Chuck Palahniuk's novels are the bestselling
Lullaby and
Fight Club
(which was made into a film by director David Fincher),
Survivor, Invisible
Monsters, and
Choke. He lives in
the Pacific Northwest.
1. The opening pages of the novel present a bewildering
situation for the reader with their use of the narrating voice. Who
is "you"? How soon do we learn who is speaking (or writing), and
who is being spoken to? What is the effect of this confusion, and
why might Palahniuk have chosen to begin this way? What are the
characteristics of Misty's diary style?
2. Misty grew up in a trailer park where "she never knew her
dad, and maybe her mom worked two jobs. One at a shitty fiberglass
insulation factory, one slopping food in a hospital cafeteria. Of
course, this kid dreams of a place like this island, where nobody
works except to keep house and pick wild blueberries and beachcomb"
[p. 9]. Why does she poke fun at her own background and her dreams
of a perfect place like the island?
3. As she works in the Wood and Gold Dining Room, Misty calls
herself "queen of the slaves" [p. 17] and is disgusted by the rich
summer people who have destroyed the island. When she sees a
message written on the underside of table six-"Don't let them trick
you again" [p. 22]-she doesn't understand what it means. How do the
book's early chapters create suspense, and how do they create a
sense of empathy for Misty?
4. What details contribute to the reader's perception of Peter's
mother? Why is she both laughable and sinister?
5. Misty tells herself after marrying Peter, "It wasn't a career
as an artist that she wanted. What she really wanted, all along,
was the house, the family, the peace" [p. 13]. Does the novel
suggest that Misty has been sucked into a role of feminine
domesticity at the expense of her desire to be an artist? Or does
it suggest that there was never any other destiny available to
Misty than to be the chosen vehicle for the island's salvation?
6. Diary is full of scrawled messages and
urgent attempts to communicate. Some are left by Peter Wilmot, some
by Maura Kincaid, and some by Constance Burton. Why are these
messages so difficult to understand? Why did Peter leave his
messages in sealed rooms? Does Misty lack the knowledge essential
to interpreting them? How does she figure out what is going on, and
how does her understanding influence her actions?
7. How has Peter described Misty's body? How does Misty describe
her own body? Why is her physicality important to the story, and
why does Palahniuk use such unflinching details about bodies and
their functions? What do these details contribute to the atmosphere
of the novel?
8. Why does Misty allow her drinking habit to be replaced by the
little green pills, even when they give her terrible headaches? How
might she have resisted the doctor and her mother-in-law?
9. With Misty's descriptions of the work that was considered
cool in art school, is Palahniuk delivering a critique of
contemporary ideas about edgy, ironic art [pp. 75-76, 79-80]? Is he
suggesting that art like Misty's, which is a direct expression of
her own desire, is of greater value? Or is he also criticizing the
art of the idealized landscape and the perfect world-"the wish list
of a white trash girl; big houses, church weddings, picnics on the
beach"-as being trite?
10. Who is staging the "reality" that Misty is experiencing?
What is being staged, and what is she imagining? Is there any way
to explain the events that take place in this story? Is the world
of the novel meant to comment on reality? If so, how?
11. Does Misty love Peter? How hurt is she by what she has found
out about his true feelings for her and by the fact that he was
simply using her to save the island? How interesting is it that
Peter is gay and has been pretending to be straight in order to do
his parents' bidding?
12. Is Misty, in the end, heroic in her attempts to stop the
violence on the island and save her daughter? Or is she too
passive, allowing herself simply to be used by Peter's parents? To
what degree is Peter also a disposable element in his parents'
plot?
13. Peter's father Harrow tells Misty how she fits into the
island legend: "She's doomed to fame. Cursed with talent. Life
after life. She's been Giotto di Bondone, then Michelangelo, then
Jan Vermeer. . . . She has always been an artist. She will always
be an artist" [p. 242]. What do the events related on pages 242-45
reveal about Misty's identity, and does Misty herself accept these
statements?
14. On page 257 we're told that Tabbi is "hugging the ashes of
Grace and Harrow." Why do Peter's parents die in the fire? Are they
really dead?
15. How does Misty react when she learns of Tabitha's role in
the hotel fire? How surprising are the final few pages of the
novel, and which revelations are most shocking?
16. How does Misty hope to change the future by sending her
diary to Chuck Palahniuk [p. 261]?
17. A reviewer for Newsday wrote, "Palahniuk is one of
the freshest, most intriguing voices to appear in a long time."
Which aspects of his style or voice contribute to this sense of his
uniqueness?
18. If you have read any of Chuck Palahniuk's previous novels,
how does Diary compare to them? What concerns,
obsessions, or themes of the author are continued or revisited
here?