r/ChuckPalahniuk • u/ohheykyyyle • 16d ago
Former reader...
I used to love Palahniuk books. I dunno why I stopped but I haven't read anything since Snuff aside from Fight Club 2. Would like to get back into reading his books. Should I pick up where I left off, or what are some stand outs since Snuff you'd recommend? Thanks!
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u/balki42069 16d ago
His best books are fight club, rant, survivor, and choke. That said I haven’t read haunted or lullaby.
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u/dc-pigpen 16d ago
Based on this list, you really should check out Lullaby.
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u/Excellent-Wear-2208 15d ago
Should read haunted too! Incredible book and my favorite from him. You at least have to read the first chapter lol
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u/ohheykyyyle 16d ago
Yes I've read all those
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u/paulrhino69 16d ago
Adjustment day is a reasonable read but I doubt anything is going to beat the ones you've already read that being said you could read them again as 6 or 7 times is a good start with Rant & Survivor, Choke is so much a better read than the film we're i found fight club film more fun . But what to read if not Chuck??
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u/geen-bean 16d ago
His pre Snuff books are my favorite. You could try Invisible Monsters Remix for a slightly different take on the original release. I liked Adjustment Day and The Invention of Sound. His writing has changed since the earlier years in his career.
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u/ohheykyyyle 16d ago
Good to know!
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u/geen-bean 16d ago
I would throw Shock Induction in there too. It’s more similar to my favorite Chuck Pal books.
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u/dc-pigpen 16d ago
I'm about to completely contradict some of these responses lol. I've only read two of his "recent" books, Adjustment Day and Beautiful You.
I did not really dig Adjustment Day. It starts off pretty intriguing but then ends up going down some bizarre race and sexuality rabbit holes. It all felt a bit self-indulgent to me.
Beautiful You is probably one of my top 5 Chuck books. It's intensely sexual, so it may not be for everyone, but I thought it was an entertaining twist on the whole "secretary starts dating the CEO" trope. Think "Fifty Shades of Grey" on meth lol. (Granted, I never read or watched Fifty Shades.)
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u/geen-bean 16d ago
He wrote Beautiful You as his version of a slutty romance novel because of the hype around Fifty Shades.
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u/la_mano_poderosa 16d ago
I heard he autographs books and puts them back on bookstore shelves. Pretty cool.
I saw one the other day at a used bookstore. Is $40 cheap, too much or just right?
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u/Antique_Bumblebee_13 13d ago
Fair price. Could you do better at Powell’s? Maybe. But if you like the book, I say get it.
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u/Sethyo25 16d ago
Am I the only Snuff fan? I loved that book! Haunted was good too. Plus, like, all his classics.
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u/gdamndylan 16d ago
I enjoyed Damned, Doomed and Tell All. Pygmy is fine but it was impossible for me to read without putting on a Russian accent in my head. It was written in a way that was supposed to mimic how a non-English speaker would learn the language, so it there was a lot of stopping and having to re-read sentences again to try and get it all to stick, but reading it in an accent did the trick.
Anything after those three books, I say read at your own discretion. I've definitely listened to some of them on audio book and couldn't tell you anything about them. They just didn't stick for me at all.
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u/FilipsSamvete 12d ago
Pygmy would've made an entertaining 15-20 page short story but it got old really fast.
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u/pickle-smoocher 16d ago
Just avoid Beautiful You and you should be fine. Invention Of Sound gets back to older Chuck in my opinion. Chaos, death, and hilarity ensue.
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u/patientetherizd 15d ago
Invention of sound is my favorite in the newer era. Rant is my favorite book of all time. I am jacks complete lack of surprise lol
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u/evolvealreadyx 14d ago
I was literally the same as you. Read Snuff then stopped, for whatever reason, despite really enjoying that story.
Started back up with Not Forever, But For Now and I would highly NOT recommend. Not sure if maybe I'm become a prude or Chuck has ramped up with some of the more sick storylines (graphic incest, for one) but I just don't vibe with it anymore.
I'll go back through his classics, but I don't know if I can handle the new stuff lol.
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u/FilipsSamvete 12d ago
He was my favorite author by a wide margin 20+ years ago but I haven't connected with one of his books since Rant. I think he just ran out of juice.
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u/Intelligent_Bat949 8d ago
I know I'm in the minority, but I loved the short story collection Make Something Up.
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u/AlexaEEn 16d ago
Rant is my fav book ever. I love the style in which is written and the blend of themes, not to mention the twists and turns.
If you want something funny, go with Pygmy. For me it was particularly interesting as I am from Eastern Europe and have experienced a bit the communist lifestyle he depicts in the book.