John

My forth Palahniuk book read and he still upholds the shocking and capturing style and concepts that are present through his repertoire.

The back and forth between contrasting elements of the main character's life kept me engaged and reading more and more, although sections of the novel where our protagonist recited in the third person I certainly enjoyed less as palahniuk's style tends to sit more uneasy in a third person perspective

I found each element of Victor's life to be interesting and amounting to his turmoil and misunderstanding within life, whether engaging with his sex addiction, working in the 1800s with his best friend, his dying mother and troubling love interest, they all collaborated to create a full scope of the tragedy within our protagonist's life whilst encouraging motifs, symbols and themes throughout that keep consistency within palahniuk's distinct style.

One element that pleasantly surprised me that I feel palahniuk often struggles with is finishing such scaping ambitious works, with this ending though being loose and as sudden as others works, it felt more complete and fulfilling than other works I have read of his thus far.

Great book, though still sits 3rd out of the 4 of his I have read as of now. Chuck never fails to impress and surprise.

Great read, really nasty. Felt it lingered at parts and lessened in plot as it continues. I know we shouldn't but compared to the movie, I felt the film condensed to the right amount that the books expanded story didn't contribute much more in terms of plot or word building. Still great, an interesting look into 80s male toxicity and the psychopathology that comes with it.

Wasn't expecting much was certainly not surprised. Even with Palahniuk's stylistic strengths, the concept and characters (other writing elements he usually excels at) caused for the novel to be on average, a let down. Still not a bad read but failed to impress in the slightest. Still raunchy, still fun, but with such a cliche atmosphereit was hard to go anywhere that wasn't exactly what you'd expect.

So awesome, a short, largely disjointed non fiction of the sharehouse life. The way Birmingham incorporates his own and others real stories what roomates are like is innovative and interesting, although it's irrelevance to the main story does tend to take you out of the flow.

I did find it hard to figure out whether to read a full chapter before reading the little sticky note anthologies or to stop and start each page but it's inclusion was 100% necessary to further examine the full sharehouse experience.

Very fun, had watched the movie beforehand which helped to see the general arch of the storyline than jumped around but being a nonfiction work, the plot had less of a need to be particularly coherent

The writing style is fantastic and aggressively Australian. I compare Birmingham to an Australian version of Irvine Welsh or Chuck Palahniuk.

A smashing read overall!

Read for school and glad I did. Would not have seemed out independently but this good is great and representsa lot of interesting themes that reflect Shelley's enlightened society.

Really hated Frankenstein himself, found him full of nothing but complaints and laments for only himself, even his sections have a lower level of interest in its writing style and storyline. But what really redeems it is the Monster's perspective and the life that he lives in the middle section of the book, so much more engaging and makes for a better character overall.

His section is easily a 5, Frankenstein himself scrapes in a 3 so my raring seems fair. Maybe because of the dull melancholy that surrounds it, it makes the Monster's story see better than it is but I really liked it and wish it took up more of the novel, even though I admit it's structure makes sense the way it is despite how much I dislike the protagonist and the ways he narrates his world.

Still good, but alike many other school books, the concept and themes are far more interesting than the physical pages of the novel, which forces you to acknowledge its depth and greatness as a romantic gothic classic of the 1800s.

When watching some movies, hearing the narrators dialogue and the way they speak and the world that is created, you can just tell the book it originated from would be equally as good. Fight Club is an example of this.

After quickly becoming infatuated by David Finchers film I sought out the novel as was immediately astounded by the unique, gritty, amazing writing style of Palahniuk. This book has irreversibly altered my taste in literature and has introduced me to the similar writing styles of other amazing cult authors like Bret Easton Ellis, Irvine Welsh, John Birmingham and Co, and has changed the way I view and create all forms of art.

This book just has something about it that is full of grime and shock and amazingly curated paragraphs that is apparent in Palahniuk's other works but Fight Club does it best. He really delves into the world of consumerist masculine dominated 1990s through his Narrator and how he sees the world and his relationships. The satire and nuance and undertones that this book conveys are rich and so interesting to look into, even though many have missed such elements, especially in the film adaptation.

Even more impressive to think this was his first published novel. This book is my favourite ever and is a perfect example of pushing the limits of literature and reinventing the written world in a dark, humorous novel of violence, lust and defiance against the contemporary capitalist world.

Also, it's super gay.

Read for school so it got annoying fast but the actual book is quite good. The three sections are distinct and contribute contrasting and cohesive insights. Unlike other school read dystopians (cough cough brave new world) it didnt take the storyline in a weird way and fully engaged with the world building in a interesting storyline that for the most part was a good, easy enough to comprehend read. Glad all the analysing for class forced me to appreciate it more than I would have on an independent read

Rreat concept, great execution. Best short stories are Hot Potting, Guts and Exodus. Main plot is good too, interesting and gruesome but foes drag on and then ends abruptly and unfulfilling but makes sense thematically. Some short stories are a bit abstract for my taste but really showcases the full extent of Palahniuk's creativity. Awesome awesome book, second of his read after Fight Club and it holds up.