Choke discussion

Just asking.

I stopped reading the synopses on the backs of Palahniuk books after an Invisible Monsters paperback severely altered my perception of what I was about to read. Going into his books fresh is one of the better ways to experience them. Quite frankly, being a Palahniuk fan is a little bit like being a heroin junkie; it's never as good as your uncut first time, but you keep chasing that dragon, because what if he suddenly pulls his head out of his ass and gives us another Lullaby? IT COULD HAPPEN.

Even still, if this were your first Palahniuk book, I'd pick a different one to lose your virginity to. I'd recommend Lullaby, or Diary, or even bloody Fight Club for a first time reader over this one. I think Chuck may be playing a secret game with himself to see how early in the novel he can make his readers physically wretch, and he's winning. This is about as black as black comedies get. While it's not as laugh out loud funny as I found Invisible Monsters, it does contain what I think is the single most hilarious scene he's ever put in a book (The safeword scene, anyone?). It's not new territory for him, it's more than a little unrefined, and it's not anything he didn't write again later, but it's one of the better iterations of it, and as a sexual black comedy it's leagues better than Snuff.

This is the first Palahniuk book I've read. I absolutely adored it. His writing is sublime. Taking the journey with the protagonist was exciting. I couldn't wait to see where he'd lead me with his imagination next. I've read darker comedies with grossly deeper themes. This was on the light side for me. What a fun read. I'm trying to decide which of his books to read next.

I did not like it all that much. I guess it's a writing style thing to re-use the same phrases over and over again but the 'for sure' was already getting on my nerves by the end of the book.
Also, lots of misogyny in this book. Main character blames his mother and every other woman around him for everything bad that happened to him. Bull.
I'd also like to add that the scenario of people taking care of someone who they safed from choking sounds very unlikely. At least to this extend.

Can't recommend it at all.

Vita wrote: "I stopped reading the synopses on the backs of Palahniuk books after an Invisible Monsters paperback severely altered my perception of what I was about to read. Going into his books fresh is one of..."

Couldn't agree more with this comment; you hit the nail on the head. My personal favorite Palahniuk's are:
1) Fight Club
2) Lullaby
3) Diary
Invisible Monsters, Choke and Survivor are tolerable (I even kinda somewhat enjoyed Pygmy) and the rest are all shit. But hey, seven readable books is a good number for an author. If only Palahniuk knew when to stop. Money talks, I suppose.

It's not my favorite Palahniuk. I was kind of in the middle of a Palaniuk binge at the time, coming off Diary and Fight Club, so maybe a lot of it was lost on me at the time.

I really liked where it started and I was loving the journey, but it felt awkward where it ended up. Maybe I'd feel differently about it if I re-read it.

I should do that.

I liked it but I didn't love it. I definitely liked Lullaby better. Choke just wasn't as great as I hoped it would be.

Twist got me.

It tries a bit too hard to shock and never really reaches Survivor levels

I think Survivor and Rant are his best work, but Choke is still a fun read. Invisible Monsters and Dammed are pretty entertaining as well.