Survivor: A Novel Paperback – April 5, 2010

“SURVIVOR”“Survivor” is Chuck’s second book published (1999). It’s not as crude as “Choke” and not as subversive as “Fight Club.” It has the same dark humor that I openly laughed out loud at; thankfully when you are reading, no one knows exactly what you find so amusing. Recently it was announced that “Survivor” is being adapted by Jim Uhls (screenwriter of Fight Club) into a television show. I believe the plot and back story are enough to keep this show afloat for several seasons. I will try to keep my expectations low, to avoid being disappointed.The novel is about Tender Branson, a member of the “Creedish Church.” Only firstborn sons and their wives get to stay in the Creedish community; the rest are sent out to work in the “outside world” as servants, to send their earnings back to the church. Tender spends his time scrubbing the home of employers who seek his advice on etiquette but only ever interact with him via speaker phone. (“What are they serving for dinner? Lobster! How are we supposed to handle that?!”)Following a mass suicide of the Creedish Church community and remaining members in the “outside world,” Tender becomes the sole survivor. A smarmy agent develops Tender into a sacrosanct mega superstar mahatma. (“I told the agent I already knew my childhood. Over the phone he said, “This version’s better.”) “Survivor” is a satirical jab at instant celebrity and religion, blended together with helpful cleaning tips, a history of artificial flowers and the hint of love story.If that isn’t enough plot to entice you to read the book, I am sorry. Someone at Wiki practically re-wrote the book on their site, so I’m doing my best not to reveal too much. Each time I read the book I have found new things to love. All of the people I have recommended this book to, loved it and went on to read more novels by Chuck.Favorite Quote: “You’ve never seen a crucifix with a Jesus who wasn’t almost naked. You’ve never seen a fat Jesus, or a Jesus with body hair. Every crucifix you’ve ever seen, the Jesus could be shirtless and modeling designer jeans or men’s cologne.”Or:“Amphetamines are the most American drug. You get so much done. You look terrific, and your middle name is Accomplishment.”

Terrific novel. You can see the influence of Raymond Carver, Hemmingway—really any minimalist writer—as well as Brett Easton Ellis, Thomas Pynchon—and other satirists of pop-culture, celebrity, mass media, and moral decline. I’ve read a few of Palahnuik’s works—and this was my favorite. Some of the line-by-line writing didn’t exactly blow me away—but where this novel shines is in terms of innovation and plot mechanics. The idea of a novel being the recording of a black box on a plane on a suicide mission, the way the chapters and pages move in descending order towards the literal and existential end, and the wild and yet plausible enough series of encounters that befall the last remaining member of The Creedish Death Cult is almost certain to engross the reader. What makes this book so great, above all, is it’s a story you can’t predict—a mad rollercoaster with a pulse—a satire with heart—in short—a work of art. Not sure if anyone is making this into a movie—but it really is a very compelling story that has a great deal to say about the current socio-political moment.

This is a really great book, and interestingly weird in a "I can't put this down even though I have work in 3 hours" way. I love this author, he has super random and interesting ideas, and his stories are filled with great, issue-riddled characters. This particular book, Surviver, stars the last remaining member of a Creedish cult. His name is Tender, and he begins the book by informing the reader that he has just hijacked a plane and will be reciting his life story into the black box, to ensure that it survives an impending crash into the Australian Outback. It then takes you back in time to the beginning. Through a newspaper typo, he has acquired a suicide hotline, through which he indirectly meets a prophetic dreamer. They start a strange adventure together after someone begins offing the last remaining cult survivers. Tender suspects it to be his estranged twin brother. Definitely a fun read & his books are always worth reading, especially if you appreciate dark humor. Chuck Palahniuk is hilarious and creative; definitely give him a try.

This is the 4th or 5th Chuck Palahniuk story that I have read and I have to say that this is one of the better ones. This book has the usual group of weird cast of characters. In this case a surviving member of a religious death cult and a lady with the curious power to predict the future ( after a fashion). The story is told from the 1st person perspective of the cult member,Tender Branson,and is told from the end of the story so that is an interesting twist. Like so many of Palahniuk's story this one is hard to describe without giving too much away but like so many of his stories it speeds to a fast paced unexpected ending that both revels key facts while at the same time leave the reader scratching their head. If you are a fan of this author you will not be disappointed with this book.

This book was written by Palahniuk when he was at the top of his game and is, in this reviewer’s opinion, his second best book (only Fight Club beats it). Hence it epitomizes all that is great in Palahniuk’s books. It is very subversive, Dadaist, anti-materialist and anti-commercial, irreverent, dystopian, scatological (to a major extent – hence the book is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart) and has a very negative view of humanity in general. All and all it would have made a great movie. The author wishes he could discuss the plot in more detail but this would ruin it for those who did not read the book.Last but not least the audiobook is wonderfully read. The narrative brings out, especially, the irony and Dadaist essence of the book through his readings. Highly recommended.

This was my first Palahniuk novel, and it was a weird one. I liked it as a critique on a lot of different things, but I left not really liking the character that much. He was just a sheep. I know that was kind of the point but otherwise an interesting story.

If the opening of the book doesn't get you, then give up. It opens at the end... There's a guy (Tender Branson), in a plane, that's going to crash, and he's inevitably going to die - and he knows it. Look at the page numbers - they count down i.e. the last page is page 1. So what you get is Tender's painful life, recorded onto the black box recorder of the plane, in a race against time before he and the plane crash into the Australian outback.Tender Branson is born into a Deliverance Day Cult, sold into servitude, and there he stays until one day the whole cult commits suicide. As all cult members (inside and out of the cult village) have been programmed to do the same, the government sets up a survivor programme whereby they try and stop the remaining members following suit. This is fairly unsuccessful as Tender ends up as the only one left alive. This is where the books takes a turn and he is swept up by a media agent who turns Tender into a pre-packaged, TelePrompTed, made-for-TV messiah.Other reviewers have already covered the subjects that this book touches upon. It's angsty, it's nihilistic, and it's got a couple of good one-liners. It's quite far-fetched but it's based in enough reality to keep it interesting. It's a pacy read, it raises questions about modern society and it's well written. Don't know what else I can say other than I really enjoyed it.

I usually value a story with how long it takes for its effect to wear off in my mind, this (not surprisingly) wore off quite quickly. At the beginning it was odd and boring, right in the middle it gets quicker and more interesting but something was missing, there were always gaps I could not fill in. Just as it was getting more exciting, nothing really happened afterwards, too many loose ends, too many question marks. When the story finished, I did not get it, what was the story about? Gwen's part was cool throughout up till the last minute, where it stopped making sense! The thing is, I did not know whether to like it, or hate it. And in couple of days, I forgot most of the details. There were no surprises.

Seems just rehash of fight club with religion and celebrity's as the backdrop rather than soap and working in a office. Chuck's nihilism is in full thrust and the book has some wit and charm but if you have read fight club then you have read this.

This was the second book of Palahniuk's that I read, Fight Club being the first. I didn't think he'd be able to follow with anything nearly as interesting, but I was surprised and happy to find he had. A really strong story, brilliantly delivered and cleverly written, Survivor is Chuck's weird and humorous mind firing on all cylinders. Really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to take a walk around this fascinating man's brain. Good work, sir.

Perfect condition. Fast delivery. Obviously the content is personal choice - my daughters favourite author so found the book superb