Wednesday, January 30, 2013

R O V I V R U S

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk is sort of a dark comedic outlook on death. This is a theme that's very appealing to me because I don't like to think about death, but when taken in a comedic light, I can deal with it easily. This novel wasn't as funny as Choke, but I still enjoyed reading it.

"Tender Branson - last surviving member of the so-called Creedish Death Cult - is dictating his life story into the flight recorder of Flight 2039, cruising on autopilot at 39,000 feet somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. He is all alone in the airplane, which will crash shortly into the vast Australian outback. But before it does, he will unfold the tale of his journey from an obedient Creedish child and humble domestic servant to an ultra-buffed, steroid and collagen packed media messiah."




The pages and chapters are numbered backwards which, at first, threw me off and prevented me from knowing how many pages I read in a day or where was the halfway point. But it's an commitment to the entire aesthetic of the book. In my experience most stories that start with the end and go back to tell you how it happened, usually number their pages like a regular linear book. I think Survivor being numbered backwards added to the disorientation and odd tone of the novel. As I kept reading, seeing the pages count down reminded me of counting down for Christmas, my birthday or a special day in which I can't wait. I couldn't wait to find out how Survivor ended and the pages numbers were my countdown.

Reading Survivor always kept me on my toes. It was majorly unpredictable. I couldn't tell what was going to happen next; the element of surprise was very potent. I love a novel that always keeps me guessing. Although Survivor was pretty unpredictable, there wasn't a clear twist that I could identify.

Tender Branson really reminded me of the narrator in Lullaby. Both of them seemed to be cursed, had a dark outlook on life and society, and death and loneliness were main roles in their lives. I sympathized more with the narrator in Survivor than in Lullaby because in Survivor Branson is the butt of a joke told by fate. He never asked to be where he ended up, fate brought him there and he had no choice. In Lullaby, the narrator knew what he was doing, he wasn't born into knowing the culling song would kill people and he didn't seem too broken up about it even though he set out to end the culling song. 

Tender Branson was in a sort of twisted Amish like society. The Amish are already twisted, but in Survivor the Amish like society had that Chuck Palahniuk twist to it. That twist being Branson was part of a cult. The Amish are basically a cult, in my humble opinion. Branson is not Amish, but he's part of a church group, the Creedish, that might be consider Amish in the real world.

Less than midway through Survivor, I thought I had skipped a whole chapter because I became confused about what was happening at that point. It might have been because I finished a chapter and didn't read the following chapter until the next day. As I read more I realized I didn't miss anything. Survivor is not a linear story, it's told mostly in flashback. This might be confusing because the flashbacks start from the very, very beginning. Branson is not just telling you how he got to where he is starting from the beginning of the day, he's telling you everything, starting from his humble beginning. He's recounting the events that led up to him hijacking the plane.

Towards the end of Survivor, it got funnier. I still felt sorry for Tender Branson, but what he was saying and doing were too hilarious. 

Survivor was supposed to get turned into a film, but they stopped it after September 11th happened. Branson hijacks a plane which is now an extremely sensitive subject in America. I understand and respect that, but there are still films being made about terrorists, rape and murder which are aslo sensitive subjects. Maybe not to an entire nation, but to people in that nation. I think they stopped projection on Survivor because it's not a F*ck Yeah America dramatic film like Zero Dark Thirty(2012) or United 93(2006). It's a dark comedy in which a media messiah/"terrorist"/ex-cult member controls a nation. I wonder if they'll start the project back. Survivor could easily be rewritten where he robs a bank or something "simple" like that. Branson is travelling so maybe instead of hijacking a plane, he could try to take over a bus. You know one of those coach buses that go crosscountry. I wish I could write the script, but I think since Fight Club (1999) came out, all of Palahniuk's novels have been bought by studios, even the ones he has yet to write. After finishing Survivor, I want so badly for it to be a film again. I think it'd be so funny. There's no film I've seen like it. Survivor needs to be a film.

I might have to read Survivor again. I liked it, but it didn't evoke as much emotion as other Palahniuk novels evoke. Maybe if I talk about it with someone like I did with The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, I'll understand it. But I think I'd rather just see it be made into a film.

I felt pretty blasé when I finished Survivor; I guess because I knew what was going happen. I think I wanted it to end differently instead of ironically.

Go ahead and check out Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Update #6/Upcoming #2

Hello again Reading Monsters!

Another update post so soon?! I know, I'm sorry, but this time the update is not because I'm stalling to read a book. This update is to let you know what's upcoming on Lectionem Monstrum.

I'm in the midst of reading the Elixir series by Hilary Duff with Elise Allen. Honestly, I don't even know if I really even want to finish this series. It's probably the most boring, predictable series I've ever read, ever. The third and final book of the series (thank god) comes out in April. I mean, I've read two out of three books already, I might as well finish the series, but I'm sure as hell not going to like it. Plus I promised a post reviewing all three books and I'm not one to break promises. I think my reasons for not liking the series needs to be explained and the post will provide reasons why I felt the Elixir series was not a fun read for me. I'm playing with idea of splitting the reviews of the Elixir series into four different posts (one for each book and the series all together), but I can't be bothered. It'll just be one post for all four parts.

I've requested Damned by Chuck Palahniuk at my local library; I can't wait to start reading it! I think I better request Survivor too, just so I won't have to wait to read my next book after I finish Damned.

Here are three upcoming posts that you'll see on Lectionem Monstrum in the next weeks. Get hype!
  1. A random "Top Three Books" post
  2. GOOSEBUMPS Masterpost (It's been a loooong time coming, but I'm finally gonna write it!)
  3. "Top Three Places I Love to Read" post
Direct any suggestions to lectionemmonstrum@gmail.com or leave a comment.

As always, Just Keep Reading!

Monday, January 14, 2013

HAUNTED: A Review



Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk was like reading a darker, more twisted, disturbingly funny, awkward episode of The Twilight Zone (1959-1964). It's about a group of writers who get locked together for three months and have to write. That reminds of writing for school. I feel like I'm being forced and I won't write under those circumstances. I like writing on my terms, like this blog or when I get inspiration to write not during school. I was also reminded of Clue (1985); a cast of characters put together over a period of time. In Clue it was just overnight, but in Haunted it was longer causing it be much better.

It was hard for me to determine how many writers were in the group, that was the only confusing part of Haunted. I thought of some possibilites to how many writers there were:
  1. Twenty writers not counting the unnamed narrator and counting Brandon Whittier and Mr. Whittier as two different people.
  2. Twenty-one, counting the unnamed narrator, Brandon Whittier and Mr. Whittier.
  3. Twenty writers counting the unnamed narrator and Brandon Whittier and Mr. Whittier as one person. 
  4. Nineteen writers not counting the unnamed narrator and counting Brandon Whittier and Mr. Whittier as one person.
I think that's all the possibilites; I went over this about three times and wrote it down. Personally, I think there were twenty writers counting the unnamed narrator and Brandon Whittier and Mr. Whittier as one person. You can try to keep track of the writers yourself while you read Haunted, but it gets more confusing with the character as the story continues. The emphasis is obviously not on how many writers there are. The emphasis is on the story, the writing and the characters. So don't stop reading Haunted just because you get confused about how many writers there are. And if this whole section of the review confused you even more, I'm sorry. 

Here's a list of all the characters in Haunted who were also part of the narrative, not just the ones who told short stories. 
  1. Saint Gut-Free
  2. Mother Nature
  3. Miss America
  4. Lady Baglady
  5. Earl of Slander
  6. Duke of Vandals
  7. Mrs. Clark
  8. Director Denial
  9. Reverend Godless
  10. The Matchmaker
  11. Sister Vigilante
  12. Chef Assassin
  13. Comrade Snarky
  14. Agent Tattletale
  15. The Missing Link
  16. The Countess Foresight
  17. The Baroness Frostbite
  18. Miss Sneezy
  19. Mr. Whittier
Haunted is made up of these short stories that explained something about the character telling it. These stories actually felt like real things that could happen in real life. Especially Saint Gut-Free's tale. I had to stop and remind myself that the "facts" in that story aren't really facts, at least I hope they're not. There is an unnamed narrator, but the characters take turns narrating their stories. I like how to all flowed together as the narration changed. It was never confusing, in fact it kept me more involved in the story. When I first started reading Haunted, I thought the short stories were backstories to how they got their nickname, but that changed as I read more. The last few chapters really revealed the theme of Haunted, "Every story is a ghost." It became very clear and I actually left sympathy for the characters in the story. My eyes were opened wide and I finally got it. I also got a little skeeved out. The twist in Haunted came to me when I became aware of the theme. There might have been a bigger, better twist, but I didn't notice. Maybe you will.

Palahniuk have a tendency to have more than one storyline going and they all come together when the twist happens. In Haunted, it's no different, but I did feel as if even more was going on because of all the different characters and all the different twists and turns the story takes. It wasn't as funny as the other Palahniuk novels I've read, but has its very own brand of humor and you have to be a fan of Palahniuk to really enjoy it, which I did.

What I really enjoyed about Haunted was the repetition of the writers being "The camera behind the camera behind the camera" and that they were writing stories. Their twisted goal of wanting to be famous is similar to me wanting to be famous for my stories. Although I don't want to become famous the same way they become famous. 

Haunted was such an unsettling novel and I don't mean that in a bad way. I loved how unconventional it was and the myriad of characters and all their personalities. It had a similar feeling to Lullaby because of the off putting-ness.

I'm sorry if this review was riddled with spoilers. I tried not to go too in depth about what happens while trying to tell you about Haunted. I don't think I've ruined it. Maybe I gave you some more things to think about while you read Haunted and you can form a better opinion about it. Writing this review was like writing my review of Rant. However I think my review of Rant was better, probably.

I recommend Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk if you want to read a Palahniuk novel unlike any other. 

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Update #5

Hello Reading Monsters!

I hate to make a post like this when I'm so on the cusp of finishing Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, but I didn't want to wait another week to update the blog.

I'm almost done with Haunted, I have less than seventy pages left. Look out for a review soon! I started reading Haunted before the new year, about two weeks before New Year's Eve. Then I got distracted from reading it because I was on vacation and just relaxing. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I like to read on the subway while I'm going to school or on my way to meet up with a friend. Maybe I'll make a post about it one day. Anyway, since I was on vacation I wasn't taking the subway. Hence why I stopped reading. Now I'm back in the groove, reading on the subway and any other place I get the chance. That's why I'm almost done with Haunted.

When I finish Haunted, I'll have four Chuck Palahniuk books left to read! (Three, if you don't count Invisible Monster Remix as a different book). However after Haunted, I'm going to read the first two books in Hilary Duff's series. There won't be a review on those books until I read the third and final book that comes out in April, so there'll be a bit of a wait.

I'm also back at school. This week was the first week of the Spring semester. I'm a little overwhelmed with new classes and getting back into the flow of getting up for school and school work. Bare with me as I get back into my daily routine. When I get back into my routine, normal posting on Lectionem Monstrum will commence.

Help me decide which Palahniuk novel to read next: Damned or Survivor?
I'm leaning towards Damned because I read the synopsis and it sounds funny.

As always send requests and suggestions to lectionemmonstrum@gmail.com! Tell me what you're reading too!

Just Keep Reading!