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Jan 22, 2010

Matthieu rated it:

Yes, and?

11 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Dave rated it:

I’m starting to lose faith in this guy. . I mean. . Yeah. It just was not good. The best part about it is the way the guy writes. That and just the strange tid bits of random fucken trivia he throws at you in the middle of a chapter (but that is his shtick isn’t it?).

I've had a lot of time to read while deployed, and this dude is a favorite in the Army. He has a rugged approach to shit and I appreciate that. Now? He's just getting silly. After Choke, Survivor and Fight club, More...

4 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Heather rated it:

there was very little i enjoyed about this book. palahniuk has a flair for quirky juxtaposition in his imagery, something i appreciate -- and probably the only thing i really appreciated in diary.

just for the record, the 'just for the record' repeating business was super annoying. i don't mind an occasional repeat - the cadence can be quite charming at times. but repetition of this and other phrases, plus the penchant for describing people's musculature in action, it all felt preten More...

4 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2011

Lili rated it:

I last read this book some time between November 2005 and March 2006, but the audio recording was excellent. I thought knowing the plot - especially the conclusion - would diminish some of its power, but I was very happily surprised that it was even better than I remember. I had forgotten just how many details about art, physiology and other esoteric intelligent topics were woven into the tale, as well as how rhythmic it is in the telling. Still my second favorite of Palahniuk's writing (behi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Caroline rated it:

I have read over 8 books by this author and the only reason i gave him two stars was because i love fight club so much. honestly, i thought the movie was better than the book, but ill give it to him anyway. in an effort to be edgy and controversial, chuck loses sight of important literary necessities like continuity, concept, intelligence, character development, and so on. his books sometimes feel like i'm in someone else's bad acid trip. but of course, this is all probably intentional because h More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Airiz rated it:

Liking Chuck Palahniuk's books must be akin to a Fear Factor challenge for most readers. And sometimes I can't help but wonder, what if THAT is what exactly Palahniuk wants the readers to feel about his works? Feel challenged by it, dislike it, feel disgusted or insulted by it--all of these by hurling the naked truths of human nature to the face of people in the harshest possible way?

My first Palahniuk book is Choke, and I was sort of culture shocked when I read it--a multitude of f- More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2009

Allison rated it:

Like all of Palahniuk’s other work, Diary is vivid, disturbing, grotesque, and a bit supernatural. If his descriptions don’t leave you feeling at least somewhat squeamish, then you must have no imagination whatsoever. He is like a painter who makes the simplest object look hideously grotesque, who can look at a common scene and envision it in the twisted way only a serial killer might. Only, the serial killers in his novels don’t kill for pleasure; they kill for reasons much more creative tha More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2008

Ritz rated it:

Diario: Una novela es la segunda novela que leí de Palahniuk y octava en ser escrita por él en 2003 que define como “una historia de horror sátira”.

Cuándo recién la leí no me pereció muy sátira que digamos, es que el humor de Diario es amargo; es como hacer y reír con chistes de inválidos, huérfanos etc… Y todos nos reímos que nadie me venga con una falsa doble moral a estas alturas, ¡y menos si es lector de Palahniuk! Pero al fin y al cabo Diario tiene su chiste ¿sabes como esas iro More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 11, 2007

Emanuel rated it:

This is my first Palahniuk's book...
It's creatively written, I do quite enjoy the book as the writing style is very unique and easily get drowned to it, he (Palahniuk) could be a "Tarantino in literature" (hmmm... i might be wrong...). At first I annoyed with all the dates, but then, i ignored them, maybe that's another point which make this book unique, it's a diary anyway... playing with dates, days, and times... I have to re-read the beginning of the book for few times, when More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2007

Amanda rated it:

I'm always struck by just how weird Palahniuk's novels are. In the case of this one, I really thought I had it figured out. Turns out, I didn't. I should probably just give up trying and enjoy the story. Which I usually do.

Misty lives on Waytansea Island with a husband in a coma and a mother in law who seems bent on pushing her to be the famous artist everyone seems to think she is. While Misty went to school for art, she takes it as an insult that everyone thinks she, a poor white More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 23, 2007

Shimelle rated it:

This was my first selection to our book group -- and it definitely shook things up a bit.

I love Palahniuk, and this is actually my favourite of his. Fight Club comes second, so if you hate Fight Club, I can't think you'll like this. The style is still there -- short, choppy ideas repeated until you wonder why, a vocabulary that makes you double take from time to time. One of our book groupies actually read it with a dictionary to hand because she wanted to know what every word mea More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2007

Frank rated it:

Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk delivers a nihilistic tale of an artist finding inspiration after the suicide of her husband. Along the way we learn that the idyllic island on which they live is involved in a conspiracy in which she is the key player. Even with this knowledge, the artist is powerless not to play into the dark purposes of her neighbors.

Along the way, Palahniuk reveals all to be diary. A painter may decide to paint Saint George and the Dragon, but the painting is s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2007

Karim rated it:

This was my first, and long overdue introduction into the dark and often schizophrenic world of Chuck Palahniuk. I read this in September of 2006, so you'll have to pardon the lack of specific details.

Palahniuk's success, or at least, my appreciation for this book, comes from his darkly paranoid writing style. In many cases, authors who write to imbue confusion in the reader do so at the expense of narrative cohesion. Diary's success lies in the fact that it disorients the reade More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2007

Smyth rated it:

I think this may be my favorite of his to date. It's twisted and spooky, and made me feel a little sick to my stomach on more than one occasion. Hmmm...that doesn't sound like a glowing review, but if you're into Palahniuk, you know what I mean. It reminded me of Dunn's _Geek Love_ a little, in that I felt both entranced and disgusted by the characters in the stories, and I just knew that the outcome wouldn't be good...had that nagging, sinking dread feeling while reading the entire thing; yet, More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Lindsay rated it:

I saw the movie, "Fight Club", years ago. I had what was probably a typical woman's reaction in that I couldn't get past the violence. It was difficult to evaluate the story because my attention was taken from it. At that time I didnt even make note of the author of the book.

Recently my 16 year old gave me a copy of "Diary" by Chuck Palahniuk. I loved it. While Diary does venture a little into the paranormal I was completely caught up in the mystery. The tens More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Tiffany rated it:

this is the story of a young woman who seemingly follows her dreams by marrying a man and moving to an island to join his family and clan-like community. however, she finds that not everything is quite like it seems as she finds messages from her now-comatose husband written in the walls of rooms he worked on as a carpenter.

i'm only going to say three things about this novel. 1) it's a quick and fun read--mysterious, strange, and filled with the dry, cynical attitude that pervades a More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2007

Louise rated it:

With Chuck Palahniuk, it really depends in what order you read his books and how long it takes you to realise that all of his books are EXACTLY THE SAME. Well, it took me a while, and Diary was one that I read before I realised it. And don't get me wrong, I really do think it's a great book - but if I'd read it last then I'd probably think it as crap as Lullaby or Choke, the last books I read by him. I can't even remember what either of them are about.

I think Diary just struck a chor More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2009

shana rated it:

no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
NO. NO.

This book is ridiculous.
I've never found it exactly difficult to get through a Chuck Palahniuk book because he's one of the greatest, most complex writers I know of, but this book... it was such a drag. I prefferred babysitting over reading Diary.

I had to pull myself through it each and every day. I get anxious if I don't finish a book so I couldn't toss it aside. The only reason I completely forced myself through it in less t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Amber rated it:

My absolute favorite Chuck book so far. It spoke to me bring an artist wit the theme of artists suffering. Original storyline as usual, he does not disappoint... but rather brings it... fully (more so then any other book he has written, in my opinion).

Suffering = living. Suffering = true feeling. Suffering = emotions. Emotions = Open mind. Open mind = creativity. Creativity = Artistic excellence. (Or something along those lines).

This book made me realize why (as an artist) More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2012

Kater rated it:

This is the kind of book that creeps under your skin and interferes with dreams. I haven't read any of Palahniuk's other books, but one of his biggest fans recommended I start with this one, perhaps because it involves an artist as a protagonist and he thought I'd identify.

Palahniuk has a very distinctive writing style. He peppers his prose with repeated phrases such as "Just for the record" and "Today's weather is.." eg. "Today's weather is surly, with a cha More...

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Jan 04, 2012

Dawn rated it:

Misty Kleinman was a promising young artist. Then she met Peter Wilmot, dated him, got pregnant, got married and is now stuck on Waytansea Island being poor again.

See, ever since Misty was a little girl, she's been drawing the community of Waytansea Island. But she thought it was a make-believe place. Turns out she's the one they've been waiting for. She can save them. But she's going to have to suffer to do it.

Now Misty is working at the local hotel - all the 'good' fam More...

0 comments like

Sep 26, 2011

Maria rated it:

Il miglior libro di Palahniuk che io abbia letto.
E diciamo che li ho letti quasi tutti, ormai.
Misty vive su un'isola di cui ha sognato e ritratto le case e i luoghi per tutta la vita, prima di vederli. Ha un marito, una figlia, pensava di poter vivere felice rinunciando al sogno di diventare un'artista, solo grazie alla gioia domestica della famiglia che aveva creato.
Ma c'è qualcuno che non la pensa così: Misty deve diventare un'artista, e sarà una grande artista, e chiunque attor More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 12, 2011

Rosaria rated it:

A wonderful thriller written with great mastership. A deep story of hope, isolation, and finally despair. The way the whole story unveils is tremendous and fascinating. The story of a persons life is shown on the story of three generations and seems to repeat on and on again, which is nothing but desperate given the conditions under which the main character, Misty Wilmot, lives. According to a prophecy, Misty, a talented artist, is predestinated to save lives of people living on Waytansea Island More...

0 comments like

Jun 28, 2010

Imogen rated it:

Hey, goodreads. Remember how seriously I used to take you? I would tell you every time I finished a book, and then I would tell you about the book. I guess I haven't been doing that as much lately. Kind of like how Chuck Palahniuk has been phoning it in for three books now, huh?

Because look, this was the last one of his books I hadn't read. Now I have read all of them. And Chuck? The only reason I didn't give this one five stars is because it wasn't Rant, which I have built up in my More...

10 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 29, 2009

David rated it:

My summary of opinions of this book? So young! So angry!

Anytime you see so many varying opinions of a book, it's worth picking up, even if you'll just be taking part in a literary car accident: you just HAVE to look to see why everyone is slowing down. I'll bet Chuck's airbags went off after this book, but I think it's possible that it's just a fender bender.

I think a lot of Palahniuk's work is like a drunk guy shooting arrows at a bunch of children lined up against a wal More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 26, 2009

Kayleen rated it:

Well, I'm ambivalent about this book (Which seems unusual, judging by the other reviews; it seems to be a "love it or hate it" kind of book).

It takes a few chapters of reading to start to understand who our main characters are here. At first, I wasn't sure if the book would ever start to make sense, but once I had those first few chapters read, an interesting storyline started to emerge. I thought I had the book figured out for awhile, but for me, the book ended the same wa More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 27, 2011

Alex rated it:

I changed my rating on this book several times. I'm a pretty big fan of Palahniuk, and this was not my favorite book of his by a long shot. There are, however, some truly unique things about this book, and when you look at his body of work, patterns start to emerge.

What I like about this book is that the second-person voice is used effectively. Other reviewers have complained about the repetition of phrases, and I admit, there are times where it's laid on thick...but it's about cade More...

0 comments like

Jun 30, 2011

Danielle rated it:

I came to Diary having read none of Palahniuk's other works and based on the fact that I have some friends who can't be in the same room with one without needing a fresh set of pants. Because of this I really didn't know what to expect though I suspected I was in for a read that could be politely described as abnormal.

Now, after having read Diary, I have to admit that I found it interesting. The narrative perspective is certainly different from most, seeming as though it is a third per More...

0 comments like

May 14, 2009

Dana rated it:

This book is extremely twisted and creepy. The reader would expect nothing less of a Palahniuk book.

Misty Wilmot was once a talented artist who painted pictures of imaginary houses. She married to her college sweetheart who caught her attention with the antique costume jewelry he once wore. She married and settled down on an island, had a and lost interest in her art.

Her husband , a contractor, is in a coma after a suicide attempt. His clients are threatening lawsuits bec More...

0 comments like

Mar 27, 2009

Kristina rated it:

I chose to read this book (the first of this author) because one of my friends highly recommended it. I found the book to be a true page turner. I read it in three dense sittings. He twists the plot around with success and it seductively envelopes you. So, where is the negative here? Well, I am not a big fan of the concept of destiny. In fact, it is a subject that I will staunchly argue with anyone within earshot and even those just outside it. That being said, I could not stand the way t More...

0 comments like