate it. No. Will i try to return it to Barens and Nobels. Yes.
Dude, you can return books to barnes and noble? -- Do you get dough back too? (Not being sarcastic)
All of the different movie star injuries, deaths, mishaps were great. I thought the epiphany about Marilyn Monroe was awesome. The first thing that came to mind were the Lindsay Lohans, Brittany Spears, Miley Cyrus', etc. of our culture. I didn't see it when I first looked at the book, but I realized it was a blow-up doll later (the cover).
Chuck Palahniuk always manages to make clear and concise points throughout the novel about the underlying meaning. When I read the paragraph about Hitler developing the blow-up doll for the Nazis in WWI so as to 'keep the Aryan blood pure' that was pivotal for me. I understood at that moment what Chuck was trying to convey to his reader. This novel is about Cassie Wright being this female empowering figure. Yet, Sheila/Zelda turned out to be the real protagonist didn't she?
The ending was comically-tragic because it reminded me of the lovers trapped in whatever ring of hell/purgatory that was in Dante's Inferno. For some reason I imagined Cassie and Branch as those two lovers. They were spinning around each other though instead of not being able to touch each other they weren't able to break apart.
Overall, I think since reading Chuck's books Invisible Monsters and Survivor I can see a definite growth as an author. His style is similar in some ways but you get this raw wit and cynicism unparallel to those two novels. The Tyler Durdenesque character for me in this novel was not as apparent until the end. Didn't Zelda have that appeal that Tyler had in Fight Club since she was Sheila the time-clocking daughter of Cassie Wright??
I have this dream life where I get to be a celebrity but I get to navigate the world fairly easily because I'm always in character. ~dana carvey
I started last night and finished it this morning. I thought it was good, but nowhere near Chuck's best. Very hard to recommend to customers at Barnes & Noble due to its synopsis.
Chuck Palahniuk always manages to make clear and concise points throughout the novel about the underlying meaning. When I read the paragraph about Hitler developing the blow-up doll for the Nazis in WWI so as to 'keep the Aryan blood pure' that was pivotal for me. I understood at that moment what Chuck was trying to convey to his reader. This novel is about Cassie Wright being this female empowering figure. Yet, Sheila/Zelda turned out to be the real protagonist didn't she?
The ending was comically-tragic because it reminded me of the lovers trapped in whatever ring of hell/purgatory that was in Dante's Inferno. For some reason I imagined Cassie and Branch as those two lovers. They were spinning around each other though instead of not being able to touch each other they weren't able to break apart.
Overall, I think since reading Chuck's books Invisible Monsters and Survivor I can see a definite growth as an author. His style is similar in some ways but you get this raw wit and cynicism unparallel to those two novels. The Tyler Durdenesque character for me in this novel was not as apparent until the end. Didn't Zelda have that appeal that Tyler had in Fight Club since she was Sheila the time-clocking daughter of Cassie Wright??
Explain what that Hitler and Blow-up sex doll meant to you and the puring the aryian blood?... How is it connected to Cassie being the empowering female figure...?
Good shit though, man. I didn't notice how Sheila became the protangonist, pretty clever. Especially since she's the one dishing out the feministic (sp?) ideals, she's the empowering female figure. Since she took the identity of Marilyn Monroe's desiring figure to be an empowering female, she does become the important figure. Which reminds me of this line:
"What do you do when your entire identity is destroyed in an instant? How do you cope when your whole life story turns out to be wrong?" - Sheila, aka Zelda Zonk.
And I dont see Sheila as the Tyler of the novel. Because the Tyler in all the other novels was antagonizing, making arguments for the evil, making the dangerous seem fun and exciting. Like Brandy in IM, Adam in Survivor, Oytser in Lullaby, Rant in (duh) Rant ... To me Sheila was the most "human" because she warned about cyanide, about the viagra, about the vaginal embolism. She seemed well-informed and willing to inform others of dangers, rather then egg them on to try it.
Nice connection with the Dante's Inferno to how Branch and Cassie ended up.
I think i'll read it again until i pick up alot more clues...
Like i was wondering what was the point of telling us about those gang symbols and tattoos. But it goes back to what Mr. 600 said, "Dudes have a million ways of peeing on what they claim as just their own." We have the turf with the gangs, and the 600 hundred men with their jizz, claiming Cassie as their own by coming on her, and the 600 hundred men double dipping and over-licking the chips and such....
Yeah, I'lll read it again to pick up more connections. I'm sure there are more subtle things that i probably missed cause it was such a fast read.
I think the paragraph about Hitler keeping the 'Aryian blood pure' was to signify the evils in our culture that exploit women as sex objects. For instance, take that one part of Snuff where the narrator is talking about relationships between men and women. Men are overly excited about meeting and in the chase before the relationship. Once the "chase" is over then there is this sort of boredom or taking-for-granted quality. The whole point about Hitler developing these sex dolls to prevent VD in the trenches during WWI was symbolic of Cassie Wright wanting to be a star. In a way it seems like Chuck was debunking Cassie Wright at the same time exonerating her as a female "stud".
I guess you're right about that Sheila doesn't qualify as Tyleresque. What about Cassie Wright then? She sort of had that egging-on quality that Tyler had. Cassie just wanted the guys to come in and get out in an orderly fashion right? Afterall she just jumps on Branch's electric dick at the end. It's like she just said fuck it and was getting her title regardless whether Branch was upstaging her or not. Funny how Branch was this figure in porn like Ron Jeremy's antithesis/doppelganger but he turns out to be just another chump to Cassie Wright.
Yeah, the gang symbols seemed like a good connection you made. I didn't get that either at first glance. When I think back on the significance of gangs in prison and this gangbang it makes sense now. I don't know if you watch "The Office" or not but a few weeks ago Michael asks one of his employees about gangs. The dude says he was in gangs including:Bloods,Crips and Latin Kings. The dude is an african american so Michael is completely unaware what he's doing for the stereotype that all says: All black males are in gangs. Anywho, the dude says there was this thing they used to do during arguments within the gangs to resolve conflicts called "Tickle Fingers". If two guys in the gang have a dispute the two just tickle fight until the conflict is resolved. I'm kinda off topic with this but it makes sense that gangs and gangbangs are somewhat synonmous.
The point that you made Chubbz was great. The whole pissing on shit that dudes do to claim their stuff is appropriate and relevant. Do you think that a further extension of gang tats and gangbang numbers on the men was Chuck's way of saying: in our culture we are like dogs marking our territory as ancient civilizations building rings of rocks to signify their land??
I have this dream life where I get to be a celebrity but I get to navigate the world fairly easily because I'm always in character. ~dana carvey
I thought the book was short and enjoyable. Certainly no Survivor for me, but I felt like it really brought me into the place in real time. Since I read it in one sitting, I really felt in that green room with all those naked, sweaty dudes trying to out-man the other with their random facts and personal histories. I felt really transported into the area...the ending was strange. I actually didn't fully expect teh Sheilla twist (call me dumb, I'm sorry haha.) It certainly isn't the first Chuck book I'd recomend, but it isn't the last...solid fun.
So far I'm forty pages into snuff and I'm bored completely silly. Its a brand new book. Ordered on Sunday afternoon on Ebay and it just showed up at the doorstep before 9am this morning. Today's Tuesday. That a day and a half i sweated waiting for this book. And now i'm forty lousy pages in and I'm bored stiffer than the dicks in the book. Thanking myself for buying it at 18 bucks from Amazon instead of for 29 bucks at the bookstore. Giving myself a little pat on the back for a moment of foresight.
Chuck is losing me. He's been losing me for a while bit definitely since Rant. Same thing last year. Theres me, sitting there forcing myself to read this book and going, "Okay...so whats the fuckin point?"
I keep waiting for that big moment. LIke the big Fight Club moment, or the Survivor moment and they just don't come. Don't get me wrong, i'm not suggesting Chuck's a bad writer, I'm suggesting he's a great writer writing poorly. His writing is interesting and entertaining, it's the books themselves that are getting boring. And i'm not suggesting he keep writing the same story over and over, but even that would be better than boring the crap out of your readers.
The thing is, I'll always buy his books. But from now on I may wait. Wait until they're in that bargain bin at the bookstore with a sign that reads "Any five books for 10 dollars". Better yet I'll wait until I see one at a yard sale going for .99 cents or thrown in as a free bonus for buying a well used badminton set. Or best yet, I'll just borrow it from the library for free.
And i'm going to admit, when he revealed in interviews that a great deal of his moments of literary profundity are plagarised from the intellect of friends and acquaintances at parties, that he tells them what he's writing about and hands his number out for people to call him with whimsical and humorous ideas, i thought to myself, "Too much information." Suddenly his books just lost all their glamor and Palahniuk lost a tremendous amount of respect and credibility.
Chuck is a literary genius, I'll never try and take that away from him. It's just that something's happening to him. He's afraid of something and I can't figure out what it is. Charles Bukowski said that the moment a writer is swayed by his editors or critics, he's already finished. And the writer swayed by his fame and fortune might as well be tossed in the river to float with the turds.
Which makes me wonder what kind of writer Chuck is........
Please elaborate on the Big Moment that you got from Fight Club and Survivor.... And on what's borring about what he's writing..?
Specifically how is his writing borring? or Poorly?
I was disappointed with Snuff. It's probably my least favorite of his books. (It's funny reading how many people disliked Rant here and elsewhere. I really enjoyed that one. But I digress.) It felt really rushed. Granted, I normally don't like books where the narrative is set up in that format. On one hand, it's interesting to get the different perspectives but at the end I really don't care about anyone. There was something else missing but I can't put my finger on it. I likened Snuff to being like an artist fulfilling their recording contract. You know? Let's just put out a greatest hits record with some unreleased stuff and be done with it.
wait up man, go through the news on the front page, Chuck's new book coming out next year called Pygmy? looks very promising.
It had tons of research (as most of Chuck's books do) for such a small book. At times it felt like reading a "shit you'd never (want to) know" guide than a novel. That said, it was brilliant and excelled at what it meant to be: a quick dark comedy about porn. Clearly, like the rest of Chuck's books, it hit something that's never really been targeted before.
A man chooses. A slave obeys.
there were numerous moments in chuck's early work where i had to put the book down, simply stop reading, on account that i was so blown away by something chuck had to say, or a twist that took me by surprise or some brilliant little passage of writing that only chuck could write...that didn't happen in snuff for me.
i finished reading it and it felt empty still. i didn't care about any characters...and in the end i didn't care about the book.
i didn't care about any characters...and in the end i didn't care about the book.
Exactly how I felt. If this were the first book of his I'd read, I'm not sure if I'd be interested in reading another one. Maybe that's not true...in fact it probably isn't. But it's so far from his best work that it felt like someone trying to copy Chuck's voice rather than an actual book by him.
well how i see it is we can all sit around kissing chuck's ass because he's so great and all, or we can be honest and demand a little more from a guy we know is capable of so much more than the humdrum boredom we've been paying top dollar for from this author recently.
the problem is, now, no matter what chuck writes, he makes money on it. he's a sure seller. he could write about his bowel movements or his dietary habits and the book will still sell. this has happened so many times with so many authors its pathetic. the question is: does it matter to chuck? and the answer, judging by this book, is no.
i think that at some point we'll likely still see some mindblowing work from palahniuk down the road, but i'll certainly think twice before investing money in a first edition hardbound copy.
sorry. dbl post
Normally, when I'm reading a new Palahniuk novel, I have to force myself to put the book down to do things, like go to the bathroom, or eat, or bathe, or go to work.
With Rant that changed. And it was the same with Snuff. I had to force myself keep reading. I kept finding myself doing something, anything, other than read the book. This time I was grateful Snuff was at least so much shorter than Rant.
I expect a lot more from this guy.
Yeah, finished it on Friday and I have to say it was pretty boring. Too much "info dump" stuff, random facts and whatever, not enough plot. Very predictable. Not actually that funny. It wasn't as bad as Diary, but definitely one of my least favourite of Chuck's novels. That said, I am still very much looking forward to Pygmy. Just to provide a reference: Invisible Monsters and Lullaby are my favourites. And I liked Rant.
there a few things I want to get down so I'm just going to hurl onto the keyboard and hope they're coherent. First, I want to say that I am a HUGE chuck P fan. I've read all his fiction books (and stranger than fiction) and idolize his style to seamlessly jump from topic to topic without skipping a beat and having it flow like Dr Seuss' Green eggs and ham. He's been trying to take a different approach with his last two books - while I enjoy the story line of "Rant", the point-of-view / spoken-story approach didn't mesh well. I would assume it's hard to write in that tense. Snuff also took the multi-aspect, point-of-view approach. It didn't turn me off as much as the "Rant" style - and I'll add that if the story line wasn't as gripping as it was, it would have been alot worse. But with Snuff - the Chuck P talent was more obvious in the writing (although I had guessed the big twist right after the assistant was waxing the pubes of the porn goddess) The point that I think he's been wanting to get across in the past two books is that people have different points of view regarding the same situation. Clearly he's trying something new - which is respectable - and I'm kinda glad he's doing it the way he is - Rant writing with Snuff story would have made a horrible book - but on the other hand the story of Rant with the traditional Palahniuk style would have been a great book. So he's trying something new and keeping the fans happy (have I mentioned I'm a huge fan?) I guess the problem I have with Snuff was that I think he expected the porn topic to carry most of his controversy. Eh... not so much. For someone who reads Palahniuk for the "What-The-Fuck" moments, you'll be pretty bored with this one. Although there is an lol moment involving a washed up porn star and a call from his agent. This one's pretty telegraphed. Granted that the Sex and porn topic is new for Palahniuk, and might be alittle more controversial for others. I found it common yet still entertaining simply because of the way the man writes. As an aside, for those who read him for all the little snippets of information that only Chuck can deliver in a story effortlessly and without breaking stride both coming and going - you won't be disappointed. They're there in bulk - I've thought about going through all the books again and writing them all down - maybe testing some out.did you know that if you mix equal parts gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate you get napalm? - Fight Clubtl;dr?Snuff's not too bad - crap ending with predictable twist. but good filler for Choke movie and Rant 2
"Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a Grave man."
tl;dr? Snuff's not too bad - crap ending with predictable twist. but good filler for Choke movie and Rant 2
"Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a Grave man."
I have to agree with some of you here, its was just a quick book and I didnt really feel all that different afer I finished it.
But I still liked it. It was different from his other books, and I think I just need to let it sit, re-read it, and then maybe I'll spot its genius. And l also feel that we're being a little harsh on CP. Maybe we're so used to having excellent book after excellent book that we get all bitchey after recieveing a simply good one.
Oh and also, why is everone here ragging on Rant and Lullaby? I personally found them to be excellent.
I finished it a few days ago and I hate to admit that I had to force myself to pick it back up, too. I got about 1/4 through and just got disinterested. A few days later I had to know what happened so I finished it. Like everyone has said its definately not his best. I really got the porno feel from it, though. It read like one. Cheesy. With the info about the movie stars and the sex dolls and the past sex experiences and all that to how it switched PsOV... I just felt like it was written to the pace of a porno. And when I took that into consideration it got better for me. I liked it more. I was like "Well, for what this is, its pretty good." Passed it directly to my roommate and she took it with a smile. And this book is by no means a deal breaker. I will continue to buy Chucks books.
Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It felt more like a novella with a kind of abrupt ending. Like...premature ejaculative?
SNOB REMARK ALERT!!!!
But hey...at least it wasn't Haunted.
The only part I didn't understand was when Cassie was killed by Shiela/Zelda by the pillow, and then the next chapter shes fucking Branch. im confused?
i must say i commend chuck fully for not employing "dureden" type character and i recognize that some of you were disapointed by this but all in all i think it was the best choice for this particular novel. i just finished reading it 10 minutes ago and i was no where near dissapointed but happy for experience it provided because of the world it entered which was a world the world of obsessive people who devote their lives to immortalizing the people they cant stop watching... The scene where mr. 72 walks into the studio and there is a fortress of boquets was really a shot at the adult entertainment industry because of what it does to these people. Porn is so acsessible it could turn any young boy into an obsessive man sexually above his time (even though he lines of age are so blured in sex these days)
in conclusion i think it was a great book and may not be my first chuck recomendation but i feel like this book was great addition to his collection
Okay, I'll be quick.
This is one of Chuck's best. He has displayed his talent with quick, terse prose which grip an idea and shake the hell out of it. I like the fact that Chuck did his work so quickly (wham, bam, thank you ma'am, if you will excuse the awful joke). I am not going to elaborate on what I found in the novel here (if anyone wants a private discussion just let me know), but I will applaud Chuck's ability to bring meaning and complexity to such a short novel. Can't wait for the next one!!
It only happens once.
- I was completely disappointed with Snuff.
- The brevity of the novel itself didn't really bother me, it was just the way that it seemed like it was thrown together and not actually intentionally short. Like someone up above said, I kept waiting for the twist and it never really came. I predicted most of what happened and when it seemed like Chuck was throwing curve balls, I found myself saying "well duh."
- I basically preached to everyone who needed book recommendations about how excellent Chuck's other novels were, but I wouldn't recommend this to anybody. You can only list off funny porn titles for so long before your reader just zones out. You can only describe barbecue chip dust so many times before it gets repetitious.
- With all that said, this book was still more creative and interesting than most of the stuff out there. However, it wasn't as creative or interesting as anything else Chuck has written.
- I'm definitely a Palahniuk fan, and this book is nice to add to my collection, but I was not a fan of this book.
Just finished this. I'm thinking of sending it back to the publisher and asking for my money back. just awful.
I totally understand if someone doesn't like the book but reading things like "I was waiting for the twist and it never came..." and "the "durdenesque" character was missing..." makes me throw up in my mouth a little. "durdenesque"?...i beg your pardon monsieur 
i like the speed of the book, and appreciate it's shortness. i believe the "real-time" comment hit it on the head here. i like how, if you read the book at an accellerated pace and managed to get it done quickly, it's almost like you experienced the entire situation first hand. the "durdanesque" comments disturb me also. how can you type-cast an author?
either way i really enjoyed the book as much if not more than the others.
I thought it was brilliant. As the old saying goes, short and sweet.
btw Saturday's Financial Times reviewed SNUFF.
All of the different movie star injuries, deaths, mishaps were great. I thought the epiphany about Marilyn Monroe was awesome. The first thing that came to mind were the Lindsay Lohans, Brittany Spears, Miley Cyrus', etc. of our culture. I didn't see it when I first looked at the book, but I realized it was a blow-up doll later (the cover).
I didn't think about tha at the time of reading it, although I loved the random facts about movie stars comparing the transition from silent to audible films and other things, but this reveals a part of the pop culture before I was born and helps to show that not only our generation of movie stars are twisted in some ways.
The book overall was a very quick read for some reason; I found myself finished with the book what felt like 2 hours after I started reading it. The plot was very good I think, and didn't explain too much but maintained enough detail to keep me interested. I enjoyed the switching between the 5 characters, as it helped to define that fine detail of the plot. Overall, the storyline was fulfilling and all that I expected from Palahniuk and I would read it again later as it'd still be nice to catch other details I may have missed that uncovered the twists.
OMG OMG SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH *Dies*
I will say this about the book. I think he did a helluva lot better job giving the characters different voices with this one than he did with Rant or haunted.
To me, Snuff is a short story dragged out over a hundred-too-many pages. I normally love the barrage of information in his books, but it seems to me that he just picked up a copy of Hollywood Babylon and transcribed it for large sections of the book. Chuck is one of the only authors that can genuinely surprise me - there was nothing surprising here.
The reason all this bothers me so much is that I can almost see why this has happened. Every review of every Palahniuk book pre-Rant snipes about the fact that all the characters sound the same, that Palahniuk's own voice is too prevalent in his books. Rant & Snuff seem to be a forced reaction against this - as if Palahniuk is trying to prove something, prove that he can write different characters, write in different styles. Unfortunately it's too forced, and employs too many creative writing class cliches in an attempt to get everyone to sound different.
The point is, Chuck's voice is the reason his fans love his work so much. Listening to your critics is the worst thing you can do, and I hope he can stop before he finishes Pygmy.
I enjoyed reading it just because of the constant dark humour... the plot kinda wasn't as impressive at all. Yes, the child of Cassie Wright thingie was a semi-surprise but still not really as surprising. I have yet to read Rant but for me CP's best works were Choke and Survivor (not in any order).
It was funny, but nowhere near impressive. His research seems thorough, but it just wasn't a book that I could take seriously (especially at 197 pages...its highway robbery to charge $25 for this). I personally consider Snuff, Lullaby, and Diary to be his best works. But maybe that's just me...
Let's all go get rabies!
Wait. Our little cult not only looks for but wants an over-arcing Durdenesque character? Seriously?
Really?
This, this makes me cry a little.
Nauseating disappointment aside, I can't say I enjoyed Snuff. It felt like a chore, and I really hate to say that about Palahniuk's work, because up until now I've loved everything he's done, save Lullaby. Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Diary (yes, Diary, you fuckers)--I couldn't put them down. But with Snuff, I let out a sigh of relief every time I approached the last page of a chapter. Slipping it back onto my bookshelf, I remember thinking, "Thank God this is out of the way."
I think it's because, for me, there was nothing to salvage from it. It didn't leave me with anything, not in the way his previous novels have. Fight Club, Survivor, Haunted--you walk away with all these messages and philosophies and ideas that stuck with you, maybe even change you. But with Snuff, I walked away with nothing other than a newfound understanding of vaginal embolism. Oh joy.
A redeeming factor of Snuff was that the text was printed in brown ink. ...I don't know why, but I found this fascinating.
I just finished "Snuff" and all I can say is wow. I really didn't like this book. Oh well, onto reading invisible monsters.
The hell? I loved the book.
I thought it was quite nice.
Maybe not the best book I've read,
but I thought it was fucking good.
I felt kind of upset that Sheila was the daughter, I'm not too sure why.
I got this terrible feeling that made me like the book less, again I'm not sure why.
However I was glad kid 72 wasn't the son.
All in all, I thought it was a good read.
I must say though, that I did expect a lot more...
but that might be because I had to wait extra months before I got to finally read it.
I wasn't as fucking pissed as most of you say.
Not mad enough to ask for my money back, not even close.
I just need to return it to the library.
"Avoid the world, it's just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end."
Actually now that I've calmed and I think about it.
I don't think I liked it too much.
"Avoid the world, it's just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end."
There are things about Snuff that I do like. I like the way the story is told, and I dug that the characters went by their number, and maybe even a few other things if you were to catch me on a good day, but as a whole, I flat out do not like the book.
Probably the root behind most of my distaste for the novel: I did not care for the characters- none of them.
I hate that Chuck relies so much on needing to put a twist in every one of his tales, and I didn't before Snuff, but it was just so obvious and sloppy. Their was no pay off.
Chuck's a great writer, but this was too much Hunted-esque, in a since where I felt as if he was trying to shock me, but give me nothing original in return. Speaking of Hunted, Snuff may have been better received (from me, at least) if it were a short story.
"My hopes lay shattered like a mirror on the floor
I see myself and I look really scattered
But I lived my broken dreams"
- Daniel Johnston
yeah I though the same about the random info and Hollywood babylon.. I wasn't surprised either because I have read that book and love it. so I found this pretty unoriginal But I can understand that the people who doesn't know Hollywood Babylon can find this really enjoyable.
but I think the book is amusing anyway. it's not my favorite Chuck's Book but it catched my attention as usually and couldn't stop reading it.
I don't think it's that dissapointing as some people say here or enough bad to be returned.
I though it was funny at least but also you have to be interesed a bit in the topic of the book if you are not I can understand you hate it. I though it was hilarious at bits and fucked up, it has that grotesque/ nasty thing that you can find in Haunted and a lot of dark humour.
I give it a Okay to be honest..
but I think the book is amusing anyway. it's not my favorite Chuck's Book but it catched my attention as usually and couldn't stop reading it.
I don't think it's that dissapointing as some people say here or enough bad to be returned.
I though it was funny at least but also you have to be interesed a bit in the topic of the book if you are not I can understand you hate it. I though it was hilarious at bits and fucked up, it has that grotesque/ nasty thing that you can find in Haunted and a lot of dark humour.
I give it a Okay to be honest..
you will probably LOVE Pygmy.
but I think the book is amusing anyway. it's not my favorite Chuck's Book but it catched my attention as usually and couldn't stop reading it.
I don't think it's that dissapointing as some people say here or enough bad to be returned.
I though it was funny at least but also you have to be interesed a bit in the topic of the book if you are not I can understand you hate it. I though it was hilarious at bits and fucked up, it has that grotesque/ nasty thing that you can find in Haunted and a lot of dark humour.
I give it a Okay to be honest..
you will probably LOVE Pygmy.
"Not understand people complain difficult prose. Read perfect crystal as clear to me"
Step back. Evaluate. Recognize.
I liked Snuff, but I do think it could've been better. There just seemed to be alot of plot holes in the book. For instance, when 137 was knocked out and got HIV written on his forehead, he almost didn't seem to care. Cassie riding a dead Branch while paramedics try to jump-start his heart, and no one is doing anything about her on top of him? Come on.
I did enjoy Sheila's knowledge of different subjects and general indifference/emotionless response to everyone around her, and the multiple-perspective thing. Could've been better, but again, I liked it.
I was feeling really crappy about something that happened in my work life. Then I found a copy of Snuff and read it in one night. It was so risque & outrageous... I totally forgot what was eating me. I was amazed to learn about the lengths that actresses will go to in order to look & sound good, especially Marilyn Monroe. Glad I don't work in Hollywood. I also could empathize with Cassie's pet peeve about shops that make you check your bags at the door. I've had this happen to me. I'm not a criminal & I hate being treated like one. I've been boycotting a certain video store for 4 months because of this. They did that to me after I'd been a loyal customer of theirs for 10 years. Thanks Chuck for this book. It's not just for men.
"your mind can set you free"
I don't see why everyone is bashing this book. I read it and enjoyed it the whole way through. Obviously it wasn't the most deep and meaningful book Palahniuk has written, but if you buy a book about a 600 person gang bang and are looking for something meaningful, then you're just dumb. It was a very enjoyable book.
B.C.
I've already admitted to being pretty disappointed with the book in my thread. But I still agree with most of what you've written. The book was hilarious at times.
Branch pissing in his first love?
Cassie on Branch while paramedics try to paddle him?
The entire Cassie-doll incident, from the bite marks to her cup size going from D to A while he went at it.
Good stuff.
It's definitely enough to hold me over until Pygmy, though I think it may be my least favorite Palahniuk book (maybe tied with Lullaby for last place?).