Day 24 Post 9 - Fight Club (Book)

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Durden#Tyler_Durden

Fight Club is a novel by Chuck Palahnuik published in 1996. The novel is the basis for the popular movie by the same name. The movie is one of my all time favourite movies and as soon as I knew that there was a book, I just had to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, the book was hard to find, but luckily one of my friends from US was kind enough to send a copy across to me. One of the best pieces of literature I have read.

The book is about the story of the un-named narrator who is suffering from Insomnia and on the advice of his doctor joins a therapy group for really sick patients, but when he bumps into another "tourist" Marla Singer, his insomnia comes back, only to be cured once he bumps into Tyler Durden and forms the fight club as psychotherapy.

Palahnuik got the idea after an altercation, when he was seriously bruised but no-one asked him how he got them. The book is thus a mirror to the certain apathy people have gotten used in the sanitized, compartmentalized world. An apathy which takes away the humanity.

Fight Club was initially published as a 7 page short story in the compilation "Pursuit of Happiness", the story was then extended and the original story became chapter 6 of novel.

The book was reissued in 1999 & 2004 but the original hardcover is still a collector's item. The movie bombed at the box office but the cult following led to good DVD sales later.

The works of Project Mayhem are loosely based on the incidences Chuck heard in Cacophony Society, of which he is a member. Cacophony Society is a randomly gathered network of free spirits in pursuit of experiences which normal society.... something... basically a fringe society.

I would ruin the story for the people who haven't seen the movie or read the book, but I will elicit the rules which he sets as ground rules for fight club
Rule # 1 - You don't talk about fight club
Rule # 2 - You don't talk about fight club
Rule # 3 - When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he is faking it, the fight is over
Rule # 4 - Only two guys to a fight
Rule # 5 - Only one fight at a time
Rule # 6 - They fight without shoes or shirts
Rule # 7 - The fights go on as long as they have to
Rule # 8 - If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight

The main theme of the book to me is a man who is trapped in the sanitized, consumerist world and seeking to breakout from the traps of the Corporate America... he adopts a completely opposite psyche, which too begins to make him uncomfortable as he finds the other extreme just as structured and negative as the first.

The narrator at one point mentions that he desires to "destroy something beautiful", which to me is nothing but the urge to destroy the system, the symmetry, the perfection, or the things which are seen as pursuit of the world which make him feel the way he does... Insignificant

A University of Calgary Literary scholar, Paul Kennett too identifies this desire for chaos as a result of the Oedipus Complex. I think I will cover Oedipus Complex, did I mention I love Ephiphanies.... I just figured out why some of my friends are the way they are =) ..... "which is worse? hell or nothing?" .... "Burn the Louvre.... wipe your ass with the Mona Lisa" ... LOL... Palahnuik is just that good!!

It is a quest for Significance, pushes men to do everything and anything.... I remember somebody saying.. Men have an incessant need to pee their names over everything.... It is kind of like that... In a world where everything has been said, done and explored... what do the "middle children" do?? ... they make noise!!

LOUD, Anarchists, Chaos Seekers are nothing but men seeking their position... their SIGNIFICANCE... their PURPOSE

Another fun thing he talks about is the generation of American Men raised by their mother, who are have been "feminized" and have strong "IKEA Nesting Instincts" ..... I don't know how accurate a depiction this is... it might just be the territorial nature of humans in general (I have it +P) ... but hey!! he at least notices it.. makes you think about it.

Another fun point is the incessant need of people who have issues with father-figures to become the same to others.... Kennett says that this is nothing but another example of the fact that men seeking freedom from father figures only feel free when they become fathers themselves... Hmm... but the book finds another path... READ THE BOOK ... OR ATLEAST WATCH THE MOVIE ... totally worth it =)

Oedipus Complex coming soon ;)