Book 24/30.
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Fight Club follows the experiences of an unnamed narrator struggling with insomnia. The narrator finds relief by impersonating a seriously ill person in several support groups, after his doctor remarks that insomnia is not “real suffering” and that he should find out what it is really like to suffer. The narrator then meets a mysterious man named Tyler Durden and establishes an underground fighting club as radical psychotherapy.
What a godawful book 🙆♀️😭
My main issue with Fight Club is not the plot, or the pacing. It is not even the shitty characters. It is the writing. Fucking hell, the writing. Why would anyone write like this? Why not just write normally? I felt so personally victimised by this writing that I will 🎶 never ever ever 🎶 read another Chuck Palahniuk book again. Like, ever!
PS: I read this after Sex and the City and both were back-to-back 1-star reads in 2016 AND 2026. Serves me right for rereading them back-to-back once again instead of saying “fuck it!” to their publication dates and spacing them out. But because SATC was published on August 12th, 1996, and Fight Club five days later on August 17th, I wanted to reread them on their 30th anniversaries. Plus, I also kinda sorta forgot that Fight Club was a 1-star read but the first chapter quickly reminded me 😫
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing