Survivor (Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk)

Member Name: moronboy

Product:	Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
Date:	14/11/00 (262 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Another fearful report from the end of the world

Disadvantages: None

Impossible to imagine, but 'Survivor' is allgedly being considered as a Hollywood movie. Obviously, if you'd read Palahniuk's 'Fight Club' a few years ago, and someone said that a wholly faithful and hugely rewarding movie would be made from it with big stars, you'd be like, yeah, right. But somehow, I think the story of Tender Branson, narrating his sorry tale as cult survivor and modern-day media messiah is just a little too much (oh, but I'd retain the 'Fight Club' team with Fincher directing and either Pitt or Norton as Tender).

'Fight Club' see society unravelling because of a generation of fatherless men who don't know where to put themselves any more - 'Survivor' is about a religious figure created solely through marketing, media appearances and image. Being the last surviving member of a religious cult (which is both ridiculous and horribly believable), Tender is taken up by the media and becomes a spokesperson for a religion which is run by advertising and product placement.

Like 'Fight Club'. there is another weird male / female relationship here (Tender's girlfriend is a psychic who can predict disasters), and a very bitter, very bleak view of how people live their lives. Like 'Life of Brian', the book attacks religion rather than faith, and is a pretty damning indictment of America's love-affair with television.

One important thing: Tender is narrating on a plane which is about to crash, but according to an interview I read with Palahniuk, the ending isn't quite what it seems and there is an early clue as to what really happens. My copy is currently two hundred miles away, so I can't re-read it, so when you read the book (which, honestly, you should), do so carefully.

Summary: