Book Details
| Title: | Tell-All | |
| Author: | Chuck Palahniuk | |
| Times Read: | 1 | |
| Last Read: | 07.13.13 |
Other Books Read By This Author (4)
- Haunted
- Invisible Monsters
- Rant
- Snuff
| Date Read | Note |
| 07.13.13 | After reading Stephen King's book On Writing I read a collection of just under 40 essays by Chuck Palahniuk. They were originally posted on his website around 2005, 6, and 7 and I remember reading the first half dozen or so when they first came out and being really impressed by their practical knowledge. Reading them again, I still found them valuable. They're really a great resource. However, I think I've seen a little bit too much under the hood of Palahniuk's process because everything I've read of his since (a handful of short stories and this book) has seemed more like an equation meticulously worked out than an organic story being told to me. I can't really tell if my lessened enjoyment is due to this newfound knowledge or because his work is a bit weaker than the first couple books which really gripped me. In any case, I didn't care for this one at all. I dig old Hollywood and I dig scandal but this book was a major slog. I still haven't gotten myself to trudge through the prose of Pygmy either and I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth it. For a short book (180 pages) this felt really long. Mostly because the whole first act has no plot, the whole second act is the same two scenes repeated three or four times, and the whole third act I kind of saw coming. So that's two strikes since I didn't really like Snuff either. I'm wondering whether to read my copy of Damned (which I hear is a return to form in some ways) or not. I hate to write this because at a certain time (about 7 years ago) I was a huge Palahniuk fan. Ever since Haunted though his work has seemed to suffer a bit. Shame. |
 |