“Annoying” might not be the right word….But it’s the first word that comes to mind

Yesterday I finished listening to Choke. The book starts with a statement that you should not read it and that you are going to hate the character. Interesting, but that makes me want to either find redeeming things in the character or double guess the actions of the character. In this case, it is some of both.

The story is odd, but then that is expected. It is Chuk Palahnick after all. He does a nice job of making sure that as a reader you react to his descriptions that use lots of vulger descriptions and language in a physical way. I know he wants this just from listening and it is confirmed with the end of the audiobook. The end contains an interview with him and he makes a point discussing that.

Chuck is also the reader. I have mixed feelings about the author as reader. He is an author, not an actor, and his delivery is “slacker-esque”. It makes you feel the character as a burn out hippy at times. The burnt out part is not far fetched but sometimes I wanted more expression from him. My other problem is the story. Decent enough characters with quirks and oddities but the story never really comes together. The whole time I was listening I kept thinking “and….this is happening because??”. I never feel like that happens.

From what I have also read, there are stronger books out there by him. I will give it another chance. My brother is a fan so maybe I should ask him for a recommendation (Brian - any ideas??)

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 16th, 2005 at 2:41 am and is filed under Audiobooks.