It took me a while to watch the film – I thought it would be violent and superficial, but I remember enjoying it A LOT and being surprised by the quality of the acting and script.
Fast forward many years later, and the book has appeared on my radar through different avenues:
– It’s was mentioned on the Story Grid podcast at some point, and any book mentioned on that podcast to illustrate any of the story grid’s points is worth if not a read, a consideration.
– Chuck Palahniuk was himself on the news, unfortunately, after his accountant was accused of fraud.
And then the Kindle version fell in price on Amazon, and that was it, I bought it and I loved it.
The story is not about that club we can’t talk about – it’s about the need to belong and even the need for purpose. There is of course a strong social commentary bubbling underneath too – it helped me understand a lot of what’s going on in the world right now.
“Really, what I was writing was just The Great Gatsby, updated a little.”
The author, in the Afterword
In addition to that, the latest version of the book has an Afterword from the author, sharing his reactions to the reactions to the book. Very interesting.
Talking about novels like The Joy Luck Club, Chuck Palahniuk, says:
“These were all novels that presented a social model for women to be together. To sit together and tell their stories. To share their lives. But there was no novel that presented a new social model for men to share their lives.” That’s where Fight Club came in.
Now, straight from my Kindle Paperwhite, here are some quotes from the book:
“And when they spoke (the people), they weren’t telling you a story. When the two of you talked, you were building something, and afterward you were both different than before.”
“I see the strongest and the smartest men who have ever lived,” he says, his face outlined against the stars in the driver’s window, “and these men are pumping gas and waiting tables.”
“You have a class of young strong men and women, and they want to give their lives to something. Advertising has these people chasing cars and clothes they don’t need.”
All quotes from Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
Published by Random House. Kindle Edition.
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