Another book finished, another Chuck Palahniuk book done. This time it was the Oral Biography of Buster Casey, or Rant. The story is told through an oral biography of Rant by people he has met or known through his "life". It is a new style for Chuck Palahniuk, which can leave you a bit confused at start, but as you get deeper into the story, you manage to understand it better and find your way through the 316 pages book.

Rant is the 8th novel from Chuck, and following his previous success with Haunted, this story also delivers and shows some of the best elements of his writing. The story starts without any real bangs, but somewhere close to the middle of the story, you start to understand who Rant is, what the circumstances are for his existence and the society he lives in. Another interesting part of many of his novels, is the statistics and facts he presents. The data are accurate (I checked most of them) and gives you a bit extra than just a story.

Rant is supposed to be the first part of a science fiction trilogy that Chuck Palahniuk is planning to write, with two more books based on Rant expected to be released tentatively in 2011 and 2013.

Before concluding this post, someone might ask why I do not really review a book, and the answer is because I do not want to spoil it for people, so I stick to highlighting an interesting read, and the rest is up to the buyer. Speaking of buyer, the book does have interesting information about selling through the Car Salesman character.

The story does remind you a bit of Fight Club in some chapters, and leaves you with many questions at the end, if you are a deeper thinker like myself. From the books I have read for Chuck Palahniuk so far, I rank this as being in 4th place, after Invisible Monsters, Haunted, and Non-fiction, but this might change once the other chapters are written about Rant. Highly Recommended read, and I suggest you read it very slow and take your time, notice everything, including the names, the descriptions, the signs, everything. I have so many questions left unanswered, and I bet you will too.

On a side note, I do have an extra copy of the book which was bought for me by mistake. It is paperback, not touched, and if anyone is interested, it is for sale (Bought For 84 AED about 6 KD), but I am willing to trade it for food or other "offers".

Purgatorian Post #1331

I finished another book on my list last night. It was the 2002 released Lullaby. The story is about a reporter who discovers that a culling song is actually what is killing babies, then also killing people. The overall story is fine, but I was not really satisfied with the book. Looking at information online, this book was written by the author during the trial of a man convicted of killing his father and girl-friend.

From Wiki:

"In 1999, Fred Palahniuk, Chuck's father, began dating an Idaho woman named Donna Fontaine. Donna had recently put her ex-boyfriend, Dale Shackleford, in prison for sexual abuse, and Shackleford had vowed to kill Fontaine as soon as he was released from prison. After his release, Shackleford followed Fred Palahniuk and Fontaine home from a date to her apartment in Kendrick, Idaho. After shooting Fred Palahniuk in the abdomen and Fontaine in the back of the neck, Shackleford left them to die, though he allegedly returned to the scene multiple times to attempt to start a fire large enough to destroy the evidence.

After Shackleford's arrest, Chuck Palahniuk was asked to be part of the decision as to whether or not Shackleford would receive the death sentence. Palahniuk has worked in a hospital and as a crime reporter, but nevertheless struggled with where he stood on capital punishment. Over the next few months, he began working on Lullaby. According to him, it was a way to cope with the decision he had to make regarding Shackleford's death. In the spring of 2001, Shackleford was found guilty for two counts of murder in the first degree. A month after Palahniuk finished Lullaby, Shackleford was sentenced to death. Palahniuk wrote the Court and asked to witness the execution."

I did not get "that" special feeling I got with the other books I read for the same author, but it is much better read than that damn Lucifier book I finished before.

Purgatorian Post #1326

I finished this book yesterday and overall it was ok. The story is about Lucifer been allowed to live as a mortal for a month to get himself back into God's good side and possibly go back to heaven. While the overall story ended in a nice way, the way the story was written and the words used by the author make this book a hard read and sometimes boring. The references Lucifer makes to the eternal battle between heaven and hell, as well as some references to his role in the evil times and his battle with God are not of much substance and does not have the same impact as the role of devil such in the Classic Anne Rice book Memnoch the Devil.

I would have preferred the author would have concentrated on just presenting the daily routines and life changes that Lucifer goes through as a mortal until the end, instead of going on continuous tangents to old times and the use of the complex words which gives readers several stumbling and boring spots in the book.

It is not a recommended read unless you have nothing to do. Note the book rights have been bought to make a movie in 2009/2010.

Purgatorian Post #1325

I did something that I never did before, I downloaded a comic, or a graphic novel, as they call it. Over the past month, I have been looking for new books to read, and on many lists on Amazon, this graphic novel kept showing up. On further search, this graphic novel published between 1986 and 1987 seems to be highly appreciated and seen as an iconic graphic novel from the same person who wrote V for Vendetta and other stories.

The story received several accolades such as " Kirby Awards for Best Finite Series, Best New Series, Best Writer, and Best Writer/Artist, Eisner Awards for Best Finite Series, Best Graphic Album, Best Writer, and Best Writer/Artist, and a Hugo Award for Other Forms / Stan Lee: called it his "all-time favorite comic book outside of Marvel."/ In 2005, Time placed Watchmen on its list of the 100 Greatest English Language Novels from 1923 to the Present. Watchmen was the only graphic novel to be listed/ It was also listed in Entertainment Weekly's 1000th issue as one of the best 50 novels printed in the last 25 years." - Source: Wiki.

I finished the 12 chapters and I was amazed from the start by the graphics, the plot, the interaction of the characters, it was amazing! It is the story of superheros in a fictional world, with the world edging to Armageddon. We discover the background of these characters, how they became who they are, and also experience a magical journey that end, well a bit unexpected, but again, maybe expected. Embedded in the story is another story, which appears in some chapters, that also keeps you waiting to know what happens. In addition, 11 out of the 12 chapters include an additional 4 pages with text describing more details about the history and the details of the characters. Very creative and highly entertaining.

I will not talk more about the story, I am sure many of you have read it already, but for those who have not, you have two options, or three rather, Buy the Novel (available now in several hardbound editions), Download them (MiniNova, Comics) or wait till next year to see the movie, directed by the same guy who did 300.



Purgatorian Post #1323