Upon Rereading

[QUOTE]I felt I'd been set up for something so different (i.e. Chuck's "departure" into horror), and then was stuck watching the same old dog and pony show he's been running with for some time.[/QUOTE]

i felt similarly. i thought that though it was a really good book as per usual, it was like he was using the same devices as he was in the other books. it had sort of lost its novelty. i don't agree that oyster was like a retread of tyler, but i did find that in general the book was kind of a retread of his style.

i did love the judas cow scene. that was the only part where i felt he really got into good surrealism.

[URL=http://recommendedread.blogspot.com/2003_01_01_recommendedread_archive.html#88056027]This is the review I wrote of it on my website.[/URL]

Lullaby wasn't Chuck's best book, but it was good.

Will, I follow what you're saying. Some of the characters were pretty recycled... but I guess it's a Chuck thing to keep a constant through all of his books - a character who wants to change the world.

insomnomaniac, read chapter 20 of Fight Club.
Okay, good. Now, read chapter 20 of Lullaby.

Tell me you don't see a direct correlation betweeh the two. It is - fucking spot on - the same damn story.

Not that I mind! It's one of my favorite stories ever.

Cool. I'll be interested in hearing what you think. And this is just another post for posts sake, I guess. Although it counts, because we are, in fact, communicating. :)

Maybe if you could just gimme a hint at what ch. 20 in Lullaby entails, it'd jumpstart my brain and I could give it a quick analysis. FC is being lent to a friend, and Lullaby is at my folks' house.

Ah, yes. Again, thank you. The chicken woman Rhonda. I should have known. I wonder if Ch. 20 is significant in all of Chuck's books. Hmmmm....*begins searching for what books he can find*

Survivor is less significant, but there are some quotes that would suggest some kind of a theme about remaking someone, restarting someone's life. There are actually two possiblities for Ch. 20 here. The actual Ch. 20 or the 20th chapter (Ch. 28), two very different things, yet both have at least a small bit to do with the aforementioned theme. Ch. 28: Tender's beginning his training for becoming a religious superstar. "The same way every generation reinvents Christ, the agent's giving me the same makeover." "He's yelling at me, 'Adapt!'"
Ch. 20: Tender explains how the Porn Landfill came about. A little added enjoyment for myself was when he mentioned he "said the Prayer for Signing Important Documents You Don't Read." I love the Book of Very Common Prayer. Anyway, related to the theme: "[Fertility] said, 'You need a disaster?' She said, 'Look in a mirror.'"
As for Invisible Monsters, I don't know. I don't have that one with me either. The problem with being a fan of Chuck's books is that a lot of the time you never have them on you because your getting other people to read them. 3 out of the five books are on loan right now, but as soon as I round 'em back up, you can bet your sweet ass, I re-read Ch. 20 from each of them.

you guys this is sort of like the Bible Code...i think when you start getting into numerology with literature..it's time to slow down.

Ok, I just read Ch. 20 from IM and here's the rundown. There's lots of detail about how to reconstruct a jaw, and how it takes months and months. There's also a part of the plot running simultaneous as is common in Chuck's beautiful style. Manus is finally let out of the trunk and proceeds to chuck (haha, no pun intended) an endless stream of family heirlooms and childhood memories over a cliff. At the end of it, he's given a new identity (Mr. Denver Omelet) by the lovely Queen Brandy Alexander. Some "key" quotes of the chapter: "Years of looking and feeling worse in the hope that you might look better.", "First, your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.", "If I can't be beautiful, I want to be invisible.", and (doesn't this sound familiar?) "Listen, I don't want to know who you are, but if you could be anybody, who would you be?"

Cheers! I think that was the longest post by someone with less than 50 posts under their belt! And it was a fun read, too!

I think that's why he started writing "horror" (they don't seem scary) novels. All of his books have, basicly, the same charactors. BUT WE LOVE THOS CHARECTORS! ARG!