Thursday, January 15, 2004
Recently in English, we began reading the novel Fight Club, authored by Chuck Palahniuk. Having enjoyed the film, I was actually anticipating a reading assignment for once in my life. As I began to read, I was not disappointed. One particular element I enjoyed about Palahniuk's style is that he keeps his chapters short but sweet, and does not smother his reader with insignificant details.
One particular issue that we focused on discussing as a class is the use of the self-help groups in the novel. The self-help groups in the film seem to make "Jack" feel better about himself. He attends the groups to distract him from his own drone-like life. When he looks at the men that no longer have testicles, or the people that have parasites, he realizes that he does not suffer in the ways that they do, instead he is "the warm little center that the life of this world crowded around" (22). "Jack" is almost liberated by his experiences at the group. He declared, "losing all hope was freedom" (22). Palahniuk uses the groups in an almost satirical sense, playing on their dismal lives in order to brighten the narrator's. It is as if because they are suffering, the narrator thrives on their pain. This explains one of the reasons for the development of Fight Club, to witness pain as an escape from unsatisfied boredom. Palahniuk practically mocks the groups, in a satrical sense, because they are viewed as feeble and have nothing to live for. Going to the groups allows "Jack" to raise his opinion of himself, which also an explanation for his attachment to the IKEA catalog. He believes that this defines who he is. Going to the group makes "Jack" a better person.
Overall, I am enjoying Fight Club because it is provokative and distorts perceptions. I believe the novel is very well written and intelligent. This is one of the most interesting and modern novels I have ever read for an English class.
One particular issue that we focused on discussing as a class is the use of the self-help groups in the novel. The self-help groups in the film seem to make "Jack" feel better about himself. He attends the groups to distract him from his own drone-like life. When he looks at the men that no longer have testicles, or the people that have parasites, he realizes that he does not suffer in the ways that they do, instead he is "the warm little center that the life of this world crowded around" (22). "Jack" is almost liberated by his experiences at the group. He declared, "losing all hope was freedom" (22). Palahniuk uses the groups in an almost satirical sense, playing on their dismal lives in order to brighten the narrator's. It is as if because they are suffering, the narrator thrives on their pain. This explains one of the reasons for the development of Fight Club, to witness pain as an escape from unsatisfied boredom. Palahniuk practically mocks the groups, in a satrical sense, because they are viewed as feeble and have nothing to live for. Going to the groups allows "Jack" to raise his opinion of himself, which also an explanation for his attachment to the IKEA catalog. He believes that this defines who he is. Going to the group makes "Jack" a better person.
Overall, I am enjoying Fight Club because it is provokative and distorts perceptions. I believe the novel is very well written and intelligent. This is one of the most interesting and modern novels I have ever read for an English class.
