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(I have read this book a million times). How can it be a nightmare. The majority of the story is about beauty- what does beauty mean. This is when we meet the brilliant Brandy Alexander.
In fact, I had to reread some of the paragraphs to make sure I read them right. The narrator of this book used to be a gorgeous super model, but is now left grossly disfigured after a messy shooting incident. I hope that anyone who reads this novel has a firm grip on reality and a good sense of humor ;o) It is like a bad car accident and you can't look away. How can it be good.
The purpose of the road trip is so that they can find themselves, forget about the past and move on with their lives. I read this book probably 10 years ago, when I was in high school and it first hit the shelves. Who values it. Over and over. You're too damn interested in the outcome- and you will love the outcome.
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk is INSANE. Her jaw was shot right off, thus leaving just her tongue and top row of teeth. The three amigos go on a long road trip. You won't be able to stop and you will love it. Everything she once had (such as a career and fiance) disappears. With absolutely no intent to buy they steal the current occupant's prescription medications and use/deal it.
This is one of my favorite books just because I was like 'wow.' Then I would turn the page and say 'wow' again. They visit mansions that are up for sale when they have Open Houses for potential buyers. not to mention have one hell of a good time. Brandy likes pushing our narrator to do whatever scares her the most and tries to force her to forget the past. She is a beautiful, sassy transgender woman. He flaunts his brilliant writing techniques all the way through the end and I think most people will love it or hate it.
Haha- and the more you read this author's work the more you love it.
There are ridiculous plot twists in this novel that you don't want to miss.
Palahniuk is making a very powerful statement with this novel.
Throughout the road trip they figure out some secrets they've been keeping from themselves and one another and form amazing friendships.
Even though there may be something on every page that will make you shake your head saying 'wow' or 'what the hell.' you WILL keep reading.
Now enters their male mutual friend.
(I obviously love it- are you over my gushing yet).
The ending is fantastic.
The characters will suffer for and because of beauty.
Every little thing matters, and by the end of the novel you see that what was chaos was simply the author weaving an elaborate web involving everyone and everything. It was impressive to witness. Though this isn't Palahniuk's best work (in my opinion), it is still due its own attention. It's written in that same beautifully blunt and shockingly cynical style that Palahniuk always uses, and though my interest began to wan half-way through, he manages to pull it all together in the last 50 pages, much in the same way that Dumas does with The Count of Monte Cristo.
Very strong, aberrant stuff here, Mr. Chuck Palahniuk has taken a lot of flack over the years for being a one-trick shock pony incapable of doing anything besides shoveling blood and guts and graphic sex into the reader's face. But he used to do it with a guise of social commentary (see Choke, Fight Club). All Chuck Books with Letter Grades (aside from Pygmy which I have yet to read): Choke A Lullaby A Fight Club A Survivor B+ Invisible Monsters B+ Rant B Fugitives and Refugees B- Haunted C- Diary D Snuff F
Think Thelma and Louise if one of them was a trannie and the other had her face torn off and reconstructed. It's pretty fun, though not quite as good as Lullaby or Choke. They spend most of their time spouting odd nihilistic philosophy as they barrel headlong toward the afterlife. There isn't a lot of meat around them, however.
Well let's just say the epitome of his former self is contained within this rollicking beast of a book. The characters are all pretty intriguingly strange. This is true, for the most part. P.
In between we learn about lip gloss and pill addiction and let's not forget the Thanksgiving Dinner Conversation. Recently with books like Snuff, the shock-value isn't the main attraction, it is everything, coming off as a shadow of his former self. It starts off with a literal bang at a wedding gone horribly asunder and ends in somewhat the same fashion.
What a whacky, whimsical, twisted trip of novel this one was. Too much resistance on behalf of the reader could cause a whiplash of the brain and an immediate dislike of the reading experience. Palahniuk takes the beauty standard to tasks for dismissing what lies beneath it. This is another one of those novels where plot summaries will do it no justice.
This is my first read by Palahniuk but after completing the novel realized that I've seen a film base on another of his novels, Choke. But stick with this one; in the end, Palahniuk pulls it all together and it makes the ride worthwhile. I can totally see this as a film, Tarantino directing. Although I certainly know about the film Fight Club (Widescreen Edition) I didn't know it was based on a Palahniuk novel; I'm pretty sure that I'll read the book as I couldn't get into the movie. It's a satisfying experience to encounter a novel with this level of dark humor and poignancy. It was certainly one of the more entertaining reads of the year for me.
"Invisible Monster" reads like a screen play on steroids creating for this reader a movie theatre in my mind. I'm glad for the introduction to this author and I'm looking forward to the next meeting The physical deconstruction (in the case of Shannon), reconstruction (in the case of Brandy Alexander) and transformation (in Manus's case) of the key characters in the novel allows for a deeper examination of the internal demons that, left unchecked, will destroy the beauty in anything or anyone it encounters. It's best that you encounter the text without plot details and simply allow the novel to take you where it will; but strap on, I mean in, because this ride lurches back and forth, helter-skelter with the speed of - well probably speed.
The book has a non-chronological order, and the miracle is that in spite of this, it still reads very well, and isn't confusing at all. One possibility for this is that the plot doesn't matter all that much, and getting it in a different order doesn't fundementally change our understanding of it.It is a very good novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. This is a rather difficult novel to introduce in terms of plot. You get exposed to events that took place at different times, yet it all holds very well. There are some really nice twists, and I can't say anything about them without spoiling the book for you, so you get nothing.If you're into weird things, Palahniuk is an author you'll appreciate, for he always has a ton of strange facts in his novels, and that's always interesting.The book deals with homosexuality, transgenderism, identity, beauty, the self, and plenty of other things that are what makes our age ours.Recommended. The story is told by a defaced woman who can no longer speak. She was a model, she was beautiful, and now she lost her career, her boyfriend, and much more.This is about all I feel like telling you as far as the plot is concerned.
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