My love affair with chuck

book: survivor
author: chuck palahniuk
method: gift (dad)
completion date: 12/05/10

in grade 11 i thought chuck palahniuk was THE SHIT. he dragged us through hell only to redeem us at the end. his characters were despicable, but relate able. his books were gratuitous but they always felt like a test- he wanted to see how we would react if he tore the world we knew apart. beginning with fight club and then invisible monsters (in my mind his best worrk) i believed in chuck. i believed that no matter what, chuck would be there for me. and then came choke.
after diary, i began to drift away from chuck. he didn't seem to understand me anymore- what i wanted was not science fiction, it was relatablility. shannon and tyler were terrifying and fucked up but i loved and sympathized with them. mary didn't exist. she had no possibility of existing. when i finished diary i felt slightly let down, but it was more like having a slightly disappointing dish at a favourite restaurant- you'd still go back and enjoy it and recommend it, but it was still a let down. still i perciviered and picked up what was sure to be a return to form in choke. i found i was horrified by this novel. i couldn't believe that chuck would do this to me!! i couldn't even get to the 'well-i-can't-go-back-now-i'm-already-100-pages-in' marker. i was hurt and humiliated that i had loved someone who had let me down so. i turned my back on chuck.
however, i found myself in a chapters with my father and i came across a recent addition to his collection. it was a paperback, and a gamble. i had no idea it would be the return to form i was looking for.
tender was desperate. he needed to be needed. it was another maladjusted misanthrope that needed empathy and understanding that although i am nothing like you i understand you and love you. tender's struggle throughout the novel (plus all of his helpful cleaning tips) created a character that, although fantastical, was totally possible. this is where i start to gush because i'm so happy that chuck and i are back together.
i have always found palahniuk's writing style to be like modern art, with many critics saying 'well, i could write that' and the fans responding 'yeah, but you didn't' he writes simply with an almost uncaring style. it is aggressive and in your face, but poetic and engrossing (evidently high-grossing as well). i was happy that this novel rekindled my love, however ours is a roller coaster romance and you never know what comes next.
xo-ellebee