Diary
by Chuck Palahniuk
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Read in November, 2007
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 it's...more
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 it's...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Palahniuk fans/people who like strange twists
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 trash gi...more
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 trash gi...more
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Read in January, 2006
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 revea...more
Along the way, Palahniuk revea...more
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Read in September, 2005
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 meant. Whi...more
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 meant. Whi...more
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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 reader, but c...more
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 reader, but c...more
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Read in April, 2005
I'm giving another thumbs-up to Chuck Palahnuik for his page-turner "Diary". It's a fanastical story about a poor artist who gets more than she bargains for when she marries into a rich island-deweling family-- Dun-dun-dunnn... What ensues is probably best described as horror, though the horiffic situations are probably better described as strange than as scary. The book is a quick read, and very clever at both large and small scales. While there was less of an unifying philosophica...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
people who like fractured tales
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 pretent...more
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 pretent...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Fans. . and fans alone.
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, I th...more
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, I th...more
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This is the second novel I have read by the author, and I just finished it a few minutes ago.
At first, I was drawn to the author’s narrative style. Rather than long passages of purple prose, the narrator’s voice has an ease and everyday conversational style that makes it more engaging to read. Nevertheless, the author is never able to make me emotionally attached to the narrator beyond that. The character is flat, repetitive and difficult to care about on any level. In some stories...more
At first, I was drawn to the author’s narrative style. Rather than long passages of purple prose, the narrator’s voice has an ease and everyday conversational style that makes it more engaging to read. Nevertheless, the author is never able to make me emotionally attached to the narrator beyond that. The character is flat, repetitive and difficult to care about on any level. In some stories...more
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This was actually my first Palahniuk book, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had to fight the first chapter or three not to put it down, but in the end, it was a quick read that was slow to start, engaging in the middle, and lackluster at the end.
Without giving too much away, the book is the diary of a woman named Misty regarding her life following her husband's suicide attempt, which left him in a coma. Misty used to be an artist and her mother-in-law and daughter are urging her ...more
Without giving too much away, the book is the diary of a woman named Misty regarding her life following her husband's suicide attempt, which left him in a coma. Misty used to be an artist and her mother-in-law and daughter are urging her ...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
folks who don't mind nightmares
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
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Read in April, 2007
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 tension buil...more
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 tension buil...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
prisoners everywhere
This book was given to me as a gift and it turns out the life of Mr. Palahniuk is hauntingly synchronistic to my own. I enjoyed reading this novel so much that I almost feel like giving up my own attempts at writing, since he states so well what I am attempting to create. On the surface, Diary is a modern gothic horror novel about a woman being forced to relive a extra-generational role as goddess/sacrifice to a group of old families living on an island. On a deeper level, we are confronted w...more
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Read in September, 2007
Wow! This is the first Palahniuk book that I've read - and I suspect it won't be the last! I really enjoyed the film of 'Fight Club' and so approached this one with great anticipation.
And, at first, I was quite disappointed - the daily grind of Misty's life, her anger at her husband on life-support - it was well written but didn't really 'grab' me. In fact, I was ready to give up on the book (I am not one of those people who believe in sticking with a book I am not enjoying) when, POW!, Pala...more
And, at first, I was quite disappointed - the daily grind of Misty's life, her anger at her husband on life-support - it was well written but didn't really 'grab' me. In fact, I was ready to give up on the book (I am not one of those people who believe in sticking with a book I am not enjoying) when, POW!, Pala...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone who likes horror and doesn't need their life changed, it is cheap entertainment
I started getting skeptical about this book about half way through. I liked the beginning a lot and I thought there was a lot of suspense throughout. I read Rant recently and at some point during Diary, I started worrying that I was uncovering the Palahnuik formula and that he was going to wrap things up through this mystical bent that he uses in Rant. Well, this was a little different, enough to appease me on that one.
I thought that I liked the character development, but I have to say, l...more
I thought that I liked the character development, but I have to say, l...more
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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 all of Pa...more
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 all of Pa...more
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Read in January, 2004
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Read in January, 2005
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 chord with m...more
I think Diary just struck a chord with m...more
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OK I am a fool for Chuck even though I can never pronounce his last name right. The only problem I have with him is that he likes to write in pairs. What I mean is this Diary is Survivor, just as Choke is Invisible Monsters. The concepts are the same, the characters just have different oddities. Still I do condone reading all of his work because I love dark humor and his redundancy is actually a great topic of conversation because it is not as obvious as it could be. I mean most readers of ...more
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Read in March, 2008
Quirky mystery by the guy that wrote Fight Club. I thought it was an entertaining, quick read. What I learned? The name of a syndrome I learned about in an art history class. It's an illness in which a person is overwhelmed by seeing a piece of art, or many great pieces of art in one place, and becomes dizzy, sometimes passes out, etc. For years I've been trying to remember what it's called, then stumbled upon it in this book: Stendhal Syndrome. Named for the 19th century French author who exp...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.41 (5151 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.40 (4810 ratings) number of reviews: 362popular shelves
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quote
"It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness.
We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace."
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