Last week was my second week in my new project read a book a week and the book I decided to read is my favourite movie of all time – Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk. Even though I’ve seen the movie several times I’ve never read the book before, which is a bit weird.
Summary
Chuck Palahniuk’s darkly funny first novel tells the story of a disenfranchised young man frustrated with his bureaucratic job and superficial relationships and disillusioned with the consumer culture’s pre-packaged pleasures. Relief for him and his peers comes in the form of Tyler Durden, the intensely charismatic inventor of Fight Club. Waiters, clerks, and middlemen seek out the visceral satisfaction of secret after-hours boxing matches in the basements of bars, thinking they have found a way to live beyond their confining and stultifying lives. But in Tyler’s world there are no rules, no limits, no brakes.
Rules in Fight Club
- You don’t talk about fight club.
- You don’t talk about fight club.
- When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he’s just faking it, the fight is over.
- Only two guys to a fight.
- One fight at a time.
- They fight without shirts or shoes.
- The fights go on as long as they have to.
- If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.
Quotes from Fight Club
- On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero.
- This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.
- It’s only after you’ve lost everything, that you’re free to do anything.
- If you could either be God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?
My thoughts on Fight Club
As I wrote above – I loved the movie and I was therefore looking forward to finally be able to read the book. Afterwards I’m a bit empty.
The book is well written with a fast pace I’ve never seen before. Sometimes it felt like we were going two steps forward and one step backward, thanks to interesting reiteration – which I didn’t mind.
Even though we have all the ingredients from the movie it still feels like something is left out. Since I’ve seen the movie I already knew the scene for every sentence. And because of this the book felt more like a summary than something new.
If you are interested about personal development this is without doubt something for you. You’ll get new thoughts about what’s important in life and I’m sure you’ll learn something new. If nothing else, Palahniuk will learn you how to make Napalm and soap. I recommend you to also see the movie afterwards since there’s so much more. For example Tyler’s body language.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
“If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.”
Someone has to think twice before starting to step into the club. Haha.
Well, thanks for the review.
That’s the beauty of Fight Club. You have to participate, so you can’t walk around just being there.
I enjoyed the movie (not at all what I thought it would be). You have me thinking that maybe I should pick up the book.
I’m doing this challenge as well. I’m reading almost only non fiction books. Good luck with it.
Oscar
I’m glad to hear Oscar. Feel free to give me a shout if you find a good one.
Hey Stefan!
Wow, just like you i have seen the movie many times, but never read the book. I think Fight Club is such a motivation for many people around the world, to free yourself from societies confinements and limitations.
Of course you shouldnt go overboard and blow up all the credit card companies:P
Nice blog you have here, I like the layout
Keep well and until next time!
Diggy
Upgradereality.com
Thank you Diggy. I agree with you and think that there’s a interesting message within Fight Club. Later on I will publish my personal list with a bunch of movies about personal development.
I loved the movie! I’m thinking about reading the book.
Did you find that you discovered a lot that you missed when you read the book? For example, I remember all of the quotes that you listed above from the movie. I didn’t consider them to be that meaningful at the time (they went by quick), but now that I read them I’m thinking about their meanings.
There are a few quotes I don’t think are in the movie. Besides those the great think about reading the book is that you get more time to think about everything which results in you getting a bit more out of it.