4. Palahniuk kitabım.
Bayılıyorum bu adama.
Yer altı edebiyatının tanımı bu adam. Kalan herkes onun gibi yazmaya çalışıyor. Hakan Günday falan Chuck Baba'nın yanında yazar değil, ki hiç sevmem. Hatta sinirlendim şimdi durduk yere:)
Kitabı birazcık özetleyeyim o halde ki nasıl birşeyden bahsettiğim biraz anlaşılsın. Gerçi çok zor bu kitabı özetlemek. O nedenle büyük ihtimalle özet sonunda "bu ne lan" diyenler çokça olacaktır. Bende "okuyun o zaman kardeşim" derim adama:)
Kahramanımızın adı Victor Mancini.
Kendisi bir sex bağımlısı.
Yaşlı annesi bir bakım evinde ve çok hasta. Gittikçe zayıflıyor. Üstelik kimseyide hatırlamıyor. Oğlu Victor'u bile.
Victor kendisini bulamamış, karakterni kuramamış, ne yöne gitmesi gerektiğini bilemeyen bir tip. Tek tetikleyicisi sex. Sadece ona ulaşmak için bişeyler yapıyor. Bunun dışında hiç bir şey için plan kurmuyor ve endişelenmiyor.
Yıllar sonra annesi ölüm döşeğine gelince ilk defa başka bişeyler için endişelenmeye başlıyor. Annesi...
Bir yandan annesi ile uğraşırken bir yandanda içgüdüsel olarak bir kimlik bulma çabasına giriyor.

Dediğim gibi romanın konusu bundan ibaret ve böyle okuyunca hiç birşeye benzemiyor.
Ama yazarın üslubu, toplumsal olaylara bakışı ve eleştirisi çok çok iyi. Herşeyle müthiş dalga geçiyor. Katlanabilirseniz, okuyanda dahil olmak üzere tüm toplumla dalga geçiyor ve hatta daha ötesi herkesi aptal yerine koyuyor. Zaten kitabın başında ilk söylediği şey bu kitabı okumayın, aptal olmayın, daha önemli bir işiniz yok mu, oluyor. Ufaktan bir gıcık olmamak elde değil. Ama kesin okumalı.
Okuma yaşı yetişkin.

4 stars, although it could very well be 5. In fact, I don't know why I don't give it 5. I liked it more than Invisible Monsters, almost as much as I liked Fight Club. The more I read the guy, the more I come to believe he's a genius of a kind. At the beginning, he warns the readers to stay away from the book as it will only make them sick. Do I need to worry about the fact that not only did it not make me sick, but I actually loved it? Do I need to worry about the fact that I felt my blood boiling (in a good way) with every word that was coming out of the mouth of the hero's mother? Maybe one day I'll change radically and my blood will remain cool when I read such books. But not today. Maybe one day I'll be over those nihilistic witticisms on modern society and I'll simply laugh at them every time I come across them. Till then... Palahniuk, I'm with you all the way!
4 stars (why not 5?!)

Bu kitap için hemen kullanmam gereken bir sıfat var: rahatsız edici. Eğer okumayı düşünüyorsanız bir seks bağımlısının hikayesini okuyacağınızı ve bazı şeyleri hazmetmekte zorlanabileceğinizi bilmelisiniz.

Palahniuk'un daha önce Gösteri Peygamberi'ni okumuş ve pek beğenmemiştim. Bu kitaptan da çok bir beklentim yoktu ancak ekip okuması olduğu için bir şans verdim. Doğrusu ilk kısımları da pek sevmedim. Neler olup bittiğini anlayıp olayların içine girebilmem uzun zaman aldı. Ama nihayet olaylara dahil olduktan sonra kitabı merakla ve hızla okudum. Böyle bir kitaba güzeldi, okuyun diyemem ama farklı bir şeyler denemek isterseniz ve mideniz de biraz genişse okuyabilirsiniz.

Kitapta benim için rahatsız edici olan şey yalnızca seks değildi. Ana karakter savrulmuş, tüm değerlerini kaybetmiş, özsaygısını yitirmiş dibe vurmuş bir adam. Hal böyleyken, onun yaşamına tanık olmak da pek keyifli olmuyor. Siz de kendinizi kötü hissediyorsunuz.

Yazarın amacının kitabın bende uyandırdığı kötü hisleri uyandırmak olduğunu düşündüğüm için kitabı başarılı buldum. Gösteri Peygamberi'nden farklı olarak yazar vermek istediği mesajı da sürekli tekrarlamamış, hikayeye güzel yedirmiş.

Yeraltı Edebiyatı tam olarak nasıl tanımlanıyor bilmiyorum ancak bana göre bu kitap güzel bir yeraltı edebiyatı örneği olabilir. İlgililerine tavsiye ederim.

Bravo Palahniuk, Bra-ha-vo!

Man am I late to the Palahniuk party, geez. This book was amazing, his writing impeccable. The man can weave sentences in ways very few can. I agree this man's writing should be taught in philosophy courses. To review a book that's starts with this:

"If you're going to read this, don't bother.
After a couple pages, you won't want to be here. So forget it. Go away. Get out while you're still in one piece. Save yourself.
...
What happens here is first going to piss you off. After that it just gets worse and worse."

I mean how do you do that? The first chapter just grabbed me, it really beats on the "little cooz" boy and makes you really feel for him, Victor Mancini, the star of the story, if you could even call him that. Victor, the "stupid stupid little boy" AKA the hero maker. I mean have you ever heard of someone going to restaurants and purposely choking on food so someone could save them and then play off of their personally remarkable experience by hitting them up for money to help support himself and pay for his mother's medical bills? Crazy!

As many people have stated this book is not for everyone. It just isn't, and I can tell that by the many bad reviews it has gotten. To them I shake my head, I LOVED IT! It is definitely an acquired taste though and there is a select group out there that this book is spot on for. This book you will find addictions galore, sex, death, religion, pain, profanity, blasphemy, and much literary repetition that could drive the avid reader or English major wonky. Definitely a good introduction to Palahniuk.

"Masterpiece" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.
See also: Profound
See also: Unique

Victor Mancini likes to spend his time in restaurants pretending to choke on food, so other patrons will save him. Feeling responsible for Victor's life, they send him checks. Okay full stop. Where is this happening? Why would they send him money? Victor should be grateful he is alive. On top of all that we are supposed to believe, Victor is paying three grand a month for his mother's nursing home when he works a low paying job. All the characters are damaged souls. It is a unique read.

“Possiamo passare la vita a farci dire dal mondo cosa siamo. Sani di mente o pazzi. Stinchi di santo o sessodipendenti. Eroi o vittime. A lasciare che la storia ci spieghi se siamo buoni o cattivi.
A lasciare che sia il passato a decidere il nostro futuro.
Oppure possiamo scegliere da noi.
E forse inventare qualcosa di meglio è proprio il nostro compito.”

ti amo chuck

"Picture anybody growing up so stupid he didn’t know that hope is just another phase you’ll grow out of”

Victor Mancini, is a medical-school dropout who has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be “saved” by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for his life, go on to send him cheques to financially support him, these he then uses to pay for his mother's medical bills. When he’s not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his Alzheimer's suffering mother in her secure hospital, and works days at a colonial theme park.

'Choke' is an interesting book from a psychological perspective and I am somewhat of a loss as how to rate it. Eventually I settled on 3 stars because I couldn’t decide whether I loved or hated it, probably both. Victor is a sex addict and intentionally chokes on objects in order for others to save him and therefore feel loved. This book contains a lot of graphic sexual descriptions featuring a variety of deviant behaviour and whilst I don't consider myself to be a prude the vivid details from each unrelenting scenario involving Victor often made me cringe.

On the other hand I often found some of the other portions quite amusing. The storyline is actually quite enjoyable and Victor although not particularly likeable isn't a totally bad character either. Despite Victor's insistence that he is not a good or caring person his actions suggest otherwise. The novel explores his childhood and attempts to uncover the reasons why he is the way he is as an adult. I really enjoyed the sections following Victor and his friend Denny at work in a 1700s theme park as they struggle to stick within the rules, they showed a deep level of friendship to each other. I thought that the central theme of choking would be really distasteful but I actually found myself accepting Victor’s justifications and actually sympathizing with him.

The book is written in fairly short episodic chapters that switches from Victor's chaotic childhood to his present and once you get past the first 10% or so of it, which is almost entirely pure sexual description, you find that there is a fairly satisfying story underneath. Although the big revelation at the end of the book came as no surprise to me, Palahniuk displayed an ability to create really vivid images that will stay in my head forever.

I would recommend this book to readers who like dark humour but aren’t easily offended. If you find graphic sex in books offensive, then this is not the book for you.

This one was just meh for me. Super graphic sex stuff kinda threw me. Im not sure it was completely necessary to the plot?

Hasta annesinin tedavi masraflarını karşılamak için tıp eğitimini yarıda bırakmış ve geçimini elit/pahalı restoranlarda boğulma taklidi yapıp kurtaran kişiyi bir kahramana çevirerek onun duygularını kendini sahiplenmeye doğru sürükleyip belirli aralıklarla ona para gönderilmesiyle sağlayan bir anti-kahramanla karşı karşıyayız bu kez. Üstelik kendinden de nefret ediyor ve anlatıcı olduğu kitaba “Eğer bunu okumaya niyetliyseniz vazgeçin.” diyerek başlıyor. Biz bu uyarıyı dikkate almayıp kitaba başlarsak eğer Chuck Palahniuk sonsuz hayal dünyasının kapılarını sonuna kadar aralamış oluyor ve biz arkamızda bıraktıklarımızı unutarak bambaşka bir dünyaya adımımızı atmış oluyoruz ta ki kitap bitene kadar.

“Gerçek şu ki, dul bir anne tarafından yetiştirilen her erkek çocuk evli olarak doğmuş sayılır. Bilmiyorum ama bence annesi ölene dek bir erkeğin hayatındaki diğer kadınların hepsi metres olmaktan öteye gidemez.” diyerek tanımlıyor kendini, annesiyle arasındaki bağ da bu yolda devamlılığını sağlıyor.

Kendisi bir seks bağımlısı ve bunun bir rahatsızlık olduğunun farkında ama kendini durduramıyor. Bunda karşı cinsin de etkisi azımsanmayacak ölçüde tabii; baştan çıkarmalar, karşı cinsin kahramanımızdan daha azgın olması, vs.

Kimilerine göre yazarın en iyi romanı olarak kabul ediliyor. Palahniuk’un sisteme karşı duruşunu özellikle tüketim toplumlara ettiği küfürleri algılayabiliyoruz sayfaların arasında. Dışarıdan bakıldığında çok güçlü bir kitap olduğu çarpıyor yüzümüze, belki de kendimizi okuyoruz bilmeden, güldüğümüz karakter belki de bizim yansımamız.

İnsanın güce açlığını derinlemesine inceliyor, insan olmanın getirilerinden bahsediyor, her duruma anlamlar yüklememizden de şikâyetçi Palahniuk, karakterin kendini çıkarımlardan İsa sanmasıyla da bir güzel dalga geçiyor açıkçası, üstelik bunu bize inandırıyor.

Mizah duygusundan hiçbir şey eksilmemiş olduğunu görüyoruz bu kitapta da şehir efsanelerinden bile bahsediyor; tıp alanındaki bilgisini konuşturup hastaneye duş yaparken şampuan şişesinin üzerine düşmüş kişilerden bahsediyor örneğin, kahkahalara boğuluyoruz.

Zamanında yine Muzır Neşriyattan Koruma Kurulu tarafından halkın ar ve hayâ duygularını rencide ettiği gerekçesiyle toplatılma kararı alınmış, sonrasında 2. Asliye Ceza Mahkemesi’nin kararıyla beraat etmiştir.

Kitap Ayrıntı Yayınları’nın yeraltı serisinden çıkmış ve 287 sayfa.
Kitabı Türkçeye kazandıran kişi ise Ölüm Porno’su davası sürerken “manken” olarak nitelendirilen Funda Uncu.

Bob Batchelor kitabı şöyle tanımlıyor:
''...tıkanma, seks, sümük, göt, hastalık, algı ve ölümle dolu. Deforme olmuş tavuklardan söz etmeye bile gerek yok. Bunlardan tiksinen biriyseniz, tıkanma size göre bir roman değil. Aslında Palahniuk size göre değil. Gidip kendinize daha sığ ve yergiden yoksun bir yazar bulabilirsiniz.''

Eh mevzu zaten Chuck Palahniuk olunca özlü söz niteliğindeki cümlelerinden kaçmak olmaz, birkaçı şöyle:
“Anne babalar insanların afyonudur.”
“Uğruna savaşacak bir şeyleri olmayanlar bir şeylere karşı savaşırlar.”
“Köpekler seksten sonra hemen kolay kolay ayrılamazlar. Bir süre sıkışır kalırlar iç içe. Evlilik de böyle bir şey...”

Kitap 2008'de sinemaya da uyarlanmıştır.

İyi okumalar.

«Το μαρτύριο του Εγώ»

Αυτοπαθές, Παράδοξο, Αυτούσιο, Ηδονικά Σοκαριστικό ....δεν είναι οι κατάλληλες λέξεις, αλλά είναι οι πρώτες που μου έρχονται στο μυαλό...!

Ο «Πνιγμός» είναι μια αποκήρυξη της ένδοξης αποτυχίας του σύγχρονου ανθρώπου.

Είναι η τάση της εποχής, της κάθε εποχής που λειτουργεί μηχανικά, αποδυναμωμένα, παραδομένη στην αγωνία και τα ελαττώματα του υπερεκτιμημένου πολιτισμού.
Είναι η προσπάθεια απεγκλωβισμού απο την πνιγηρή πραγματικότητα, την οργανωμένη κοινωνική καταδίκη των ανθρώπων, τα αόρατα εσωτερικά τέρατα της ματαιοδοξίας και της υποδειγματικής κοινοτοπίας που βασανίζουν τον σύγχρονο κόσμο.

Το βιβλίο πραγματεύεται την αναζήτηση της ευτυχίας μέσα απο την σοκαριστική παραγματικότητα και ασχολείται με τον εθισμό σε όλα τα εγκλήματα ηδονής.

Σε ό,τι απαγορεύεται και εξιτάρει τις αισθήσεις, αυτομάτως καταγγέλει ��ο γενικό σχήμα πραγμάτων, φανερώνοντας ένα κρυμμένο μήνυμα θανατηφόρα σοβαρό:
Τη δημιουργία χάους σε έναν κόσμο που πάσχει απο πλεόνασμα οργάνωσης και τη θέληση να απλοποιήσουμε τον εαυτό μας, όχι τη ζωή μας.
Αυτό μπορεί να επιτευχθεί αναζητώντας το νόημα μέσα απο καλές ή κακές ενέργειες που προσφέρουν αυτοπεποίθηση, όταν αρνείσαι να προσκυνήσεις έναν κόσμο που αποφεύγει ακόμη και τη συζήτηση αυτών των θεμάτων.

Αυτό το «φρικτό» βιβλίο, δεν ειναι η κατάλληλη λέξη, αλλά είναι η πρώτη που μου έρχεται στο μυαλό,
είναι εξαιρετικά τολμηρό, άκομψο, χονδροειδές, έντονα γραφικό και παράλογα δημιουργικό,φυλακισμένο σε μια πολυπλοκότητα περίεργη, παράλογη και αριστουργηματική.

Αριστοτεχνικά γραμμένο σε πρώτο πρόσωπο και παροντικό χρόνο καθιστά τον συγγραφέα «σπουδαίο», δεν είναι η κατάλληλη λέξη, αλλά είναι η πρώτη που μου έρχεται στο μυαλό.

Ο συγγραφέας χειρίζεται άψογα το στυλ μιας ελεύθερης, αναζωογονητικής γραφής αυθορμητισμού και αισθήσεων που στέκεται στο μεταίχμιο της τυπικής λογοτεχνίας.

Απέκτησε την αγάπη και την εμπιστοσύνη μου διότι με όλη την ευθύνη και την υπαιτιότητα του γραπτού του λόγου δεν διστάζει να σοκάρει γοητευτικά μέσα απο θάλασσες απελπισίας και ολοκληρωτικής διάβρωσης.
Ο Πόλανικ δεν ορρωδεί προ ουδενός

Πετάει στα μούτρα του αναγνώστη όλη την ανθρώπινη εξαρτημένη παραφροσύνη. Απελευθερώνει δαίμονες που σε πνίγουν μέσα στον καταναγκαστικό εθισμό.
Γεμίζει σελίδες περιγραφής με σεξουαλικές πράξεις χαρακτήρων των οποίων η υγεία είναι συνώνυμη της εξαπάτησης που τους προσφέρει η αναζήτηση μιας κανονικής ζωής.

Σε λερώνει χωρίς συστολές με σπέρμα, αίμα και σωματικά υγρά ατόμων κάθε ηλικίας και ψυχικής βίας.

Σε σπρώχνει πάνω στα περιττώματα, τις λάσπες και τις βρομιές ή τα ιερά νάματα της ανθρώπινης φύσης.

Ο πρωταγωνιστής της ιστορία μας γεννιέται ιερά μέσα στην αμαρτία, απο μια παρθένα πόρνη έχοντας πάρει γενετικό υλικό απο την κλεμμένη ακροβυστία του Χριστού ή και όχι.
Ποτέ δεν ξεκαθαρίζεται το γεγονός αυτό, απλώς ο Βίκτωρ-Χριστός- απατεώνας-σεξουαλικά εθισμένος και ηθικά αποτυχημενος, ανεβαίνει πάνω απο την αφθονία της αμαρτίας για να βοηθήσει όσους χρειάζονται σωτηρία.
Μια επιχείρηση απάτης τυχαίου πνιγμού και σωτήριας διάσωσης γίνεται φαινόμενο εκμετάλλευσης αλλά και κραυγή ύπαρξης ενός ανθρώπου που ζητάει να αγαπηθεί και να ειναι απαραίτητος ως θύμα ή ως ήρωας στη ζωή κάποιου.
Η σχέση με τη μητέρα του και ο εγκλεισμός της σε ψυχιατρικό ίδρυμα, οι φίλοι, οι γυναίκες , οι εξαπατημένοι σωτήρες και οι δαίμονες της αρρωστημένης ανατροφής του καταδικάζουν τον αναγνώστη σε κυριολεκτική ρεαλιστική αντίληψη
και σε οραματισμούς που χαρακτηρίζονται φυσιολογικοί... μα πάντα επισκέπτονται περιστασιακά την παραφροσύνη της ηδονής και του απολαυστικού εθισμού.

****************************************
❌

"There is no human soul, and I am absolutely for sure seriously not going to fucking cry."

reading a chuck palahniuk novel is like one of those long booze-soaked all-night discussions with someone you've just met. by the end of it you're convinced that you've solved all the world's problems, and how to proceed seems so clear. once you wake up in the morning you remember how good it was, but details are hazy and the big plans are gone.

his books all share similar themes, but i find this to be at the top of the list. i think it's tied with haunted as his best work, and i think it's actually a more accomplished book than fight club. it's much richer.

for such a short read, this book manages to pick apart:

the nature of aging and death
the perils of being a med student
the dangers of too much knowledge
insanity and senility
sex and love or lack thereof
gender issues
language and semiotics
motherhood (and fatherlessness)
the need to have and to be a savior
the appeal and drawbacks of sarcasm and anarchy
tourism/photos/fetishes and other ways we cling to the past
religion/pornography/drugs and other ways we escape the present
idealism/ignorance/romanticism and other ways we avoid the future

it's all handled and balanced very delicately and well researched, which is a big deal for me. he's not an author who's stingy with his ideas.

he uses lots of gimmicks and touchstones in his books to hold together the narrative and make the reader feel comfortable even in his tangents, which is something i like in my novels.

some people will complain that all his books share some of the same themes, and they do.

this one has the same sort of alternating hopelessness and hopefulness that fight club has, and similar fucked up antihero characters. i always read his books when i need to be reminded how comparatively normal and pleasant my life really is.

This book was like a bad acid trip