Helpful Score: 2
This was my first Palahniuk novel, and now I want to read everything he has to offer! Ive been a fan of the movie Fight Club (based on another novel by Palahniuk) for years. I didnt even realize the movie was based on a book (Im embarrassed to say) until a few months ago.
Thats when I picked up Survivor. Less than a week later, Id breezed through it. I almost never read a book that quickly. This one is going into my top-five, all-time favorite novels list.
I noticed some quirks to the book right away. The story is basically a count-down to the end of the narrators life, and the story is a series of recollections from his life, especially the events leading up to his death. Quite appropriately, the chapters and page numbers start at the highest number and work their way down. The book ends on chapter 1, page 1. I liked this concept from the beginning. There was something satisfying about counting my way down to the end of the book.
The narrators life was mostly devoted to service in a religious cult located in central Nebraska. Hed been working outside the cult, living a modest life and sending most of his earnings right back to the church. Still devout when hed heard the members of the church left in Nebraska had committed mass suicide, he and the other members of the church working in the outside world were trained to join their families and friends and commit suicide themselves. Each surviving member was assigned a case worker, to help them understand that their lives didnt have to end, just because the rest of the cult had committed suicide. Years later, the narrator is one of the only known survivors of the cult. This novel is the story of his life.
Thats when I picked up Survivor. Less than a week later, Id breezed through it. I almost never read a book that quickly. This one is going into my top-five, all-time favorite novels list.
I noticed some quirks to the book right away. The story is basically a count-down to the end of the narrators life, and the story is a series of recollections from his life, especially the events leading up to his death. Quite appropriately, the chapters and page numbers start at the highest number and work their way down. The book ends on chapter 1, page 1. I liked this concept from the beginning. There was something satisfying about counting my way down to the end of the book.
The narrators life was mostly devoted to service in a religious cult located in central Nebraska. Hed been working outside the cult, living a modest life and sending most of his earnings right back to the church. Still devout when hed heard the members of the church left in Nebraska had committed mass suicide, he and the other members of the church working in the outside world were trained to join their families and friends and commit suicide themselves. Each surviving member was assigned a case worker, to help them understand that their lives didnt have to end, just because the rest of the cult had committed suicide. Years later, the narrator is one of the only known survivors of the cult. This novel is the story of his life.
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