The Rendition Experience

Well, I did not follow through with the Kathy Reichs’ book last time. Instead, I followed the advice of my one and only commentator up to now (C. doesn't count) and got myself a book by Chuck Palahniuk. I started with Fight Club of course because it was the first one to be written and I had seen the movie.
There will probably be some spoilers in this…

I shall start with the end, the afterword by the author.
I was surprised to find that it all started with a short story. When he was asked to expand that story into a book, all the author did was gather experiences from men all around him and put them together. I am over simplifying this… He collated these experiences together, writing in a simplistic half cynical way that made the story extremely compelling to me. In this, he wrote a code which men all around the world were already following or discovering for the first time. It amazes me how something done in a few hours of boredom could have triggered such an effect. Men all around the world.

So, basically, it is about a white collared job man who goes about his life feeling miserable. He makes himself feel better by being materialistic and by frequenting help clubs that help people cope with all sorts of random ailments. He doesn’t really have any diseases but goes there looking for some comfort for his misery.

He meets Tyler Durden during one of his business trips and after losing his home to a gas leak explosion, they start living together and start gathering to fight so that men can be men as they were meant to be.

Enough with the spoilers. I’m sure it is more interesting to actually read it.
I wish I had read the book before I watched the film. I think the impact might have been a lot bigger when, after the surreal read of intertwined of contradictory thoughts and dialogues, it all clicked into place and you realize it is two in one and the whole split personality thing.

So, what else makes this book so great? The answer is… it just tells you how it is. It is fiction but it is so real. We are all materialistic sheep defined by what we own and most don’t even know how to live and feel alive.

This is the story of a guy who is becoming lost in this world of pleasantries and fakeness and how his sub-conscious creates a personality in a cry for liberation.
His name is Tyler Durden and he is everything everyone wants to be.

PS - I never ever noticed in the movie or in the book until after I had finished that the narrator’s (main character’s) name is never mentioned, only his alternate personality.

PSII – This was one of the hardest reviews I have written so far. I have found it difficult to express the multitude of feelings I had when reading this book and I’m still not sure it is everything I wanted to say.