Paper written about Chuck P

Chuck P: A writer for the non-readers

“Most of the noise a gunshot makes is expanding gases, and there’s the tiny sonic boom a bullet makes because it travels so fast.” That is on the first page of Fight Club: A Novel. Welcome to world of Chuck Palahniuk. I was introduced to Chuck P in 1998 when a friend won some sneak screening passes to a strange movie called “Fight Club”. Sadly I didn’t enjoy the movie the first time. But after watching in a couple more times and understanding more about it I forced myself to learn more about where it came from.

I never read much when I was younger and still don’t read as much as I would like. Chuck Palahniuk helped me enjoy reading. Before I go any further let me clarify the pronunciation of his name. It is pronounced Paula-Nick. I learned this from various online sources but mainly from his DVD. Many people seem to say it different. I used to say Paula-nee-ook.

The first novel of his that I picked up was Survivor. That book especially shows you how much research he does before and during his writing process. There are just tons and tons of useless and useful information in every one of his books; information such as how to make a silencer, how to make soap, and various ways to clean up different messes that you may or may not encounter. It is fun to read his books because you think to yourself “oh wow… would that really work? Well yea I guess it probably would.”

Each time I pick up and read something that he has written I can tell by the style. The way he narrates and conveys information to the audience is very distinctive. I have read 4 of his 9 novels. The Three most recent novels are not the same pieces of work as the others.

“Fugitives and Refugees” is a Guide through his home city of Portland, OR. “Stranger than Fiction” is a collection of stories that he has gathered over the years, all being true. His newest Novel is “Haunted” and that consists of numerous fiction short stories and poems that are compiled by a list of characters stuck in a house. I have only been able to read some of the short stories; they seem entertaining and disturbing at the same time.

Once I read these other short stories I would probably suggest one of them for the anthology. I know for a fact Guts in Haunted would probably be too much for some people. I could barely read through that. This seems to be a good time to throw down a disclaimer for you. I should tell you now that most of his stuff is R rated with a dash of X and PG13, when I say X, I mean the bad X not the entertaining bright neon flashing X – X – X.

My favorite out of what I have read was Lullaby. Just imagine what your concept is of words and noises around you. It will completely change. You will notice people being noiseaholics or quietaphobics. Some of the later scenes in the novel would be so awesome if it were made into a movie. But once again some of the described imagery is very graphic and quite horrible.

His novels of course have some tie to reality, well his reality. Chuck P has been a diesel mechanic, a hospice worker, and a journalist. He pulls some aspects from his life into his stories. Lullaby’s main character is a journalist working on a story. Fight club was created after Chuck was in a fight with some neighbors on a camping trip and the next day at work nobody acknowledged his completely destroyed face. I learned that from the commentary on the special edition DVD.

I would probably choose fight club to be read in an anthology. It isn’t too long. It’s a very easy read. There is a great deal of information to analyze. And you can watch the movie afterwards and talk about that as well. I wish the book would have somehow found me before I saw the movie. Since I saw the movie first I knew that they were the same person and I wonder what my reaction would have been as I read through the book.

Fight Club is what made Chuck P soar. The movie made people read the book and branch out from there. It made them read more and more. Palahniuk made me, a non-reader, enjoy reading. It is very real and feels so interesting to read. Introducing his work to people will help them read more of his work and other pieces of literature.

Bibliography

- http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/

- Lullaby – Chuck Palahniuk - Doubleday (September 17, 2002)

- Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk -W. W. Norton & Company; 1st ed edition (August 1996)

- Postcards from the Future: The Chuck Palahniuk Documentary (2003)

o http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398273/