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Description edit
Chuck Palahniuk's darkly funny first novel tells the story of a disenfranchised young man frustrated with his bureacratic job and superficial relationships and disillusioned with the consumer culture's prepackaged pleasures. Relief for him and his peers comes in the form of Tyler Durden, the... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is a book that takes you on a trip through a mans insomniac life. A man known as "the narrator" suffers from insomnia and abruptly does things that he does not realize. After an attempt for the narrator to blow up his condo, he moves in with Tyler Durden. Tyler... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- The Narrator: Main character and narrator of story. Tired of his mundane life, seeking a change and a human connection.
- Dr. Tyler Durden: Anarchist and primitivist that starts Fight Club and leads the narrator into the darker side of life.
- Marla Singer: Narrator meets her at support groups. She later becomes Tyler Durden's mistress/girlfriend.
- Robert "Big Bob" Paulson: Former bodybuilder who meets the narrator at a support group for Testicular cancer.
- Angel Face: Space monkey. Gets the nickname for having a 'beautiful' face.
- Chloe: A girl in the parasite support group that the narrator attends.
- Albert: Host of a dinner party where Tyler works as a server. Married to Madam.
- Tasha Black: Add a description of this character.
- Madam: A rich woman throwing a dinner party that Tyler works at as a waiter.
- Raymond K. Hessel: Store employee whose life is undeniably changed by and encounter with Tyler Durden.
- Leslie
- Mrs. Patrick Madden
- Joe
- Patrick Madden
- Walter
Quotes edit
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“Don't think of it as extinction. Think of it as downsizing.”
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“On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero.”
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“And I wasn't the only slave to my nesting instinct. The people I know who used to sit in the bathroom with pornography, now they sit in the bathroom with their IKEA furniture catalogue.”
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“It's only after you've lost everything," Tyler says, "that you're free to do anything.”
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“Burn the Louvre and wipe your ass with the Mona Lisa. This way at least, God will know our names.”
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“This was freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.”
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“"You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're the all singing, all dancing crap of the world."”
Tyler Durden -
“Being tired isn't the same as being rich, but most times it's close enough.”
Chuck Palahniuk (in afterword)
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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'It’s only after you’ve lost everything,” Tyler says, 'that you’re free to do anything.”
Highlighted by 626 Kindle customers -
'We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we’ll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won’t. And we’re just learning this fact,” Tyler said. 'So don’t fuck with us.”
Highlighted by 521 Kindle customers -
Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.
Highlighted by 489 Kindle customers -
'If you don’t know what you want,” the doorman said, 'you end up with a lot you don’t.”
Highlighted by 485 Kindle customers -
It’s easy to cry when you realize that everyone you love will reject you or die. On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero.
Highlighted by 482 Kindle customers -
At the time, my life just seemed too complete, and maybe we have to break everything to make something better out of ourselves.
Highlighted by 454 Kindle customers -
One minute was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection.
Highlighted by 428 Kindle customers -
'You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.”
Highlighted by 401 Kindle customers -
If I could wake up in a different place, at a different time, could I wake up as a different person?
Highlighted by 376 Kindle customers -
Maybe self-improvement isn’t the answer. Tyler never knew his father. Maybe self-destruction is the answer.
Highlighted by 238 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Parker-Morris Building: A fictional building in the novel, the "tallest building in the world".
- The Paper Street House: The dilapidated house on Paper Street is Tyler Durden's house. The narrator moves into the house after his condo is destroyed by an explosion. The house is practically condemned. The only neighbors are a closed machine shop and a block-long warehouse. A past tenant collected magazines, so there are stacks piled high in the basement and almost every room. The house becomes the headquarters and training ground for Project Mayhem members.
- The Support Groups: Noted support groups in the story include Remaining Men Together (the testicular cancer group), Free...
- Project Mayhem
- Ireland
- Seattle
- Dulles
- Chicago
Organizations edit
- Fight Club: A club started by Tyler and The Narrator. The club meets in closed shops and bars to fight one on one with other members.
- Project Mayhem: A group that commits random acts of destruction
First Sentence edit
TYLER GETS ME a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die.
Table of Contents edit
Acknowledgements
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Afterword
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 76 of 69 in Top 10+. (publisher series)
This book is in Books Filmed By David Fincher. (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Chuck Palahniuk (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Country: USA
Publication Date: August 1996
ISBN: 0-393-03976-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Country: USA
Publication Date: August 1996
ISBN: 0-393-03976-5
Page Count: 208
Awards edit
- Oregon Book Award (1997: Fiction, #1)
- Guardian 1000 (Science Fiction & Fantasy)
- Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (1997)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PS3566.A4554
- Dewey: 813
Subjects edit
Popular Tags
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Movie Connections edit
- Fight Club (IMDb): 1999
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Books with Additional Background Information edit
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