wodehousing

given to me by my mom and dad for my birthday, but bought on may 22nd 2010

Palahniuk is probably one of my favourite authors. He comes second to J.K. Rowling, I think. I have a hard time picking favourite things, because I always love everything. He was the author that introduced me to everything else I read now, since I’d go looking for his books and there was someone else right next to him, and I’d read it and fall in love (That’s how I found out about Toby Litt). That said, this book terribly dissapointed me.
Like his last 2 books.
It’s not that I’m asking for another Fight Club or Lullaby, but honestly? This was just lacking. It was predictable. From the beginning I knew it was going to end out. It didn’t surprise me, like his other books. Even Pigmy, which I really disliked, surprised me a bit. This one was shallow, and I know the whole repetition of facts is Chuck’s way of doing things, but the bold names hurt my eyes.
The narrator is Hazie Coogan who has been serving and attending to Miss Katherine Kenton for years. Miss Kenton is an old Hollywood star, who is becoming older and washed out. One day a certain Mr. Webster Carlton Westward III captures the attention of Miss Kenton, and eventually starts creeping up on her life. However, Hazie Coogan finds a memoir written by Webster which foretells the death of Miss Kenton, and Hazie has to do everything to stop it from happening.
This plot summary is basically the whole novel, and I’m not giving away any spoilers, this was more-or-less what was written in the back of the book. By the time we find out about the memoir, we’re more than halfway through, and from then on it’s mostly repetition after repetition. So, basically, this 150-page book could be shortened into about 5 pages. Besides, this is written as a movie script by Hazie, and I’ve found that the whole book-in-a-book never works too well. I did, however, like one thing. The book is filled with one-liners which are just fantastic, really, because Chuck has always been terrific at that, really.
I love you Chuck, but please get your shit together and write me a fantastic book.
I think that maybe, if this was the first Palahniuk book I’d read, I’d probably loved it, but I just think it’s so underworked and raw, and not in a good way. The characters have some potential, but they are so flat. I felt nothing for them. Does anyone else share this opinion, or is it just me?
Read from June 10th to June 14th, 2010.