Damned

I was expecting the normal plot twist and instead, the book ended. Now I have to go read the second book, right now. This is the story of Madison, 13 year old girl who finds herself in Hell and her journey from meek and timid girl to ruler of armies in Hell. There is a lot of personal growth for her and I am completely invested to see where she goes from here.

It's funny how a novel about Hell is what we all needed for Chuck Palahniuk to return from his three book slump of the past few years. I enjoyed  Snuff  more than others, but still was dissapointed.  Pygmy  was decent, but I was not a fan of the broken english. I enjoyed the style of  Tell-All , but there wasn't much plot or story behind it.It has been almost fifteen years or so since Chuck began writing  Fight Club: A Novel , and he has changed a lot over his career. In some ways, for the worse. In some, for the better. But overall, "Damned" by Chuck Palahniuk is a hopeful promise for the future, a good return path for Chuck to start up his excellence again.Damned is the story of little Madison, a young woman who wakes up one day to find herself damned to hell. As she prays... er, well, that's not the right word. As she solicits the idea of Satan to come and tell her what she did wrong, to give her meaning to her life, Madison tells the reader a story that stretches from her youngest memories to the most current event in the timeline. In Hell, she meets various characters, and most of them seem to get their own big "moments". Also, Hitler has a cameo.I'm not going to lie, Damned is as funny as Palahniuk's earlier  Choke . Although Madison is in a desperate situation, eternally damned to puberty and no "ta-tas", she has a lot of humor through her language and her tone. Like a lot of other Palahniuk protagonists, Madison is a rampant intellectual, so be prepared to learn a few things along the way, too.As much as I would like to keep singing praises, I do need to address the problems of this book. There are definately scens that could have lasted about seven paragraphs shorter than they did. A lot of seemingly trivial events are stretched out to fill whol chapters, making each individual episode hit-or-miss. Also, I know this is paying homage to "The Breakfast Club", but there are parts where it seems like a downright rip-off (i.e. the whole supporting cast up until, like, page 200).In the end, though, Damned is a solid entry in the career of Chuck Palahnkiuk, the first in a trilogy of novels concerining this Maddie Spencer. Apparently, the next one will be purgatory and the final entry in heaven. Oooohhh. The prospect of a modern Dante's Inferno strikes me as interesting. In the mean time, sit back, relax, and enjoy this novel. As the last words of the book say:"To be continued..."

I don't qualify as an experienced Chuck Palahniuk fan, as this is the first novel of his I have read. The only other book of his I have read was his Portland, Oregon travel book, which having visited that city I found wonderfully descriptive. Damned is one crazy novel. I loved it. His main character Madison is such a smart-ass, that you can't help but like her. I don't think Chuck has done a totally convincing job at trying to talk like a 13 year old dead girl, but I really don't care. And I don't care if there are a few less than logical leaps in the plot either. This book was just plain entertaining. At first I read a chapter or two at a time, but by the time I was 2/3 of the way through the book I just kept reading and reading. Hell is such an interesting place in this book. It sure sounds better than the version religions peddle. So that's where all my fingernail clippings go! (Puzzled by this? Read the book.) Madison's parents are so over the top (a cross between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and Madonna)that you just can't help but laugh at them. Read this book, but please don't take it seriously. It is just fun, and there is no sacred liberal- or conservative- or fascist- idea that is not trashed. If you are easily offended, skip this book. Too bad if you are as this book is too much fun.

I've just experience my first heartbreak as an aspiring writer.Last weekend, I was browsing in Barnes and Noble, when I came across Chuck Palahniuk's Damned. I'm a fan of Palahniuk and Damned, now in paperback, had slipped my attention. I picked it and read the description. Devastation. The story seemed to be remarkably similar to the novel that I'm currently writing and one that I have been workshopping.I calmed myself. Maybe it just seemed to be similar. I bought the book to check it out for myself. Although it is very different than what I'm writing ( and hell, just Palahniuk's tone is so unique to him), there are enough similarities to make me rethink key components of my story.Heartbreak.PLOT - Thirteen year old Madison Spencer is the newest arrival in hell. The daughter of an eccentric celebrity couple, her life on earth was mainly lived as another accessory for her parents. Fat and awkward, popularity has not come easily to Madison. She is unsure of how she died, but she suspects that it may have been a marijuana overdose, occurring while getting stoned with her adopted Russian brother.Hell is a confusing place. Demons run rampant and are quick to devour and torture the deceased, only to have the dead reappear for more torment. It's easy for most people to land in hell. Honk your horn too many times or litter and you might not get a pass to heaven. The landscape is littered with rotten candy, mountains of toe nail clippings and rivers of hot saliva. Telemarketers work from hell, communing with the living through phone surveys.It's hard enough being an awkward thirteen year old girl, but Madison must figure out why she is in hell and how to live in her new existence.LIKE - I liked Palahniuk's vivid imagination in describing hell. It's disgusting and hilarious. Palahniuk's unique style of wit is on every page of the story. I grew to like Madison as our unlikely heroine and I liked her Judy Blume style of writing letters to satan to start each chapter. I'm glad that at the very end of the book ( I'm not going to spoil it), he explained why hell has so much candy. It was a cleaver little twist. I liked the transformation of Madison's character. She's a kick-ass towards the end!DISLIKE - In all of the imaginative details, the stakes got lost. Other than the demons at the start of the story, the characters didn't have a sense of urgency or danger. The consequences were low, which made my interest wane. Along with the stakes, the general plot played second fiddle to the creative details and humor. This isn't to say that Damned wasn't a fun read, but it could have been a more compelling read. The story ended with a "to be continued" and I'm not sure if I would continue with the story.RECOMMEND - If you're a Palahniuk fan, you're going to have to read Damned. This book would have definitely crossed my path at some point. However, if you've not read a novel by Palahniuk, don't start with this one. I enjoyed Choke or Invisible Monsters.Like my review? Check out my blog!

Hmm, two stars for a book by one of my favourite authors; do I dare justify it?First off, Palahniuk's trademark irreverent wit and candour are still there, and they juxtapose aptly enough with a premise as morbid as throwing an overweight 13-year-old smartass, overprivileged but lonely Hollywood brat, Madison Spencer, into hell and eternal damnation. She is there due to a supposed marijuana overdose, when the novel begins, a telling sign of the kind of excess and moral decadence associated with Maddy's upbringing by celebrity parents, but this being a Palahniuk novel, nothing is as it really seems at first.Next, there is a motley cast of characters in the form of four fellow cellmates, strategically placed in close-enough vicinity and who just "so happen" to be teenagers modelled after the cast of John Hughes' 80s cult teen movie, "The Breakfast Club", for Maddy to identify with and form a tenuous clique with quite quickly. (Palahniuk has made specific reference to the movie in interviews as an intended influence on the novel). They break out of their cells to take a tour of Hell, as a kind of induction for Maddy.The putrid landscape of Hell is also detailed with suitably vile description: a sea of wasted sperm, land mounds of dandruff, used diapers, etc... you get the drift, and there are one or two blood-curdling scenes involving the repetitive ingesting of humans by monstrous demons.Then inexplicably, a call centre appears midway in the story and Maddy finds herself working there, making telemarketing calls to the living, and her newfound friends fall away from the focus of the story, only to resurface later.Perhaps I would have moved this up to three stars if the narrative hadn't moved in such a schizophrenic manner. It might be premature to judge it this harshly if indeed this was meant to be a precursor to a larger story.

A very very funny book. The main character is now a 13 year old fat girl and even though she died too quickly to become one of those characteristic Palahniuk antiheroes, it's not always clear how innocent she is. The author brilliantly parallels Hell with Earth and gives a hilarious but heartbreaking account of the idiocy of narcissistic "super-liberal" celebrities, their motives behind seemingly noble and progressive acts and how their version of parenting works out. Maddie is a very intelligent young girl and the story follows her and her new damned friends coping with being dead and in Hell and with finding the courage to improve themselves even after death. Maddie doesn't remember how she died, another thing which will be of interest during the story. I laughed a lot reading this book. It was a fresh perspective (from a 13 year old girl) within an old perspective (good ol' Chuck Palahniuk).

Very enjoyable. Different from his arguably most famous work (Fight Club) but has a very similar feeling to it.It's written as a series of letters which adds an interesting perspective. Funny in parts, disgusting in others, thought-provoking in others still.It won't be for everyone but if you've liked any of his previous novels, you'll most likely enjoy this as well.I highly recommend it.

It took me longer than usual to get through this Chuck book but, I still really enjoyed it. It was classic Chuck, and where it was slightly slow I did continue because I was curious of the characters turmoil. I loved his writing style (as always) and his humour is his usual self so not sure why people are hating it - read it people!

One of the few books I read more than once. Slightly perverse. Highly imaginative. I'm sure some people won't get it but that says more about them than the book.