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Oct 20, 2010

Adam rated it:

How many times can this idiot use the same character (possibly his own glorified view of himself?) before someone notices? How many scabbed-over (or piss-smelling or vomit-covered) things can an author describe before he becomes his own caricature? His 'truth' is absurd and his blanket disdain for the SUV culture is childish. He's the kid who buys his NIN and Marilyn Manson shirts at Hot Topic, and then sneers at the bourgeoisie bastards going into J.C Penny's. His writing is somewhere between e More...

15 comments like (32 people liked it)

Feb 22, 2008

Chris rated it:

“Excrement” isn’t the right word, but it’s the first word that comes to mind.
See also: Crap
See also: Absolute penguin shit.

For serious, probably the most pitiful rubbish ever published. Anyone who says ‘for serious’ is a total assclown; it’s that simple. Until having the misfortune of plodding through this drek, I thought I’d read some truly piss-poor shit; I know better now, so I can at least claim to have learned something from the time I invested reading this sealshi More...

27 comments like (45 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2012

Meg ♥ rated it:

As with every Chuck Palahniuk book I've read so far I really enjoyed Choke.

This book had a lot going on for one that was a mere 159 pages (on the Nook). I just want to say that this book was amazing. If you're one of Chuck's fans I am guessing you will love this, since it's got his usual satire, style, humor, and repetition. Also, great writing of course. There are some great messages in Chuck's books, some are less obvious, some are hidden completely, some are in your face, and som More...

5 comments like (32 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2007

Darga rated it:

"There is no human soul, and I am absolutely for sure seriously not going to fucking cry."

reading a chuck palahniuk novel is like one of those long booze-soaked all-night discussions with someone you've just met. by the end of it you're convinced that you've solved all the world's problems, and how to proceed seems so clear. once you wake up in the morning you remember how good it was, but details are hazy and the big plans are gone.

his books all share similar More...

4 comments like (43 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2007

Max rated it:

I'm getting tired of Chuck Palahniuk.
This the fifth book I've read by him and I wasn't the least bit thrilled. I hate it when authors get formulaic. And I hate it even more when it's from an author that I really really like. I can't read Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton, and others because of this. And loved their stories! It's just that I figured them out. I knew what to expect. And what's even worse than that, is that I knew who the characters would be. I knew their mannerisms, their quirk More...

3 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2008

Madeline rated it:

"If you're going to read this, don't bother.
After a couple pages, you won't want to be here. So forget it. Go away. Get out while you're still in one piece.
Save yourself.
...
What happens here is first going to piss you off. After that it just gets worse and worse."

I always feel a little stupid reviewing a Chuck Palahniuk book. It always seems like a futile effort. Especially with Choke, which opens with the above quote. How can you review a book li More...

2 comments like (41 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Nathan rated it:

Wow! A book about a suburban white boy with low self-esteem and mommy issues! How novel! I've been told time and again by friends I otherwise respect to read Chuck Palahniuk. Well, I finally did, and it made me realize I've got too many friends. Choke is deeply funny in places, but at times it very much does not feel like it has any kind of natural rhythm, and it often seems contrived purely for the sake of the sick laugh. I haven't lost faith in Palahniuk and will probably read something else b More...

3 comments like (15 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2008

Nicholas rated it:

I have choked in public on two different occasions.

The first was at an Olive Garden with my mother, where an extremely lanky busboy had to give me the Heimlich to dislodge a chunk of poorly chewed steak consumed during a meal of Alfredo.

The second involved another steak-related dinner at QDoba shared with about a dozen friends. An ambulance was called much to my irritation.

Choking, at least in my experience involved vomiting up ropes of phlegm as the body atte More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 28, 2008

Kristen rated it:

If you pick this book up, don't even bother looking at the back cover, what is written there cannot even begin to tell you what you are about to read. I picked this book up based off of a few different people's recommendations and hearing the author's name dropped by several of my favorite authors. I had been told over and over how absolutely hysterical this book is, so of course I had to read it.

First let me warn you this book is not for everyone... in fact it's not for most peopl More...

5 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 23, 2008

Lisa rated it:

If I could give it negative stars, I would. So many things I didn't like about the book...here's a few in list format!

1. No paragraphs...only phrases. It's hard to feel like youre reading a complete thought, when....you're not.
2. I know using the word "Dude" is addictive, but oddly enough, it's even more annoying to read it over and over than to hear/say it.
3. The way he always (and when I say always, I mean every time, every other page) referred to his penis as More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Mar 07, 2008

Austin rated it:

Chuck Palahniuk cannot end a book to save his life; none of the ones I've read were very satisfying in the end. But what he does do - extremely well - is tell short, interesting, and often funny anecdotes that are nearly all based on real, actual events that happen to people every day, and that is not something to be taken lightly.

If it could be read as a series of events that are all interesting in and of themselves, Choke would be his best book, a hilarious and compelling series More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 30, 2008

Bree rated it:

"Psychotic" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

Seriously, this book is WEIRD. But, having said that, it's what made it so entertaining. The story never really WENT anywhere, though the ending was a surprise. The whole book was random, jumping from one thing to another - choking here, going to work, visiting his mom, going into his past...and there was a lot of pretty graphic areas regarding sex. On the whole, I pretty much hated the main charac More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 16, 2008

Ivy's Mom rated it:

I just couldn't do it! I could not read this drivel. It's not subversive. It's not funny. It's not interesting. It's not shocking. It is juvenile.

Franzen's The Corrections, Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, and BBE's American Phycho are not in my favorites by any stretch of the imagination...but at least these three have ideas and can actually write even if I didn't want to read what they were writing about.

And PLEASE don't compare this guy to the genius who was Kurt Vonn More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2007

Chris rated it:

So much better than 'Fight Club.' It's not as grotesque, but it's much more, oh, I don't know, how can I put this... fucked up. It's one those books that don't make any sense at all while you're reading it. Why are they doing that? Who the hell is she? But at the end of the novel, everything, everything comes together and it all makes sense. Plus, you will get one the most insane mind-fucks of all time IF you make it to the end. It was the last book to make gasp out loud and scream out, ' More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2008

Naomi rated it:

Once again, Palahniuk provides perfect social commentary. Essential to understanding America and ourselves, Choke invites you to consider your life holistically, question what you know, and examine the quotidian anew. In addition, Palahniuk challenges us to find the best of ourselves, to focus less on "Saint Me," and to experience fully those near-life experiences he documents so well in Fight Club. Another marvel, another marvel.

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 18, 2009

Patrick rated it:

So much less terrifying than “Lullaby,” I finally settled into a Palahniuk novel where I could laugh without feeling like I am going to hell. Even though much of the humor is subversive and at times disgusting, it’s that psycho edge which is so compelling. There were times when I put this book down and thought I would give it a rest. But quickly, I found my self reading again just to find out where the author was going and by what bizarre means he would take me there. Having placed my mother in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2008

fri-'net-ik rated it:

I enjoyed this as a Chuck Palahniuk book, but was decidedly "whelmed" (neither over nor under). I appreciate that he has a style, but "see also:" and "the first thing that comes to mind" were less involving motifs than Fight Club's hypnotic lost-dreamy "you wake up in" and visceral "I am Jack's", and couldn't hit the vapid disconnection of Invisible Monsters' "give me <fill in the blank>. FLASH". It came across as merely formul More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2008

Bresdin rated it:

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

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2007

Johntaylor1973 rated it:

Victor Mancini is a very troubled guy. From his sex addictions to his mother issues to Palahniuk's favorite well to draw from--the disillusioned 30 something who is trying to find his personal Jesus--Choke is BY FAR my favorite of Chuck's books to read.

The last one I read, Haunted, was extremely uninteresting and forced, but I digress.

Choke starts out both shocking and hilarious, and I read the entire book in one happy sitting. His misadventures in the old-timey town, h More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2007

Amy rated it:

Excerpt:

"Here, I'm supposed to tell her the truth. I admire addicts. In a world where everybody is waiting for some blind, random disaster or some sudden disease, the addict has the comfort of knowing what will most likely wait for him down the road. He's taken some control over his ultimate fate, and his addiction keeps the cause of his death from being a total surprise.

In a way, being an addict is very proactive.

A good addiction takes the guesswork ou More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2007

Danielle rated it:

Generally Chuck Palahniuk and I don't really get along. I always found him to be the kind of guy that would come to a point in his writing and say, "Something POIGNANT needs to happen here. What could be POIGNANT?" and then makes up some kind of metaphor or flashback to fit the moment. I don't even know what I have against it; I guess it seems forced? Eh.

I think my complaint is that all of the things that could be subtle, all of the stuff that usually hides between the line More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 31, 2008

Tory rated it:

“We spend our lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or Insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves. And maybe its our job to invent something better.”

“Awesome” isn’t the word, but it’s the first word to come to mind.

Fight Club was good, and this one was good. I think I might have a little crush on chuck. If I knew that I wasn’t butcherin More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2009

Jenny rated it:

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

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 03, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Utter filth, but really rather good. His tendancy to add plot upon plot, upon quirk upon quirk, does get annoying after some time - but he gets away with it just about.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Lucy rated it:

You know those movies where you can tell they wrote the trailer before the actual movie? This is like that. Someone needs to tell this wannabe Irvine Welsh that just making your story shocking doesn't make it good. It makes it "Battle Los Angeles" (except it takes you longer than a couple hours to finish).

Palahniuk, stop jerking off to your own writing and do your characters the favor of investing them with some semblance of truth.

ETA--

It gets on my More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Danya rated it:

His best ever! This is one of the few books that actually made me laugh out loud !

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Kelanth, in tenebris lux tua rated it:

E' molto difficile scrivere una recensione di questo libro, specialmente se fatta da chi legge per passione e non per lavoro e non ha certo le basi, ne le conoscenze per approfondire in maniera corretta autori come questo.
E' difficile perchè questo libro sembra un cubo di Rubrick, basta spostare qualche tassello e hai una faccia completamente diversa davanti agli occhi, è labirintico e profondo è superficiale e dissacrante, è grottesco, ilare e drammatico, è una storia inventata ma reale fi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2009

Kristina rated it:

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

So I just finished reading Choke. I don't know what to think of it.

When people read Palahniuk and recommend him, is it because they find something deep to analyze? Because they like to be disturbed? Or because they are perverts and like to read about people having sex?

I'm just curious.

Anyway, I figure I will do a little write-up for each book I read this summer. I'll be conservative and say that's a book a week. Here is my favo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2009

Laura rated it:

I bought Choke by Chuck Palahniuk a while ago, but decided to try it after I saw a commercial for the movie version. The book begins with a warning: “If you’re going to read this, don’t bother. After a couple pages, you won’t want to be here. So forget it. Go away. Get out while you’re still in one piece. Save yourself.” I found this a little overdramatic at first and laughed it off, but this guy wasn’t kidding. The book is psychopathically brilliant, but graphically disturbing at t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2009

Michael rated it:

This is not a book for the easily shocked. In fact, it sometimes seems that Chuck is just trying to get as raunchy as he can as an exercise in gross-out writing. The book takes a brilliant turn about half way through (if you manage to make it that far) that shows the strength of his writing and storytelling ability. A small piece of information, a breadcrumb really, changes your perception of everything you have read. You find yourself rooting for a character that you despised only a few pages p More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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