Choke: A Novel

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Lccn 00063905 Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-alpha-20201231-10-g1236 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.9947 Ocr_module_version 0.0.13 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA19372 Openlibrary_edition urn:lcp:chokenovel0000pala_b3h0:epub:eb41380c-0f2e-400a-99c1-de45f8fa8bde Foldoutcount 0 Identifier chokenovel0000pala_b3h0 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t6069b744 Invoice 1652 Isbn 0385720920 In questo libro il tema è la dipendenza dal sesso. Victor Mancini fa parte di uno di quei gruppi stile alcolisti anonimi in cui tutti cercano di disintossicarsi. « Ciao sono Victor, e sono un sex addict» Il punto, secondo me, è che l’America è così. Cominci con una sega e ti ritrovi a fare le orge. Ti fumi una canna e finisci a farti le pere. La nostra è la cultura del “più”: più grande, più bello, più forte, più veloce. La parola d’ordine è: progresso. In America se non hai una dipendenza sempre nuova e migliore di quella di prima sei un fallito. Ogni tanto torno dai vecchi libri di Palahniuk per farmi prendere a pugni lo stomaco. I vecchi, perché su quelli nuovi non ci siamo. Per cui mi siedo, apro il libro e mi preparo ad esser preso a calci. Ogni volta che ne rileggo uno capisco quanto ami questo scrittore.

A weird place to start given that I probably should have gone for Fight Club, his best loved, most vaunted and money spinning work to date. Anyway, it was a good introduction none the less. Odd, off kilter views of a world which most people never really think about generated out of the random scenario sequence generator: Arc Words isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind. See also: What would Jesus NOT do? See also: For serious. See also: For sure. See also: it's the martyrdom of Saint Me.

Next came Invisible Monsters. Even though I was expecting a twist, I loved it. Each character had weird quirks that, at the time, made them very interesting. Plus, this was the only book I've ever read to ever make my stomach queasy. Believe me, I'm jaded and there's nothing new under the sun for me. The most disgusting and revolving horror movie will never make me flinch, but Palahniuk did it. I kept thinking, This is how it happens. All those newspaper stories about murder/suicides, this is how they happen.

And then came Lullaby. Talk about putting me to sleep. Nothing was new under that sun. Every quirk, every "unexpected" twist was dry to me. It was an interesting story, but I was no longer interested. Un gran peccato per gli ultimi lavori, dove il grottesco è troppo gratuito e lo stile non è più quello dei primi libri. Victor is Jesus, and was created artificially through cells from a holy relic that was Jesus' apparent foreskin.One can only feel great remorse and sorrow for Justine and her disfunctional family but thank god for happy endings. Sofie Laguna has done a mighty job in bringing to us the plight of many young women like Justine who are not educated or protected from discrimination and a judgmental society. Palahniuk racconta la grande sterminata America dei reietti, dei rifiuti umani, degli emarginati, dei non integrati, di quelli respinti ed espulsi dal sogno americano, dalla corsa all’accumulo, dalla gara esistenziale chiamata ambizione. Another reviewer aptly commented .... ‘Sofie Laguna's writing is so searingly effective that this reader in particular was at times afraid to read more.’ It is quite a feat to write characters with such nuance...in harnessing her storytelling facility to expose the flaws in the system with what is becoming trademark empathy, Laguna is an author proving the novel is a crucial document of the times.'

And that's the flaw with about half of Palahniuk's novels; they just flat-out don't seem plausible to me. It's just ridiculous in a way that he's trying to sell to the audience as secret facts.If I could give it negative stars, I would. So many things I didn't like about the book...here's a few in list format! He had grown up moving from one foster home to another, as his mother was found to be unfit to raise him. Victor is filled with a deep rooted self loathing that comes across clearly to the reader, however he constantly defends his actions and feelings but his defense is hollow. It is clear that he knows that his life is pathetic and his future is going to be devoid of true happiness should he continue on his current path. As a reader you follow his mental wanderings, excuses, and find yourself hoping that he latches on to something healthy. He goes to various restaurants and purposely causes himself to choke midway through his meal, luring a "good Samaritan" into saving his life.