So to get through an ever growing list of novels and movies, I have decided to read at least one novel a week and watch 2-3 films so that I can make a dent in my aspirations as a book nerd and movie junkie.
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Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Palahniuk continually delivers masterpiece after masterpiece. For some reason, Invisible Monsters didn't appeal to me when first discovering the author, but I can now appreciate the widespread opinion that this is Chuck at his finest, although Survivor is definitely my own personal favorite. Invisible Monsters follows a woman through her experiences in the fashion world and the trauma after an apparent accident that left her disfigured almost beyond recognition. Using his trademark combination of satire, humor, odd facts, and almost philosophical insights, Palahniuk takes the reader on a high-paced journey through the worlds of plastic surgery, gender reassignment, and drug addiction that will shock the reader, make them laugh, and leave them satisfied and yet anxious for more.
Less than Zero By Bret Easton Ellis
Declared The Catcher in the Rye for the MTV generation, Less Than Zero is the debut novel of Bret Easton Ellis who has gone on to write such novels as American Psycho and Rules of Attraction. Based on personal observation while growing up in California, the story follows Clay as he returns home for the holidays after attending college on the east coast. Minimalistic, the novel explores the ordinary activities of Clay and his friends Blair and Julian and their indulgences in cocaine and casual sex. The novel gives accounts of both the mundane and the extremely shocking in a culture where everyone has everything they could ever ask for and thus has nothing to lose, ending ambiguously with the reader confused with whether to admire Clay at least for his dissatisfaction with his lifestyle and the possible hope of a change or to hate him and his passivity.
I'm now in the middle of Rant by Palahniuk, though I've taken a short break of a day or two so that I can focus on Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for Ap Lit. As expected, Rant is an entertaining novel, though perhaps less impressive than some of Palahniuk's other works. Wuthering Heights isn't too bad, though I have yet to discover why Heathcliff is apparently so sexy...
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Choke directed by Clark Gregg.
Let's face it. Palahniuk's voice is extremely hard to respectfully and successfully flow onto the movie screen. Edward Norton performance in Fight Club was amazing considering the amount of material he had to deal with in the transition from page to screen. The film adaptation of Choke proved that replicating that kind of success may be very hard to do. Though the acting is actually good and believable, Sam Rockwell's performance as Victor Mancini, a med school drop out sex addict struggling to pay for his mother's medical care, comes off as too comedic, ignoring the aspect of an odd type of philosopher that Palahniuk's protagonist's often display. Granted, portraying the adventures of a con artist/sex addict on screen may be hard to do without there being comedy involved. Still, the lack of internal dialogue or some way to paint Palahniuk's narration more truly to the text manages to change the tone of the entire piece. Though staying true to the novel in respect to plot, the shift in genre through the different mood makes this a disappointing film adaptation of an amazing piece of literature.
Less than Zero directed by Marek Kanievska
I have to admit, I had low expectations from the start. So I can't say that I was necessarily disappointed, because the film version of Less Than Zero just confirmed by assumption that depicting the superficial, shallow California culture of the novel would not go over well in its transition to the screen. Especially in the 80's. Instead of showing the sad truth of the hollowness of the reality of those kids who have ruined their lives and relationships with too much money, casual sex, and cocaine, the movie portrays a cleaned-up shadow of the story. This version bears hardly any resemblance to the book except in title and character name and has become part of some anti-drug crusade that the novel never attached itself to. While an alright film in its own right due to a great performance by Robert Downey Jr. and the good casting call for the role of the drug dealer, the extreme differences from the novel make me very prejudiced towards it, as if the annoying 80's music didn't already do that for me. I just hope that the film adaptations of the the other Ellis novels impress me more, though I've been told not to get my hopes up.
-----------------
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Palahniuk continually delivers masterpiece after masterpiece. For some reason, Invisible Monsters didn't appeal to me when first discovering the author, but I can now appreciate the widespread opinion that this is Chuck at his finest, although Survivor is definitely my own personal favorite. Invisible Monsters follows a woman through her experiences in the fashion world and the trauma after an apparent accident that left her disfigured almost beyond recognition. Using his trademark combination of satire, humor, odd facts, and almost philosophical insights, Palahniuk takes the reader on a high-paced journey through the worlds of plastic surgery, gender reassignment, and drug addiction that will shock the reader, make them laugh, and leave them satisfied and yet anxious for more.Less than Zero By Bret Easton Ellis
Declared The Catcher in the Rye for the MTV generation, Less Than Zero is the debut novel of Bret Easton Ellis who has gone on to write such novels as American Psycho and Rules of Attraction. Based on personal observation while growing up in California, the story follows Clay as he returns home for the holidays after attending college on the east coast. Minimalistic, the novel explores the ordinary activities of Clay and his friends Blair and Julian and their indulgences in cocaine and casual sex. The novel gives accounts of both the mundane and the extremely shocking in a culture where everyone has everything they could ever ask for and thus has nothing to lose, ending ambiguously with the reader confused with whether to admire Clay at least for his dissatisfaction with his lifestyle and the possible hope of a change or to hate him and his passivity.I'm now in the middle of Rant by Palahniuk, though I've taken a short break of a day or two so that I can focus on Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for Ap Lit. As expected, Rant is an entertaining novel, though perhaps less impressive than some of Palahniuk's other works. Wuthering Heights isn't too bad, though I have yet to discover why Heathcliff is apparently so sexy...
-----
Choke directed by Clark Gregg.
Let's face it. Palahniuk's voice is extremely hard to respectfully and successfully flow onto the movie screen. Edward Norton performance in Fight Club was amazing considering the amount of material he had to deal with in the transition from page to screen. The film adaptation of Choke proved that replicating that kind of success may be very hard to do. Though the acting is actually good and believable, Sam Rockwell's performance as Victor Mancini, a med school drop out sex addict struggling to pay for his mother's medical care, comes off as too comedic, ignoring the aspect of an odd type of philosopher that Palahniuk's protagonist's often display. Granted, portraying the adventures of a con artist/sex addict on screen may be hard to do without there being comedy involved. Still, the lack of internal dialogue or some way to paint Palahniuk's narration more truly to the text manages to change the tone of the entire piece. Though staying true to the novel in respect to plot, the shift in genre through the different mood makes this a disappointing film adaptation of an amazing piece of literature.Less than Zero directed by Marek Kanievska
I have to admit, I had low expectations from the start. So I can't say that I was necessarily disappointed, because the film version of Less Than Zero just confirmed by assumption that depicting the superficial, shallow California culture of the novel would not go over well in its transition to the screen. Especially in the 80's. Instead of showing the sad truth of the hollowness of the reality of those kids who have ruined their lives and relationships with too much money, casual sex, and cocaine, the movie portrays a cleaned-up shadow of the story. This version bears hardly any resemblance to the book except in title and character name and has become part of some anti-drug crusade that the novel never attached itself to. While an alright film in its own right due to a great performance by Robert Downey Jr. and the good casting call for the role of the drug dealer, the extreme differences from the novel make me very prejudiced towards it, as if the annoying 80's music didn't already do that for me. I just hope that the film adaptations of the the other Ellis novels impress me more, though I've been told not to get my hopes up.
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