Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Jonathan Cape, £12.99
PERHAPS BEST known for his legendary novel Fight Club, Palahniuk’s latest offering more than matches his previous standard of irreverent musings on the stranger elements of modern life.
This time we are introduced to Buster “Rant” Casey – a remarkable man accused of spreading a silent, urban plague of rabies – via the retelling of his short, dramatic life story through the voices of many varied characters. In a world where people are categorised into the privileged Day and the infected, shunned Night, the latter take on the illegal and dangerous pastime of Party Crashing to get their kicks. What follows is a story of political segregation, time travel and infamy, beginning in the strange folklore of small town America and ending in the anonymous, threatening cities.
By far the most entertaining elements of the novel are the descriptions of Party Crashing, where groups gather in designated fancy dress, decorate their cars and crash into each other, which will doubtless remind most of you reading this of a twisted, extreme version of the BOP!
Palahniuk’s prose is as ever vivid and compelling, viewing his world with a sardonic wit and an unforgiving eye. Overall the story is fascinating and very readable, but towards the end, as the many threads of the narrative begin to come together, things get confusing. Palahniuk’s theorising on time travel through the irritating, up-talking Neddy Nelson begins to grate. I had to read the second half of the novel twice to fully grasp it, which reminded me of The Matrix - complicated, but well worth the effort.
7/10
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