REVIEW: 'Damned' by Chuck Palahniuk

"According to my wristwatch I've been dead for three months, two weeks, five days and seventeen hours. Subtract that from infinity and you get some idea why loads of doomed souls abandon all hope."

Meet Madison Spencer, the thirteen year old narrator of 'Damned' by Chuck Palahniuk, who takes you with her on a journey of self-discovery as she finds herself wandering around the depths of Hell after a marijuana overdose. At first glance, 'Damned' seems like a coming-of-age story that borrows satirically from our coming of age favourites: Judy Blume's 'Are You There God, It's Me Margaret' and 'The Breakfast Club'.

It's not an easy book to get into: it took me a few months, reading a couple of pages every now and then, wondering if I'd ever progress or come to warm to this teenage girl, who's the product of rich parents who love her in your stereotypical 'we have no time to love you, and aren't quite sure if we know how, having kids seemed like the right things to do for our image' kind of way, and thinks she's a lot more clever than she actually is. At some point, I wondered if I disliked her because she's clearly what a white male author thinks a thirteen year old girl is like. Maybe it's meant to be satire. Who knows.

Luckily, the book picks up about two-thirds in, and becomes rather difficult to put down as the plot begins to thicken and point of the book starts hitting you in the face with each turn of the page (I found myself having a few 'oh, so that's what that was all about moments'), and you're getting all excited that the book is finally as interesting as the amazing covered promise and then - BAM. You fall off the edge of a cliffhanger, screaming 'DAMNIT PALAHNIUK - HOW DARE YOU MAKE IT INTO A SEQUEL' Basically, it ends much better than it starts, and the plot (and its twists), rather than the characters, leaves you wishing for more. 

On Goodreads, I gave this 4/5 stars, which was probably (definitely) too generous. Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favourite authors, so the writing itself is enjoyable, the cultural references are a nice way to give yourself brownie points when you understand them, and I think I might have let out the odd chuckle here and there, but it took me bloody ages to get into, Madison is about as annoying to read as you imagine annoying thirteen year olds to be, and once I finally got into it, it ended in a bloody cliffhanger. The chances of me rushing out to buy the sequel 'Doomed', are currently very low.

Overall, I give this 3/5 stars, and would recommend it to people who like their fiction peppered with culture references, and sitting somewhere between satire, humour, horror and 'I'm not sure if that scene was entirely appropriate'. Definitely not Palahniuk's best work, but he could do worse. 

Have you read Damned? Are you a Chuck Palahniuk fan?

The Book Edit #1

Another day, another post that I hope to make a regular feature on my blog! When I was younger I was an avid reader but then something happened when I started university and all of a sudden reading for fun went out of the window. However I've recently started reading with fervour again, and want to share with you what I've finished reading, what I'm reading and what's on my reading wishlist. H

Read

The Romantic Movement : Sex, Shopping and The Novel by Alain de Botton

In the Romantic Movement, you meet Alice. Alice meets Eric. They date for a long time. And then, for reasons they end. Alain de Botton uses their relationship to expose theories on the nature of love with chapter titles such as ‘In love with love’ or ‘Diving, Rousseau and Thinking Too Much’ that merge philosophy, psychology and fiction to create, what I think, is a truly fascinating thought-provoking read. I can’t find fault with de Botton’s writing style – in fact he’s fast become my favourite contemporary philosopher because of his way of sharing his thoughts without making it seem stuffy, academic and pretentious. I highly recommend this book if you’re a hopeless romantic like me and would like to see some of the questions you’ve always asked yourself about your relationships answered in an interesting, entertaining way. 

I don’t often find books I would re-read, but I’ve read this three times now and I daresay I will again. 

Rating: 5/5

Currently Reading

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

If you’ve not heard about this book which has recently been adapted into a film starring Ben Affleck, then we are chilling in two very different corners of the world. Like ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ by John Green, the hype surrounding it made me want to pick up a copy just to see what the fuss was all about. But unlike TFIOS, I actually find myself enjoying this story, and I just really, really need to find out where Amy is. Go pick up this book – now! 

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She “Learned” by Lena Dunham

Err…I’m not sure why I picked up this book. I’ve not even decided whether I like Lena Dunham or not and this book is only marginally helping because I think I like it when I really wanted to hate it, so naturally I'm angry at it for defying my expectations of crap-ness. I’ve wanted to write a memoir since I was fourteen and had done nothing of importance at all, so I applaud that she’s written one (we should al write memoirs). And it’s not terrible. But it’s terribly Lena. So if you can’t stand Girls, don’t read this. I cringe at the show, and I physically cringed at parts this book, but I’m apparently a masochist. 

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Am I the only one who always has a book for when I’m on the toilet? This is my current bog-book. Mainly because I want to read it – I’m a fan of Criminal Minds and Capote’s journalistic style, analysing everything about the family, the criminals and the repercussion of their murders in a sleepy Kansas Town in 1959 gives me that in book form – but it’s not one of those books that calls at me to rush it. So far, so good, though it did take me awhile to get into it.

Want To Read

Dear John by Nicolas Sparks

I never read The Notebook and I’ve only just finished watching it after years of telling myself I would. I’m not sure why I feel that I’ll like Dear John any better, but I like letters and love stories and I haven’t read or watched something soppy in awhile. This needs to be remedied. 

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

It’s a classic, it’s referenced in The Romantic Movement and it’s probably one of those books you should read before you die to find out why people were so scandalised in 1857 when it came out. Needless to say, I'm intrigued.