Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
Reviewed by Nick Devin
When people hear the name Chuck Palahniuk
the mind races to his first novel Fight Club, the modern classic. In a way it will be hard for him to ever
shake that motion. With his novel Choke,
Palahniuk explores similar ideologies but through different characters and
outrages scenarios. The main character
Vincent, a sex addict and a medical school dropout, is trying to overcome his
addiction and keep a stable life. The
book follows his journey to find himself as he delves into extreme sexual
situations. Due to having a bad
relationship with his mother as a child, Victor can’t communicate well with
women and only notices faults. When
Vincent visits a strip club, all he can notice is a mole on the dancer and then
decides to give a quick diagnosis. As
well as his addiction, Vincent has to try and take care of his mother who has
gone insane and lost her memory in a nursing home. He can’t afford the bills and has become a
scam artist by pretending to choke at expensive restaurants and waiting for
someone to save him, resulting in a cheque for a lump sum of money.
The novel almost feels like reading Fight
Club with the characterisation of Vincent so similar to that of main character
in his first book. This isn’t
necessarily a bad thing as it is still entertaining, and Choke is riddled with
humorous moments, but it isn’t anything new to Palahniuk’s collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment