Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

When I first picked Rant by Chuck Palahniuk to read I had no idea what it was about. Cards on the table here, I picked Rant because I was looking at the cover art for the list of Palahniuk books I have to read to see which one went with my new Essie nail polish. And Rant was the winner!

I was really cautious not to go onto Wikipedia or any other website that came up. I strictly looked at the image section of Google. I'm glad I didn't get any spoilers because I don't think I would've enjoyed Rant as much or had as many conflicting emotions as I have.

So starting to read Rant I had no expectations. None at all, about anything. Fresh eyes, open mind about it. It didn't even occur to me to expect a twist in the plot like Palahniuk is so famous for. So when that twist hit me, sure I recognized it, but DAMN what a zinger!

It's going to be quite a challenge to review this book without giving away too many secrets or anything. I already told you there's a plot twist. I'll try not to spoil anything else for you (if you care about Rant not being spoiled for you as much as I did).

Basically, Rant by Chuck Palahniuk is about Buster "Rant" Casey. It's his (somewhat) life story told by all the people he interacted with and who they interacted with. And... that's where I'll end that summary because I've already given too much away. I held back here, trust.

I can tell you what I liked and disliked about Rant though, sans the spoilers.

I'll start off with what I liked. I definitely loved Rant because of the plot, the unexpected twist and the characters. My favorite character being Neddy Nelson and before he was introduced, I didn't have one. The plot is very interesting because and despite of the twists and turns it takes; I liked the complexity. The style of writing was another reason why I enjoyed Rant. I've never read a book written in a way that is like a transcript; like a court transcript or something. Only the characters are being interviewed. A page before the actual story starts, Palahniuk lists a few books that are also written in this style. I'm definitely going to check them out. I learned a lot from reading Rant. Without giving away anything, I learned a lot about [blank], I wrote down a lot of words and the quotes from some of the characters are great. I mostly really liked that Rant made me think. By the end, all I wanted to do was search for answers. Answers about the book, the characters, the plot, all of it. I was confused throughout Rant, but that's just me. I didn't mind being confused because I kept reading and sometimes my confusion got answers and sometimes I just got more questions.

What didn't I like? What made me dislike Rant? I was confused for a lot of the book. And by the end, even though I basically understood what happened, I still had a lot of questions. I personally felt sometimes the paragraphs were hard to follow. There was one chapter when I started off totally following it, but by the second paragraph I was lost and I ended that chapter knowing a little bit less. Then there'd be a chapter where I understood the whole book, everything made sense; I felt like I didn't even have to finish Rant. Then I'd read on to the next chapter and everything I thought I knew was shot to shit. But I suppose that's Palahniuk's lovely charm playing into his novel. (No sarcasm intended.) I could possibly be really stupid as well.

Despite being confused whilst reading Rant, I do completely recommend you read this book. Whether it's because you love Chuck Palahniuk (me), you like to read (me) or you want to get mind-fucked, I recommend Rant. Do not read this if you "need something to do"; it's a pretty complex book and needs your full attention. Trust.

To resolve my confusion, I either should reread Rant or head to the interwebs to find answers. I'm most likely going to do the latter because I feel that if I reread Rant in my still confused state, I'd be even more confused and thus none of my questions would be answered. And that's the opposite of what I want.

??Questions??:

Have you read Rant by Chuck Palahniuk? Were you as confused as I am/was? How'd you get over the confusion? Do you plan on reading Rant after reading this post or are you going to steer clear? (I say challenge yourself! But that's just me.)

Hey, make my day! Answer my questions (see above), tell me your opinion on Rant and/or this post. Email me at lectionemmonstrum@gmail.com, y'all!

Next, I plan to read Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk. Look out for a currently reading and review post of Tell-All and a Chuck Palahniuk Master Opinion Post like my Bret Easton Ellis Master Opinion Post.

Sidenote: Rant by Chuck Palahniuk is the first book I've read for Summer 2012!