Survivor: A Novel

The dark humour and dramatic irony make you want to throw up... but in a good way. I loved the details Palahniuk puts into his books. With "Survivor", such details mainly pertained to home economics with pointers on tricky food preparation, as well as ways of getting blood or other bodily fluids out of various materials. These details are unique to Palahniuk's writing. He does this in many of his novels (At least the novels I have read). "Survivor" is a tale about the only remaining survivor of a cult. Our hero of the story lives an eerily mundane life, to the public, but underneath this skin of monotony, his personality delves deep into distinctive psychological characteristics. The subsequent events are wild with excitement and quirky circumstances. Believe me, this is the book to read.

Its no secret that Chuck Palahniuk has set the standard for modern satirical writing, and if it is to you, well here is a good place to discover what I'm talking about. Just with the simple layout of how Survivor is written (chapter numbers written like a countdown), this novel is very Tarantino-esque. Palahniuk starts from the end and jumps back and forth in what appears to be an illogical sequence, but in fact makes compelete sense with how the novel is structured. What Chuck does better than any fiction author in the business today, is his use of descriptive wording to assist the reader in experiencing a character's senses. He doesn't sugar coat anything. He doesn't shy away from writing something too risque. If its for the benefit of his character development, regardless of how hideous it may sound, he is going to write it. Survivor is a monument to that fact. Being inside Tender's head and his thought process, you at times actually have a bad taste in your mouth, and you most certainly come to the conclusion that this person is not of the normal variety. However, you can't help but just nod your head at the reality of his writing style. Chuck dares to say what we all think in our heads, and he knows it. He is more aware of how our society thinks and how much we perceive ourselves than he is given credit for. This book exemplifies his talent, and his place in the upper echelon of literary masters in modern literature. Survivor is a must read for anybody who is a fan of fiction, and is sick and tired of the same old bland story. Its not so much a plane ride, as a roller coaster from 30,000 feet in the air.

Very good.
A bit weird but has a lot of good cleaning advice.
Need to get blood off piano key?

Tender Branson is a member of a Creedish religion that, when the "Deliverance" happens and all the members still living in the commune kill themselves, is considered a cult. Creeds have been taught that once the deliverance happens, they are to kill themselves. However Tender doesn't feel like killing himself. He's not happy, but he's not sad either. He just exists, cleaning and giving etiquette lessons to a rich family.

The story is essentially Tender dictating his life story into the black box of an airplane he has hijacked. There is no one left on board, as Tender has seen to it that everyone is safe. We learn about Fertility, Tender's friend who can see into the future, and Adam, Tender's brother who was expected to be dead. After some suspicious suicides, Tender becomes a celebrity for being the last remaining member of the Creedish cult.

There's a bit of a social commentary on celebrities in this book, but it's not at all preach-ish. Palahniuk mocks celebrities through Tender's stories and it is pretty entertaining.

Adding to the intrigue of this book is the fact that the chapters and pages count down rather than up. But the best part of the book is when you're done and you take it all in. The end of the book is complete, yet left completely up to the reader and his/her imagination on what happened. Does Tender live or die? There are some clues dropped throughout the whole book that could lead you either way. If you visit Palahniuk's site, he gives his interpretation.

While I didn't find the overall plot gripping, I was googling this book when I was done because the ending didn't sit well with me. And when I realized that it wasn't meant to sit well with the reader, I was really intrigued. How often is it that a twist in the book comes after the book is finished?? It takes talent for a writer to pull that off.