Goodreads | Snuff

Yulia added it

06/07/08

bookshelves: lit-lite, repelled-by

Read in June, 2008

Please stop writing, Mr. Palahniuk.

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12 comments

oriana rated it:

03/06/08

bookshelves: read-2008, why-werent-you-better

before reading
I'm presuming that this will be enough of a departure from Against the Day that it will help me remember how to read regular books.

(Also noted: the print is really big. Odd.)

after reading
Ok I'm really sorry to say this, but this book blew. I suppose that given the subject matter, that's kind of a double entendre, but fuck it. Actually, that's about as hard as it seems that Palahniuk tried to make this book any good. It was like some c...more

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27 comments

Jason rated it:

08/06/08

Read in August, 2008

(Today's review is much longer than Goodreads' word-count limit; find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

As I'm sure a certain amount of CCLaP's readers are already aware, there's a new type of pornography that's become more and more popular within the last half-decade now, a type that I'm positive will eventually say more abo...more

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Mike rated it:

06/01/08

Read in May, 2008

Snuff is not for everybody. Those who have never read a Chuck Palahniuk novel will probably not enjoy the story or the way it is presented while others may be drawn to the subject matter alone. "Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages." Come on, it's about porn! Palahniuk fans will certainly enjoy this short tirade that seems more like a novella than an actual novel. Snuff is Chuck's shortest novel to date. Fact. Every single letter is in brown ink! Fact. It cert...more Snuff is not for everybody. Those who have never read a Chuck Palahniuk novel will probably not enjoy the story or the way it is presented while others may be drawn to the subject matter alone. "Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages." Come on, it's about porn! Palahniuk fans will certainly enjoy this short tirade that seems more like a novella than an actual novel. Snuff is Chuck's shortest novel to date. Fact. Every single letter is in brown ink! Fact. It certainly does not take away from the aesthetic feel but it may come as a surprise to some when they first begin reading though it is not immediately noticeable.

Overall, Snuff is not a bad story at all, Chuck has just put himself in a bad spot with his previous novels. He has raised the bar to such great heights with novels such as Fight Club, Haunted, and Survivor that fans may see Snuff more as something of a writing exercise, rather than a true piece of accomplished work. Opting for a multi-character narrative, the storytelling is different from his other books. There is very little dark humor, instead, the humor in Snuff is much more apparent; not that it's a bad thing, just a little different than usual. It wouldn't be fair to completely bad mouth this book. It certainly does have its golden moments. Each character definitely breathes and acts Palahniuk but everything just seems a bit toned down. For a book about pornography, it seems pretty tame. It still does have its gross-out moments but about ¾ of the novel is spent inside the green room. The entire experience does seem to have a life of its own and the descriptions are nicely depicted, making it easy for readers to picture the room.

There is a great deal of suspense during each narrative and though the chapter titles claim that a different character is narrating, it doesn't always feel unique to the specific character. Sure, one may repeatedly use the word "dude" and another may repeatedly be carrying a stuffed animal but thought-process-wise, they all think alike. Every single character in the book seems to be a walking trivia machine and though that may be synonymous to Palahniuk's style, it just detracts from the authenticity of the story. The shortness of Snuff also seems to alienate us from any of the four main characters. Though we do spend a lot of time in the green room with each character, it just doesn't last long enough for us to feel attached to any of them.

There are a few plot twists but they are all mildly predictable. Anyone who has seen a soap opera in the past month or watched an episode of Family Matters will know what to expect on the next page. The ending is a bit unexpected and true to Palahniuk's signature style but it also feels a little far-fetched. Then again, this is only a book and not real life. Some stuff needs to be far from the truth; nobody wants to read about the mundane reality of life. Palahniuk claims to have already completed the first draft for his next novel Pygmy so Snuff can arguably be passed off as something to tide us over for the wait. Though it is short, somewhat predictable at spots, and a bit tame for what it is depicting; it is full of humor, wonderful trivia, plot twists, and memorable quotes. This book may not win any awards but it certainly will be mentioned in the years to come and you will be glad to have read it....less

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ShellBell rated it:

06/01/08

Read in May, 2008

What can I say? A book about a female porn star that has sex with 600 men? Written only the way Chuck could write it. I sensed that Chuck put some research into this book. I can almost picture him, pencil tucked behind his ear, lurking in sex shops, interviewing porn stars. Completely serious about his subject, yet with a secret smile on his face. That is exactly how the book felt. Serious and yet sly.

The book is from the point of view of Mr. 72, Mr. 137 and Mr. 600 of the men coming to hav...more

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6 comments

Laura rated it:

08/04/08

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Any die-hard fan or Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis

I just absolutely enjoyed this book. I just came off of reading "Rant" with my Composition 2 students, and I had one student object (quietly, coming to me during office hours to do so) to reading it because it goes against everything she believes in (which is following the word of God and ridding the world of moral filth. Her words, not mine). So of course I respected her position, gave her a new assignment, and kept on trucking with the rest of the class. Her comments did, however, gi...more I just absolutely enjoyed this book. I just came off of reading "Rant" with my Composition 2 students, and I had one student object (quietly, coming to me during office hours to do so) to reading it because it goes against everything she believes in (which is following the word of God and ridding the world of moral filth. Her words, not mine). So of course I respected her position, gave her a new assignment, and kept on trucking with the rest of the class. Her comments did, however, give me pause as I opened up this new Palahniuk delight about an aging pornography queen set to beat the world record for sex acts taped for a movie (600 men/600 sex acts). Was it too "filthy," and should I approach it it with a keener eye for any use of filth-for-filth's-sake? And my response was: hell no.

It was great. Yes, it was totally off its literary rocker, and yes, it was over-the-top sexually graphic. But was it perfect? Very nearly, yes. Given the title and a very early tip from one of our narrators (Palahniuk's at his stylistic wheel of fortune again, this time giving us first person narration from four different characters' p.o.v.'s) I knew that the film Cassie Wright, our porn queen, was making would eventually turn out as a snuff film. Though what kind of guess, I wasn't even close. I guessed one of the twists about half-way through (won't spoil it here), though the other handful hit me like one of Branch Bacardi's toys over the head.

In addition to its super-fun story and really nice, tight writing, it's an ultra quick read. I started it Saturday afternoon and finished it last night (I would have finished it quicker, but we had a Power Family Field Trip to a soccer game at Soldier Field last evening). I stayed up until about one a.m. to finish it, and was thoroughly pleased that I did. Pick it up, be totally aware of the subject matter and don't be shocked to read about sex acts, sex toys, and sex performers in graphic-traffic detail. And then, just have a fantastic time. ...less

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R. rated it:

(review of isbn 0224078585)

05/20/08

bookshelves: 2008

Five stars, because it gives you everything you'd want in a Palahniuk book. No child is left behind.

Think of this book as...as the Oedipus myth, filtered through the worldview of Philip Larkin and the grossout slapstick of Jackass.

---
What the hell is with the brown ink?! Were they out of...out of lemon juice?! I'm sorry, but this is an annoyance on par with the invisotext (click and roll cursor to highlight the spoilers!) that was all the rage in...in your livejournal...more

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8 comments

Kelly rated it:

07/28/08

bookshelves: cant-finish-the-damn-thing

Read in June, 2008

This is the second worst book I have ever read. I don't know if I can say I've even read it because I just cannot bring myself to finish it. This guy has no concept on how to write a good sentence. Not one good sentence. Pick a page, then put your finger on a word. It will all be stupid and bad. A friend of mine paid $30 to take me to hear him speak, and this is how I wound up with a signed copy of this book. Everybody in his cult following crowd was young and ultra hip, and obviously has...more This is the second worst book I have ever read. I don't know if I can say I've even read it because I just cannot bring myself to finish it. This guy has no concept on how to write a good sentence. Not one good sentence. Pick a page, then put your finger on a word. It will all be stupid and bad. A friend of mine paid $30 to take me to hear him speak, and this is how I wound up with a signed copy of this book. Everybody in his cult following crowd was young and ultra hip, and obviously has really bad taste in writing. If that is our future it's gonna be bleak. The story he read at that lecture was a short story about someone at a game show on acid, and normally I love acid stories, but eww. It was totally obvious and predictable and dull. Horribly dull. Not at all creative or insightful. I don't know how he sells books. His stories are based on shock which can only be shocking to the most plain unread reader. It's overdone to the point you can't even call it that. He tries to go so far in shock it comes off as totally unbelievable but not far, or interesting enough, to be any type of fun exaggerated fantasy. And I think he got all his research off the internet. If he was a baddass he would have made a porno. Or at least watched one. It feels like he just randomly threw facts in to sound credible. It was so painful to read. Physically painful too, not only brain aneurysm painful. My face hurt from screwing it up grossing out at the bad writing. The only redeeming thing I got from his crappy unintelligent lecture and this stupid book (and I like porn) is that if he can do it so can I. Or maybe not, cuz if this is what society is digging the tastes and intelligence of America is so dumbed down they may forget what good taste is and we will soon be the way of that Idiocracy movie. When someone asked him who his influences were he couldn't even quote any good writers. He quoted The Hardy Boys or something similar but not as good. What? I'm not dogging The Hardy Boys, but that was really all he could come up with. He needs to never have a book published ever again. I guess I should say I never read any of his other books so I don't have anything to compare this to, mostly because I hated the movie "Fight Club," yeah I said it, and that's a shitty way to judge whether or not you're going to read the book but I just had a feeling, you know, I get those on books. And this being my introduction to his writing does not make me want to waste any time picking up any other book of his.
Oh yeah, and he used the word "dude" a lot. Annoyingly so. And not in dialogue. Ugg. He sucks....less

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Maggie rated it:

06/23/08

I refuse to spend more time reviewing this book than Palahniuk spent writing it (which couldn't have been very much), so I'll be brief. Snuff takes place entirely in the green room of a porno movie. Cassie Wright is an aging porn star who is trying to set a world record for having sex with 600 dudes in one film, an act that everyone seems to think will kill her. Cassie thinks this too, but that appears to be the whole point. She's hoping that if she dies trying to break the record, then the film...more

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jenny. rated it:

06/09/08

recommends it for: anyone without a brain

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Good thing that I borrowed this book.

However, I've got to keep it on my hands for three more weeks, since, with all the gas prices going up, the only time I can go to the library is when I have to return all my books at once, which is my mother's new, adopted policy in an effort to save money spent on gas.

I approached this book with biased indifference (Ha! An oxymoron!); biased, because I had not been too impressed with Rant (Does anyone even remember ...more

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Imogen rated it:

05/03/08

Read in May, 2008

This was... fine. I don't know. After Rant, it feels like a kind of eh book between totally great ones, especially if his next one is a sci-fi monstrosity like Rant was, as has been implied. Or maybe said explicitly- I forget.

Anyway, all the 'shocking' Chuck P stuff happens, there are OCD repetitions, characters surprise you with brutality a few times, and even- for a second it looked like the plot was gonna turn into a fucked up knot as tight as Invisible Monsters, although it didn't.

...more

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Floyd rated it:

04/01/08

Read in March, 2008

A guy here on Goodreads was nice enough to send me an advance copy of Chuck P's new book set for release May 2008. I'm really digging it so far. It's got all those great observations and incredibly quoteable lines that Chuck seems to have a knack for coming up with.

I'm not fixing that.

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6 comments

Mike rated it:

10/02/08

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Mike by: my conscience
recommends it for: fans of LULLABY and CHOKE

SNUFF (Chuck Palahniuk) was a definite improvement over his last two book DIARY and HAUNTED, I loved LULLABY, SURVIVOR and CHOKE.

And SNUFF was often-times more laugh-out-loud funny than CHOKE and that's saying something. This book finally shows the maturing of Palahniuk's factual-anecdote-over-driving-storyline narrative style. He has gathered together some of the most bitter and twisted character in history into the basement of a 600-man-1-woman porn shoot. The right and only place for suc...more

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Misha rated it:

08/20/08

bookshelves: dark-and-twisted

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Well, I can say that reading the bulk of this book over the last 48 hours, that I actually felt trapped in a room that smelled like piss with 600 naked, sweating, stinking dicks eating barbecue potato chips. It's kind of hard not to feel that way, given how often Palahniuk hits you over the head with the fact that you're trapped in a room with 600 naked, sweating, stinking dicks eating barbecue potato chips. I could have done with less of that. And the ending felt rushed, like after spending I d...more

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16 comments

tami lynn rated it:

07/09/08

Read in July, 2008

After his previous two novels, I remember going off on this whole rant (no pun intended) about how Chuck's like an Alkaline Trio record, or a David Lynch movie. You know you're gonna entertain it's existence, you know it will have a handful of one-liners, but you know its going to be jusssst like all the rest and nothing special.
So then you ask the age-old question, "Is it better if one of your favourite bands keeps making the same music for 15 years and bores you, or takes the chance and...more

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Eri-chan rated it:

06/04/08

Disappointing effort from one of my former favorite authors. Chuck has really let himself fall into a rut, I think - his writing has become so formulaic that his stories, however interesting they seem on face value, have really started to lose their appeal for me.

Snuff is about a porn queen in the twilight of her career attempting to set a world record by having sex with 600 men in a single film. Gets your attention, right? But then you actually read the book, and after the fourth or fifth or ...more Disappointing effort from one of my former favorite authors. Chuck has really let himself fall into a rut, I think - his writing has become so formulaic that his stories, however interesting they seem on face value, have really started to lose their appeal for me.

Snuff is about a porn queen in the twilight of her career attempting to set a world record by having sex with 600 men in a single film. Gets your attention, right? But then you actually read the book, and after the fourth or fifth or sixth time you see the same imagery, the same point beaten down with a hammer, and after the third or fourth abrupt and oddly convenient plot twist, the plot really looses its glitter. About the only really positive thing about the book is that he certainly didn't belabor the point - it stacks up at about 200 pages, and is probably really much shorter than that as its printed in what seems like an awfully large font.

What's truly disappointing about this book is that it has so much potential to be so much better than it is - the plot, though dull in the telling, has enough complexity to be really engrossing. The environment, the people, the entire situation are just quirky and ridiculous enough to create his trademark literary universe: grounded in reality, but only just. It seems like Chuck rushed on it, forced himself to produce it quickly, and in doing so he really neglected all of the things that could have made it great. If he'd fleshed out the character's backstory more, if he'd extended the timeline a bit, if he'd switched up the descriptive prose instead of using the same set of imagery over and over again, if he'd even spent some time telling the story from Cassie's point of view (an omission that seems to have carried over from Rant, his previous release) this could have been a much better book. As it is, its only passable, and certainly not worth the $25 I spent on it.

I've read just about everything that Chuck has written at this point, and have always waited eagerly for his new novels and bought them within days of their release, but next time I might need to take a pass. He's really going to have to shake things up next time around to win back my previously unfailing devotion....less

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Justin rated it:

06/03/08

Read in May, 2008

wow was this ever a disappointment. I was looking forward to a good Palhaniuk novel since my disappointment with Rant. I was eagerly anticipating the release of this one and bought it within a week or two of it coming out.

It's a short book, ~200 pages large margin large type, I finished it in 3 or 4 sittings, but its just the same old thing.

The story is told from the POV of three guys waiting for a change to join into the largest gangbang ever 600men and one woman, 1 at a time. The cha...more

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Dena rated it:

07/30/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in July, 2008

Okay, I can't jump on the Snuff hate train. This wasn't the best book, but it's really not a bad offering at all.

Basic premise - an aging porn star goes for one last hurrah - a 600 man gang bang. However, many of the people involved, including the aging starlet herself, think that this last movie just might kill her.

The author let's us into the thoughts of the men standing in line for the movie and into the thoughts of one of the production people. These are very damaged people - one ...more

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5 comments

Dan rated it:

06/01/08

Read in June, 2008

Sometimes entertaining, often tiresome, this book furthers Palahniuk's descent into self-caricature. What little plot there is has to be stretched paper-thin to fill the book's 200 pages, and most of the book consists of random porn-related facts and sexual euphemisms. Where Chuck's previous books tried to make some sort of statement about society, Snuff just tries to shock you. What Palahniuk fails to recognize, though, is that the sort of person who will read a book about a porn star...more

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Owen rated it:

06/17/08

Read in June, 2008

So far it's not the sex that's making me queasy and itchy as much as the gleefully elaborate descriptions of all the various stains, smears, smudges, dribbles, crumbs and residues that the characters in this book seem to leave on every surface that they come into contact with. Chuck is smart enough to realize that he probably isn't going to shock any of his loyal readers (or anyone who has ever watched a porno) with endless mechanical details, so instead he concentrates on making everything so d...more

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