Choke by Chuck Palahniuk Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Choke
Book Review: A very different plot
Summary: 3 Stars
`Choke' is about Victor Mancini, who pretends to choke to gain people's attention and love. He is a sex addict, a medical school dropout, earning a meager amount. He chokes on food so that someone can save him. The person who saves his life starts feeling responsible for Victor's life and starts sending him money. Victor does this to earn enough to keep his insane Mom in a hospital.
Victor's character is not well developed and so are the others. There is just one dimension to the characters - their limitations. Chuck's writing style comes as a fresh breeze - very different! He has an amazing writing style which might be a little difficult to get used to.
There is a first person narration by Victor Mancini which is in the present tense and a third person narration which talks about Victor's life when he was a boy. Victor's mom is an eccentric and is in jail half the time. Victor has a very close friend who is addicted to collecting rocks and he is also a sex addict. The book becomes dirty at times when talking about sex. It becomes gross when the hospital scenes are described.
After finishing the book, I was wondering what the book was all about.
Weird is not the right word, but that's the first thing that comes to mind.
If you don't want to experiment with a different writing style or a different theme, do NOT try this book.
Book Review: A very fine novel with a great ending
Summary: 4 Stars
Though I loved the film version of FIGHT CLUB, I must admit that Chuck Palahniuk's cult novel didn't impress me. However, I enjoyed his writing style, so I decided to read some more of his work. The premise of CHOKE intrigued me, so I decided to read that next.
CHOKE is the story of Victor Manicini, a former medical student who was forced to leave school to pay his mother's medical bills, as she has recently been placed in a nursing home. To pay the bills, Victor goes to restaurants and pretends to choke on his food. He discovers that people will rush to save him, and then, out of pity, send him money or do favors for him. When Victor is not choking on assorted kinds of food, he is engaging in a variety of sexual encounters with various women. Flashbacks show us that Victor's mother was rather loony even when younger, and by telling Victor conspiracy theories and other bits of disturbing information, she has made him unable to have a lasting relationship with women. Victor does have a relationship - if you could call it that - with his "best friend", Denny, another sexaholic who begins collecting rocks to forget about his desires.
It took me a while to get into CHOKE. Chuck Palahniuk's novels are usually very dark and depressing, cynical and nihilistic, but they're also quirky and funny. Once Palahniuk establishes the characters, and gives us an idea of the situation, he allows his style to come out, and this was when I got hooked. Still, CHOKE is more-or-less just a series of moments in Victor's life and it doesn't really tell an epic tale, as in FIGHT CLUB; however Palahniuk is such a talented writer that it takes one quite a while to notice, and by the time one does notice, we're too hooked to care. Certainly the greatest part of the novel is the ending, a brilliant finale which explodes out of nowhere and will leave your head spinning for a long while after finishing the book.
CHOKE may not be a masterpiece, but it's a very fine novel that Palahniuk fans should dig.
Book Review: Achievement in love
Summary: 5 Stars
What can I say he did it again? This is Palahniuk's funniest book yet and more odd than any other, even "Invisible Monsters". I was taken aback by "Choke" because it is not the same as the others. It has a special additive of fantasy entwined in it, which captivates the reader. As usual the main character, Vincent Mancini with his numerous sexual encounters and hilarious moments, leads the story into a web of uncertainty, confusion, and explicit sexuality whether in another woman's bedroom, the mile high club, or in the hospital where his mother is dying. I loved this book and recommend it to any one looking for a bizarre story that has a tremendous heaping of humor in it.Book Review: All Choked Up
Summary: 4 Stars
"Choke" was my first experience into the world of Chuck Palahniuk. I am probably in the minority in that I have not read "Fight Club" or seen its translation to the big-screen. So based on what I did know about that work, my expectations were set for a gritty, darkly humorous reading experience. Palahniuk not only delivers on grittiness and dark humor but also throws in a generous dose of shock value too. I believe I am not prudish or easily shocked, but I will readily admit to a raised eyebrow and a dropped jaw on several occasions while reading "Choke." However, I often felt that Palahniuk was simply competing in a game of self-one-upman-ship. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I do not think I will be recommending to a whole lot of folks in my circle who prefer more "traditional fare (which may just be 95% of fiction out there when being compared to Palahniuk).Palahniuk is certainly worthy of being included in the genre of "gonzo" fiction - experimental, pushing the edges, no limits. Some of the scenarios Palahniuk's protagonist, Victor Mancini, finds himself in and around are pure genius. However, they often just seem strung together in an attempt to form (maintain?) some semblance of a narrative. If given the opportunity, I would rate the book -- 3 1/2 stars. Palahniuk certainly deserves kudos for his originality and sheer brashness -- but I can not help but believe he has better stuff in him than "Choke."
Book Review: All Choked Up
Summary: 4 Stars
After seeing Fight Club, I had to read Chuck Palahniuk. The premise of a man pretending to choke in restaurants seemed irresistable, so I picked this book up first. It was well worth it. Chuck's clipped sentences, carefully chosen details, and repetition of phrases (See also: Fight Club's "I am Jack's" sentences) combine to make masterful prose. However, it turned out the book dealt more with Victor's addiction problems than the actual choking scheme, something that caught me off guard. Anyone expecting the book to take place primarily in a restaurant will be quite surprised.The only problem I had is near the end. When a religious element was thrown in, I became completely bewildered. Once I read the ending, all made sense and was fine. I give this four stars instead of five because of the vagueness also near the ending. While ambiguity is one thing, some of the scenes were entirely unclear.
Overall, this is an excellent read. If you're tired of drawn out, pretentious novels with no real voice or originality, pick up some Palahaniuk before you choke on other authors' inferior words.