My Whole Expanse I Cannot See…

I formulate infinity stored deep inside of me…

Jun 4

Snuff

Category: Opinions

I just finished Chuck Palahniuk’s latest, Snuff. I’m not quite certain how I feel about it. While reading it, it wasn’t my favorite of his works, yet the last four chapters kind of won me over. Snuff is the story of Cassie Wright and her attempt to break the world’s record for the most sex partners in a single work of pornography, 600 to be exact. The story is told from the perspective of three fellows waiting in line for a go at Cassie and the “talent wrangler,” the woman in charge of the 600 fellow gang-bang.

My first problem was that I just find the sex industry astonishingly depressing, and not in a fun Dawn of the Dead sort of way. Secondly, I couldn’t really like or relate to any of the characters. I suppose it’s a good thing that I have nothing in common with a bunch of porn fiends, but what I usually love about Palahniuk is that I do tend to identify with or feel empathy toward his characters. That said, it’s a short book and the last four chapters are amazing, so I have no regrets.

Continuing with Palahniuk, I’m now reading Choke. I’ve also got an audio book on deck, Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead.

11 comments

11 Comments so far

  1. RW June 4th, 2008 12:44 pm

    funny…i almost recommended the ender’s game series to you a couple weeks ago. It’s good stuff, but have you read the first of his books starting with Enders game?

  2. christa June 4th, 2008 1:23 pm

    i’m reading snuff right now … about 40 pages in. on page 12 i had this weird “oh. this is just a vehicle for chuck palahniuk to make up funny names of movies and porn stars.” i’d forgotten how he loves to list things, and that the porn industry would be good fodder. i felt like i’d been had.

    that said, i like his stuff too much to let that distract me.

  3. MagnoliaFly June 4th, 2008 1:32 pm

    Speaker for the Dead is very different than Enders Game, not in a good or bad way – just different.

    Though I enjoyed the Dune series by Frank Herbert more, the Enders series will always have its own place on my shelf now too.

  4. THEO June 4th, 2008 3:33 pm

    I’d like to be big enough to separate Orson Scott Card from his beliefs, but I can’t. I’m still bummed Marvel hired him to write the Ultimate Iron Man series.

  5. michael June 4th, 2008 4:01 pm

    Yes, I loved the lists in Survivor, but they’re not so great inSnuff.

    I totally enjoyed Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead is equally amazing.

  6. RW June 4th, 2008 8:52 pm

    I hear ya THEO…I think the early ender series was fairly Mo-free…his later stuff I don’t know. I didn’t read anything of his past the first 3 ender books.

  7. Tuna June 4th, 2008 11:05 pm

    OH. SNUFF. I get it. I’m sorry, I thought you were talking about the actual drug snuff. Not a book.

    Well, now I feel stupid. xD Oh well. This book sounds pretty fascinating, I should check it out when I have the time.

  8. Daniel June 9th, 2008 12:35 am

    I haven’t read Snuff yet. I seem to recall enjoying Choke until close to the end. Hope that doesn’t ruin anything for you, but that seems to be my overall complaint about Chuck’s work. He can set up a story like nobody’s business, but it often tends to peter out by the end. Survivor is still one of my all-time favorites.

    That said, I’m pretty excited about the movie version of Choke coming out.

    Have you read his book Stranger than Fiction yet?

  9. Ben June 16th, 2008 12:30 am

    The Ender’s Game series is my favorite, hands down. I loved the first book, but could never get into the second, Speaker for the Dead. When I finally managed to plow through the first one hundred pages or so, I loved it, and blew through it and Xenocide/Children of the Mind. They’re great books, but I’d advise you to read Ender’s Game first. Speaker for the Dead stands on its own, but you’d miss small, subtle extras were you to skip E.G.

  10. Bianca March 3rd, 2009 6:19 pm

    I definitely admire you. Definitely. So many people have all they want and dont need and re still morally down.
    Where do you get your strength? Is it Sara? Or do you believe in God?

    Greetings from Berlin.

  11. michael March 8th, 2009 3:23 am

    Bianca: I don’t talk to Sara or God much. Hope you keep reading.