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Choke by: Chuck Palahniuk

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Rating: - Entertaining enough, although a little raw here and there

Entertaining enough, although a little raw here and there. It is very difficult to empathise with any of the characters - not through any fault of the author's skill, he has proven himself in the past - but rather through his choice to populate the novel with people we cannot relate to or wish not to relate to. I doubt there will be too much memorable enough to stand the test of time, and I feel there were too many missed opportunities for humour. the novel remains readable enough, sometimes fixating with its crudity but more often than not driving us because we are curious as to where the plot is going...

Rating: - One for hardcore CP fans only - Read Haunted Instead!

Don't get me wrong - its not bad, the humour reminds me of Vonnegut - its a good short story with a cool premise but it really doesnt cut it as a full length novel - particularly when you see just how many inventive, brilliant (and utterly sick!) stories Chuck can link together in Haunted.

It would be a shame if anyone judged Palahniuk as an author based on this book - If you only ever read one CP book - I'd avoid this, go for Haunted!

Rating: - The guy can't miss

For those who loved FIGHT CLUB, this is probably Palahniuk's second best, and even second best is great. That, along with INVISIBLE MONSTERS and CATCH 22 are some of my favorites. That said, this novel, as with most of the author's works, does not fail to deliver.

The story is that of a sexaholic named Victor Mancini. Victor has an ill mother's whose medical bills are eating him alive. To make money he fakes choking on food in restaurants--the payoof is that the person who saves his life each time feels as if he's done something good. And of course, the money that's involved.

What struck me immediately about this novel was Palahniuk's ability to make the character so real, unlikable, yet human and with vulnerable qualities. I've only know two other books that achieved this: "She's Come Undone" and "Barring Some Unforeseen Accident," and both books are equally riveting. But "Choke" takes a lot more detours and seemingly unimportant events come together at the end.

Another amazing aspect to the author's work is that the writing style is remarkably simple and spare, yet peppered with graphic descriptions and sex. I read somewhere that the majority of readers are women, and while there are certainly some that will wamr to this book, it's really more a "guy's" book, much like "Fight Club." A cult classic, as with all of Palahniuk's work, this one will last the test of time.

Rating: - Brave, extreme, funny and entertaining!- What more do you want?!

Brave, extreme, funny and entertaining!- What more do you want?!
(NOT FOR- prudes, narrow-mindedness, and people who don't enjoy clever twists and well executed character development)
This and 'Fight Club' are his best works.

Rating: - My all-time favourite

Choke is cult author Chuck Palahniuk's fourth novel, and there's a strong case for stating that it's also his best. Never one to shy away from dealing with society's less pleasant afflictions, Palahniuk tells the story of self-confessed 'sexaholic' Victor Mancini, who, in an effort to cover the costs of his ailing mother's medical bills, cons diners into making donations by pretending to choke on a piece of food. The rationale being that the person responsible for 'saving' Mancini feels indebted to him for making their own life seem meaningful.

By cataloguing Mancini's despicable behaviour, Palahniuk makes short work of a plethora of complex, seemingly contradictory and unrelated issues, revealing the protagonist to be both a victim of his erratic mother's parenting techniques and of the inherently selfish motivations at the heart of modern American society. So far, so cynical. Thankfully, Mancini is possessed of other, more redeeming qualities which eventually enable him to break the mould, and in this respect Choke is an inspiring, inspirational novel. Furthermore, in dealing with traditionally delicate topics such as mental illness and addiction, Palahniuk succeeds by injecting a healthy dose of pathos and humour into his writing, resulting in one of the funniest and thought-provoking books to have emerged in recent years.

Choke is certainly not for everyone - the language is spectacularly simple, occasionally profane and littered with graphic depictions of lewd sexual antics, while the dialogue is markedly 'dude'-heavy. For these reasons, it will appeal primarily to men of a certain age and demographic. Similarly, his use of metaphor could only be missed by the most naïve of observers: Mancini's sex-addicted best friend Denny starts collecting rocks in an attempt to achieve 'sobriety', and ends up building something much bigger than he ever anticipated. But therein lies the beauty and, indeed, the artistry of Palahniuk's work, and of Choke in particular. By delivering his ideas in bite-size chunks, he gets the reader thinking on much grander scale and before you know it you'll be pondering Michel Foucault's theories on the connection between knowledge and power without even realising.

Top stuff.

Matt Pucci

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