By Chuck Palahniuk

Without meaning, all are equal.

It’s human nature to look for meaning; to try and create some sense of order. Fight Club suggests that order and meaning are the problem. In our struggle to find meaning we impose lies upon ourselves; in our desire to create order we enslave ourselves to those lies.

The narrator struggles with apathy, going to extreme lengths to garner the sympathy he craves, until he meets Tyler. Together they explore their shared dissatisfaction and anger.
The structure of the story mimics the chaotic philosophy of its characters. Each chapter begins in the height of a scene, and quickly jumps through numerous other moments in the story. Most are only one or two sentences long, while others may be a paragraph.

This montage style of writing serves to downplay the events of the story, highlighting the underlying ideas through the dark humor of the narrator, which may be its only real shortcoming. Much of the humor is rooted in crude pranks and explicit references to bodily functions and fluids. But, if you can overlook that, the story still offers some very unique perspectives on capitalist society.

+Strong Ideas
+Strong Characters
*Dark Humor
*Grim
*Disjointed Plot

4.5/5

Next Time…
Phantoms-Stand Alone
2016/09/08