Choke

published	2001 by DoubleDay
first published	2008
binding	Hardcover
isbn	0385501560 (isbn13: 9780385501569)
ebook
pages	304
description	Victor Mancini is a ruthless con artist. Victor Mancini is a med-school dropout who's taken a job playing an Irish indentured servant in a colonial-er...more [close] Victor Mancini is a ruthless con artist. Victor Mancini is a med-school dropout who's taken a job playing an Irish indentured servant in a colonial-era theme park in order to help care for his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother. Victor Mancini is a sex addict. Victor Mancini is a direct descendant of Jesus Christ. All of these statements about the protagonist of Choke are more or less true. Welcome, once again, to the world of Chuck Palahniuk. "Art never comes from happiness." So says Mancini's mother only a few pages into the novel. Given her own dicey and melodramatic style of parenting, you would think that her son's life would be chock-full of nothing but art. Alas, that's not the case. In the fine tradition of Oedipus, Stephen Dedalus, and Anthony Soprano, Victor hasn't quite reconciled his issues with his mother. Instead, he's trawling sexual-addiction recovery meetings for dates and purposely choking in restaurants for a few moments of attention. Longing for a hug, in other words, he's settling for the Heimlich. Thematically, this is pretty familiar Palahniuk territory. It would be a pity to disclose the surprises of the plot, but suffice it to say that what we have here is a little bit of Tom Robbins's Another Roadside Attraction, a little bit of Don DeLillo's The Day Room, and, well, a little bit of Fight Club. Just as with Fight Club and the other two novels under Palahniuk's belt, we get a smattering of gloriously unflinching sound bites, including this skeptical bit on prayer chains: "A spiritual pyramid scheme. As if you can gang up on God. Bully him around." Whether this is the novel that will break Palahniuk into the mainstream is hard to say. For a fourth book, in fact, the ratio of iffy, "dude"-intensive dialogue to interesting and insightful passages is a little higher than we might wish. In the end, though, the author's nerve and daring pull the whole thing off--just barely. And what's next for Victor Mancini's creator? Leave the last word to him, declaring as he does in the final pages: "Maybe it's our job to invent something better.... What it's going to be, I don't know." --Bob Michaels [close]
date added	02-10-07 edit book

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Max rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

09/23/07

Read in September, 2007

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 quirks, t...more 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 quirks, their motivations.
Because these authors never change them.
I don't want to say anything negative about the quality of their writing or the quality of the story. They're all great; they wouldn't be best sellers otherwise. I'm just bored with the same thing over and over again.
Choke gave me nothing new from Palahniuk. I opened the book and I instantly knew who I was dealing with. I understood the ancillary characters.
First of all, since reading Edgar Allen Poe in high school, I now know to never trust a first person narrative. It's just a too too skewed perception. Authors use it for misdirection. And Palahniuk is no stranger to misdirection. His readers expect a twist, so he hints at an obvious one. Well, his readers now know not to fall for the obvious one so we look for clues for the real twist. And that's when people stop taking Palahniuk seriously.
Just look what happened to Shyamalan when he wanted to tell a good story, just without a twist. People didn't want that.
He's a good writer and story teller, but people now want only one thing from him: a Fight Club-esque twist. Isn't this the type of thing that his characters actually fight against? To turn the mores and expectations of society on their ears? And here he is, pandering to that.
Or maybe that's the only thing he can do, and that is somehow even more disappointing.
Then, each of his characters must have a "thing." A quirk, something unusual that they do, that actually has nothing to do with the story. It's to make these characters seem more unique, but in reality, it just makes them seem Palahnuik-esque. And that's not a real person; it's a caricature.

I remember knowing someone who once told me about a conversation she was having with a friend. The entire time they were having this conversation they were taking out every screw they could see in the girl's restroom they were in. Why were they doing this? Who knows. I thought it was brilliantly strange and unique and "Palahnuik-esque" for them to do that. It's great when it happens every once in a while...but when every Palahniuk character does this, all the time...it just seems silly.
And redundant.
I like Palahnuik's writing and story telling style. When I first saw Fight Club, it blew me away. I knew I would love the book. And I did. And what surprised me was how much more and differently, I liked the book. While the twist is the same and a lot of the same things happen, the book, it turns out, was more intense. And funny.
Next came Invisible Monsters. Even though I was expecting a twist, I loved it. Each character had weird quirks that, at the time, made them very interesting. Plus, this was the only book I've ever read to ever make my stomach queasy. Believe me, I'm jaded and there's nothing new under the sun for me. The most disgusting and revolving horror movie will never make me flinch, but Palahniuk did it.
When I read Diary: A Novel, I was interested. It was a wholly unique and exciting idea. One, that I would never expect to have interested me. The book is a Diary of a character reading another diary. Exciting, right?
And then came Lullaby. Talk about putting me to sleep. Nothing was new under that sun. Every quirk, every "unexpected" twist was dry to me. It was an interesting story, but I was no longer interested.
And that's how I feel about Choke. It's an interesting and well written story...just one that I'm no longer interested in.
...less

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Bresdin rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

08/08/08

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Bresdin by: Nicholas C Encinias

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

Well first of all this is not exactly my type of writing but I was however impressed by Chuck’s style. It is interesting and crude but Chuck pulls it off. When my boyfriend read this book he laughed out loud through the whole book. I personally never found it to be extremely funny however. I let out a few chuckles usually when he was in 1734; which was a brilliant twist behind the scenes of a tourist attraction. After the book however I felt unsatisfied. I felt like a lot of ends were not tied...more Well first of all this is not exactly my type of writing but I was however impressed by Chuck’s style. It is interesting and crude but Chuck pulls it off. When my boyfriend read this book he laughed out loud through the whole book. I personally never found it to be extremely funny however. I let out a few chuckles usually when he was in 1734; which was a brilliant twist behind the scenes of a tourist attraction. After the book however I felt unsatisfied. I felt like a lot of ends were not tied up very nicely. I felt that way through most of the book however it might be the style of writing. I had a hard time believing he was ever a medical student because of the language he used throughout the book. Not only does he say “For serious” but he also says “Dude… and then three words following.” The way he spoke was nice if I wasn’t thinking of him as being a medical student somewhere in his past. It easily could be the charade he puts on for other people but I have such a hard time imagining him in medical school. In fact I have a hard time imagining him in school at all. I feel like he was “dumbed” down just a little too much. The only time I picture him as being smart is when he explains how he keeps records of all of his “hero’s” at each restaurant and when. This shows major organizational skills which is usually picked up from college and shows maybe he is not as dumb as you might think. Personally I think that the movie will be funnier for me than the book was because I will not take it so seriously. However I did not despise this book.
Denny was an amazing character. He put himself whole-heartedly and passionately into everything he did. He cared so much about stopping his addiction and only a quarter through the book I knew he was not as idiotic as Chuck might have led you to believe. Sure enough by the end I found that to be true. Denny was probably just about the best thing in the book.

Victor however is another story. He was created to be a superficial jerk and be universally hated. However how could he be? He takes care of his mom as much as he says he only wants her barely alive so that he finally has some power over her. Although he could easily have her in a hospital that did not cost $ 3,000 if that’s truly what he wanted. His dark “un-Christly” soul still had the decency to make sure his mother got the best care for a crazy woman he could find. Even in the end he wanted to save his mother’s life so badly that he truly believed he was a son of God and thought he could. The ending throws so much karma on his head that I’m still at a loss to say if he truly deserved it or not. He also had a pretty hectic childhood as well; it’s a wonder he did not grow-up even worse off than he was. He was a pretty shitty human being however I can’t decide if learning he was stolen by his fake mother, not Jesus, the girl he likes is crazy, kills his fake mother, starving and completely constipated, all of his hero’s attack him and have two detectives find out his complete and entire life story while choking to death for real all happen within two or three chapters is a bit much.

After reading the entire book and disliking Victor somewhat Chuck seems to twist your original judgment and make you feel extremely sorry. He goes from being a complete jerk, sex-addicted conman to being a lost, scared, alone and unloved individual. The readers’ idea of this character is instantly flipped and you feel the need for him to be comforted. To be taken care of.

For the record, Paige Marshall is truly crazy. However if anyone has ever seen Twelve Monkeys then quite possibly she isn’t.
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Kristen rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

08/28/08

bookshelves: comedy

Read in August, 2008

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 people, but t...more 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 people, but there is a select group out there that this book is perfect for. In this book you will find addictions, depravity, sex acts of all kinds, death, pain, obsession, profanity, blasphemy, and enough repetition to drive an English major insane. But don't let that stop you from reading... this is actually a very strange yet disturbingly profound book.

Short Summary: Our title character is a sex addict who fakes choking in restaurants to make people feel like heroes... he's had a terrible childhood with a completely insane mother who kidnapped him on multiple occasions. She's now in a home and is fast approaching her end, while her son, Victor, attempts to deal with his past, his problems, and his future.

If you are looking for a book about redemption, this isn't it. Victor is a failed med student who is riddled with psychological problems raging from sexual addiction to severe childhood trauma. He wanders through life searching desperately for meaning, purpose and hope... all while fighting to keep from being a "good guy." The only truly multidimensional character in the story is Victor, and the book is told stream of conscious from Victor's point of view. Victor behaves badly and fights to mentally defend his behavior to both the reader and himself. We swap between the current day and his childhood, or actually his memories of his childhood which are told with a bitterness not toward his mentally unstable mother, but toward himself.

Victor is filled with a deep rooted self loathing that comes across clearly to the reader, however he constantly defends his actions and feelings but his defense is hollow. It is clear that he knows that his life is pathetic and his future is going to be devoid of true happiness should he continue on his current path. As a reader you follow his mental wanderings, excuses, and find yourself hoping that he latches on to something healthy.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away, although there really isn't much of a plot. This is more of a character study of an addict, and addict who knows that things should be different but rejects and rebels against society to the point that he cannot even comprehend a healthy existence. As I said this book will not be for everyone, it is harsh, gross, filled with bodily fluids, depraved sexual acts, profanity and bad choice after bad choice. Most of supporting cast is filled with stereotypes and one dimensional jokes, also the way that this is written is very repetitive and the style will be jarring to many readers. It is not an easy read to whip right through due to the way that it is written. I am glad that I read this book, but I don't really know who I know that I would recommend it to.

Oh, and yes, parts of this book are very funny... but on the whole I was left feeling rather sad for the people in it. Perhaps I'm just feeling sensitive today, but the hopelessness of the situations that these people put themselves into is a rather sobering idea. The concept that keeps reiterating itself through the book is the idea of reality and who we are, do we create ourselves or do we let society decide who we are... if we try to fight against society are we just dooming ourselves to unhappiness and ultimate misery?...less

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Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

04/16/07

Read in January, 2003

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 out of death. There is suc...more

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Ritz rated it:

(review of isbn 9875661708)

01/09/08

bookshelves: autores_preferidos, autor_p_q, novelas

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Ritz by: Israel Calzadilla
recommends it for: a los amantes de Palahniuk, a los que buscan héroes, a los que están en la terapia de los doce pasos

“Adicta” no es la palabra adecuada, pero es la primera que me viene a la mente.

Asfixia es el tercer libro que leo de Palahniuk y nada como el primero (Nana) Me quedé con el equivalente en lectura de la sensación “perseguir al dragón”. ¡Necesito más! Pero me niego a pasar al siguiente sin trasegar un poco otras lecturas, porque si no voy a quemar a mi amado Chuck.

Asfixia (Choke) es la quinta obra de Palahniuk, publicada en 2001. Si no estoy totalmente equivocada creo que se h...more “Adicta” no es la palabra adecuada, pero es la primera que me viene a la mente.

Asfixia es el tercer libro que leo de Palahniuk y nada como el primero (Nana) Me quedé con el equivalente en lectura de la sensación “perseguir al dragón”. ¡Necesito más! Pero me niego a pasar al siguiente sin trasegar un poco otras lecturas, porque si no voy a quemar a mi amado Chuck.

Asfixia (Choke) es la quinta obra de Palahniuk, publicada en 2001. Si no estoy totalmente equivocada creo que se habla de adaptarla al cine ¡Suerte y gaceta hípica con eso porque no está nada fácil!.

Victor Mancini, protagonista de Asfixia, es un antieheroe, pero no sólo por amoral, desinteresado, desarraigado etc.. sino porque -como otros personajes de P- tiene que pasar por una miserias y humillaciones equivalentes a los trabajos de Hércules… los que conocen los mitos, ahora convertidos en recursos literarios, saben que en “el viaje del héroe” todo por lo que pasa el protagonista es para terminar aceptando que es quien es, y que las cosas son como son. Que nada de eso se puede cambiar, pero si es mucha cosa “aceptarlo”. Hay gente que paga terapia para que los convenzan de ello, a ellos les recomiendo leer a Palahniuk.

La prosa de Palahniuk se abre paso a navajazos: frases cortas, muy poca descripción; sobre todo en Asfixia que no tiene lo que se dice un tapete de bienvenida en sus primeras páginas, muy al vete a mierda querido lector de Miller. El libro te desconcierta, te descoloca, te confunde, te asquea (aburre?) y luego… te vuelve a centrar metiéndote la sal de breves verdades en las heridas hechas por sus hojillas.

Victor es creado en la frontera de la realidad dentro de un marco ficticio y ajeno, bajo el yugo de métodos nemotécnicos paranoicos, manías, vicios, abandonos, rechazos y muletillas con las que lucha para conservar la sacrosanta insensibilidad de su patética vida.

Victor es creado dos veces: a través de su autor y a través de su madre… digamos que es un metapersonaje. Sin embargo, como otros personajes de Palahniuk, es demasiado anómalo para ser cierto, y demasiado humano como para no serlo.

Sin embargo, después de tres libros a mi amado Palahniuk se le ven las costuras, bueno desde el segundo (Diario: una novela). El método, la plantilla, la fórmula. Para vérselas a King tuve que mandarme como unos diez libros. De todas formas, la plantilla de Chuck no me molesta porque hay “algo más”, más allá de sus personajes con muletillas constantes hay algo que vive, late y respira en la historias de Palahniuk.

¿Eso que vive será un espíritu contracultura que le grita a la coontemporaneidad su patética decancia heredada de los modernos y estos de clásicos, porque básicamente humanear es decaer?

"Uno empieza con las pajas y llega a las orgías. Uno fuma un poco de hierba y acaba metiéndose caballo. Es esta cultura nuestra de lo más grande, lo más fuerte, lo más rápido y lo mejor. La palabra clave es progresar.
En América, si tu adicción no se renueva y mejora constantemente, eres un perdedor."
— Chuck Palahniuk (Asfixia 21/ Choke (Debolsillo))...less

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Justin rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

08/15/08

Read in August, 2008

Let’s see. If you can get past the sex, there might be some kind of a story here. The sex is interesting, and at times even really, really funny. But after awhile, it’s seriously juvenile and worse yet, just gaunt functionality --this guy, the hero ironically called 'Victor,' seems to spin his wheels most of the time, while meticulously pruning a fairly ambitious life of fraud and fantasy.

You might say, "isn't that a good thing for a narrator to have?" Well, maybe if you're th...more Let’s see. If you can get past the sex, there might be some kind of a story here. The sex is interesting, and at times even really, really funny. But after awhile, it’s seriously juvenile and worse yet, just gaunt functionality --this guy, the hero ironically called 'Victor,' seems to spin his wheels most of the time, while meticulously pruning a fairly ambitious life of fraud and fantasy.

You might say, "isn't that a good thing for a narrator to have?" Well, maybe if you're the Marque D' Sade, but not if you're trying to say that I'm like you.

This aside, Victor's take on a few things is interesting if not honest. Exhibit A: Being hen-pecked by his bat-shit crazy mom, and being otherwise assaulted by women he didn't do anything to: everything is Victor's fault. Just being there, being male, and in arm's reach, is reason enough. "How are these people's [people=women] problems my fault? i'm tired of this," Victor relates.

I can't say this isn't something that resonates with me. Too easily men are painted as thick, dull slobs who either can't dress themselves, pry themselves away from the game, or communicate sufficiently with their spouses. The reverse is just as bad: that EVERY man is playing every single angle he can to his greatest benefit, and this purposely to the detriment of women in general. Men are the reason why things are messed-up in the world.

Now, do these caricatures exist? Totally. But can I at least get a concession that men are not the only ones who do these things? Man, I hope so, because where I part from Victor is that he sees himself as every man dealing with EVERY woman. Look, I've met the type, but I don't swing for what he's pitching.

As the rest of Choke plays out, it's almost like a mystery. You really wonder what's going to happen to these people next. Will Victor land his mother's care-taker? Will he straighten out? Is he really genetically related to Jesus? And so on. But ultimately, Palahniuk wants to say that all of us are just as messed-up as Victor: red-hot for a good lay, suffering from a deep-seated saviour-narcissism, and that this is all "okay." It kinda reminds me of the "love conquers all" ending to Brazil. it was a funny bit to include from Gilliam, but a lame place to take the story for Palahniuk.

After seriously trying to figure out why I kept reading this book, aside from expanding my sexual repertoire (enter sarcastic widening-eyes of disapproval), I recognize this book has the basics of what could be a really grotesque, yet wildly successful Broadway show. Think Rocky Horror Picture Show, on a chemical hang-over and a spinal headache. I'm not kidding. At any point during this book, I was waiting for someone to break into verse or something. Sam Rockwell is going to make a great Victor in the screen adaptation.

In the beginning of the book, Victor warns us this book is not worth your time. And, well, until the Broadway premiere, I suggest you take his word for it. Otherwise, you'll end up talking to me about how disturbingly weird it was to be repulsed yet compelled to read about the world according to Chuck.

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Greg rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

08/03/08

Read in August, 2008

"The people you meet behind unlocked doors are tired of talking about the weather. They are people tired of safety. These people have remodeled too many houses. These are tanned people who've given up smoking and white sugar and salt, fat, and beef. They're people who've watched their parents study and work for a lifetime only to end up losing it all. Spending everything just to stay alive on a feeding tube. Forgetting even how to chew and swallow. [...] These men and women sitting be...more "The people you meet behind unlocked doors are tired of talking about the weather. They are people tired of safety. These people have remodeled too many houses. These are tanned people who've given up smoking and white sugar and salt, fat, and beef. They're people who've watched their parents study and work for a lifetime only to end up losing it all. Spending everything just to stay alive on a feeding tube. Forgetting even how to chew and swallow. [...] These men and women sitting behind unlocked doors know a bigger house is not the answer. Neither is a better spouse, more money, tighter skin. [...] 'Anything you can acquire,' she says, 'is only another thing you'll lose.' The answer is there is no answer."

So to battle against this malaise, these people joined fight club! Er, wait, no they didn't. Wrong book. This passage is actually from "Choke."

"What you see at fight club is a generation of men raised by women."

This quote is from Palahniuk's "Fight Club," but could just as easily have come from "Choke."

Parental issues, rebelling against the patriarchy/matriarchy -- both books share this theme in abundance. Then of course there're the support groups, your eyes being opened over the course of an in-flight conversation, the displacement of old addictions onto new addictions, confusion about one's purpose in life, rants against money and consumerism, disorientation to the nth degree, enlightenment through unlikely means, and of course the deterioration of the protagonist's health and sanity and certainty -- and how such self-destruction is a GOOD thing.

And let's not forget Palahniuk's tons and tons of random facts and how-to's. How to make an ear candle. How to make soap. Dynamite and other explosives. The name of certain medical conditions. Sexual tips and positions from the Kama Sutra. It just goes on and on and on. Even rocks can't just be rocks in Palahniuk's world -- he's got to tell you the official names via long lists and elaborate descriptions.

I dig Chuck's writing style, I really do. But with these being the only two books I've read by the man, it seems like his literary arsenal is not particularly deep. Choke's Victor Mancini could just as easily have been Fight Club's Narrator in an alternate life, and vice versa. I could see Narrator taking care of a deranged mother and having a sex addiction, and I could see Victor pounding guys' faces in and having an imaginary friend. They're all but the same character in my mind.

Choke is almost like Fight Club 2, in many senses. Or maybe it's a prequel. I liked Fight Club better, but then maybe that's only because I read it first. Perhaps if I'd read Choke first, I would've been unimpressed with Fight Club's similarities. Choke wasn't necessarily bad, just too similar. I imagine them both being written by the type of guy who always wins at trivia nights and reads little encyclopedic books full of weird and interesting facts when he's on the can. I hope the rest of his books aren't all so similar....less

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Robin rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

08/11/08

bookshelves: forever-favorites

Read in August, 2005

recommended to Robin by: Phil

Another great read, destined to be one of my favorites for ever and always. This book was recommended by an old roommate, and I actually dove in before reading any other Chuck P, before even Fight Club (although not before the movie, obviously). I was perpetually blown away, a genuine gasp accompanying virtually each and every page. Chuck's raw, edgy, unrelenting style is riveting throughout this novel. The protagonist's character is prefectly summed up on the first page: "If you're going t...more Another great read, destined to be one of my favorites for ever and always. This book was recommended by an old roommate, and I actually dove in before reading any other Chuck P, before even Fight Club (although not before the movie, obviously). I was perpetually blown away, a genuine gasp accompanying virtually each and every page. Chuck's raw, edgy, unrelenting style is riveting throughout this novel. The protagonist's character is prefectly summed up on the first page: "If you're going to read this, don't bother." Of course, I didn't listen to him, and by the end, I was infinitely glad for that.

If you're looking for a good clean story, however, or one filled with inspirational or conventional kinds of wisdom, or one whose subject matter is anything short of smut-worthy, you'd be well-advised to heed that early warning. Let me help you understand- the book's about a con artist who pretends to choke on food and lets people "save" him. Then he works in his sob story in the following moments, and his victims are roped into feeling that they are responsible for his life; they ultimately end up sending him a steady flow of cash. This is all in between going to Sexaholics Anonymous meetings to hook up with kinky girls. Yeah, and that's maybe a tenth of the stuff that will make you cringe.

Chuck soaks his prose in his characters, completely saturates every word with just their kind of attitude, or in this case, just Victor Mancini's kind of despair, brooding, cynicism, and ultra-twisted sense of sick humor. The subject matter is not without its rewarding qualities, but the writing style is what hooked me from the first sentence, and kept my nose deep in the pages throughout. In more ways than one and above many other factors has this book inspired me as a writer, has taught me to forget the boring rules of mainstream writing that one is indoctrinated with from a very young age.

To say that this story is close to my heart would not speak well of my psychological condition; I challenge one to read the entire thing without releasing at least half a dozen outbursts of shock or disbelief. But like Selby, Salinger, and Borroughs, Chuck Palahnuiuk helped shape my taste in modern literature at its most amorphous phase, using this book. Despite the jagged edges, the story has real value, and crosses such formidable depths as themes of redemption, sacrifice, and heroism. There's also a ton of irony. The kind that makes you grin- in a sickened sort of way.

NOT FOR CHILDREN! Not for the squeamish, sheltered, sensitive, faint of heart, or emotionally disturbed, either. Also be warned, if you aren't any of those things, you might be after reading this. You also may very well feel like a child....less

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Mike rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

11/18/07

bookshelves: favorites

"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 themes, but i fi...more

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Jo Ann rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

10/17/07

Read in January, 2004

By the author of FIGHT CLUB, which I loved. Interesting. Very interesting. It didin't sweep me away, but I somehow appreciated it more months & years later. I like books like that. Sometimes they're not as fun to read at the time but they stay with you-make u think (God forbid!)
review
VVictor Mancini is a ruthless con artist. Victor Mancini is a med-school dropout who's taken a job playing an Irish indentured servant in a colonial-era theme park in order to help care for his Alzheimer's-a...more By the author of FIGHT CLUB, which I loved. Interesting. Very interesting. It didin't sweep me away, but I somehow appreciated it more months & years later. I like books like that. Sometimes they're not as fun to read at the time but they stay with you-make u think (God forbid!)
review
VVictor Mancini is a ruthless con artist. Victor Mancini is a med-school dropout who's taken a job playing an Irish indentured servant in a colonial-era theme park in order to help care for his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother. Victor Mancini is a sex addict. Victor Mancini is a direct descendant of Jesus Christ. All of these statements about the protagonist of Choke are more or less true. Welcome, once again, to the world of Chuck Palahniuk.
"Art never comes from happiness." So says Mancini's mother only a few pages into the novel. Given her own dicey and melodramatic style of parenting, you would think that her son's life would be chock-full of nothing but art. Alas, that's not the case. In the fine tradition of Oedipus, Stephen Dedalus, and Anthony Soprano, Victor hasn't quite reconciled his issues with his mother. Instead, he's trawling sexual-addiction recovery meetings for dates and purposely choking in restaurants for a few moments of attention. Longing for a hug, in other words, he's settling for the Heimlich.
Thematically, this is pretty familiar Palahniuk territory. It would be a pity to disclose the surprises of the plot, but suffice it to say that what we have here is a little bit of Tom Robbins's Another Roadside Attraction, a little bit of Don DeLillo's The Day Room, and, well, a little bit of Fight Club. Just as with Fight Club and the other two novels under Palahniuk's belt, we get a smattering of gloriously unflinching sound bites, including this skeptical bit on prayer chains: "A spiritual pyramid scheme. As if you can gang up on God. Bully him around."
Whether this is the novel that will break Palahniuk into the mainstream is hard to say. For a fourth book, in fact, the ratio of iffy, "dude"-intensive dialogue to interesting and insightful passages is a little higher than we might wish. In the end, though, the author's nerve and daring pull the whole thing off--just barely. And what's next for Victor Mancini's creator? Leave the last word to him, declaring as he does in the final pages: "Maybe it's our job to invent something better.... What it's going to be, I don't know." --Bob Michaels...less

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Austin rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

03/07/08

recommended to Austin by: I Read It At Work When It Came Out
recommends it for: Palahniuk Fans

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 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 of slice-o-life narrative and takes you to your own backyard and points dramatically at the insects that live beneath the nearby rocks (or, in this case, inside tin-pans full of beer). However, when he tries to create connective tissue that ties these bits together, he often falls flat, and leaves me wanting more than he can deliver.

Don't get me wrong, this book is worth your effort. The story about the girl who wants to be mock-raped, and her continual frustration at her partner's inability to "do it right" is fantastically funny, and their "masturbation race" at the end made it a little difficult to not laugh when I went back to work. (In fact, most of the book centers around sex, in lots of extremely perverse ways. Sadly, it is rarely sexy, but very, very funny.)

Then you realize what you're laughing about. And now that's funny, too. It's something that Palahniuk does extremely well. However, when the end comes stumbling toward you, there is a sense that the effort to tie it all together falls short. All the elements themselves are fantastic, but to force them to be parts of a larger whole seems to miss the point of what makes them work as scenes. The title itself refers to what is ultimately such a small amount of the book, perhaps a nod to the fact that he himself sees that as the strongest part, which is not a ringing endorsement.

Still, check it out from the library and give it a shot. You won't loose any money, and it's a quick weekend read. And then you'll have something really dirty to bring up at your next fancy dress party, which is always a good way to make friends. ...less

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amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

10/23/07

bookshelves: 50booksin07

Read in August, 2007

When I first started reading Palahniuk a few years ago, this was definitely the one I was most interested in. However, I was never able to find a copy. Victor Mancini is a med-school dropout, which is only because he needed to find a fulltime job immediately to pay for his ailing mother’s care (three grand a month). He’s making six bucks an hour at a colonial theme park, so obviously that monthly $3000 isn’t coming in from that. To bring in enough money he pretends to choke on his dinner a...more

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Madeline rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

06/25/08

bookshelves: the-list

"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...more

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Johnsergeant rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

12/21/07

bookshelves: audiblecom, audiobook

Read in January, 2003

Downloaded from Audible.com

Narrator: Chuck Palahniuk
Publisher: Random House Audible, 2002
Length: 7 hours and 10 min. (abridged)

Publisher's Summary
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk's controversial and blazingly original debut novel, introduced a fresh and even renegade talent to American fiction, one who has retooled the classic black humor of Terry Southern and Kurt Vonnegut for the lunacy of the millennial age. In this novel, Choke, he gives listeners a vision of life and love and sex and mort...more

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Nathan rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

10/07/07

bookshelves: books-i-hope-die, fiction

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: Martians who aren't sure whether or not to settle here.

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

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Danica rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

06/10/08

Read in June, 2008

this is my second book in a row that fits in the "books i'm embarassed about when some dude is reading over my shoulder on the subway on the way to work." first "american psycho," now this. i'm must be getting a rep on the 2/3 train as being a total perv that dresses in nice suits.

but i digress. i enjoyed this book. it's my first palhaniuk book, and it's definitely piqued my interest in reading more of this stuff (i think i'll read "survivor" next, after i f...more

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Tyler rated it:

(review of isbn 0385720920)

06/10/07

Read in February, 2007

This book is subversive and awesome, a real thought-provoker. Just look at these quotes:

"Language was just our way to explain away the wonder and