the chuckster does it again

I've been getting into Chuck Palahniuk's stuff lately. I picked up Diary from a friend a couple of years ago and I thought it was great. Fight Club, being an amazing film, was good, maybe not quite as good as the film, but interesting, especially for a first novel. Haunted was brutal and again, very interesting though confusing a bit at times. So in the past couple of weeks I picked up Choke, which was okay, and tonight I finished Lullaby, which was excellent.

Though often nihilistic and pretty disgusting at times, Chuck's got a way with words and a rather bizarre imagination and Lullaby, I think at least, really lets his talents loose. This is definitely my favorite story so far of his. What I found most interesting was the issues he raises concerning materialism, consumerism, free will, and such. Basically the story goes like this. The narrator, a journalist, discovers a lullaby that when read to someone (eventually he discovers you can just think it about someone), they will die. He investigates a rash of infant deaths, discovers the common thread, but while trying to destroy all copies of the book containing the poem, he begins to use it. In his quest for the original source of the poem which most likely contains spells to bring dead people to life, to make people fall in love with you, to fly, etc., he starts to question his motivations and what free will is all about.

He's a man who is besieged by noise, living in a society that is inundated with sound. Terrified of silence, the people in the book fill their lives with TV, music, commercials, anything. And the narrator begins to question if what he thinks he wants is really what he wants or just what he's been told he wants.

And now comes plenty of spoilers, so be warned, he realizes that he has to deal with his sin, he has to seek forgiveness, he has to face justice, and he must rid himself of the things that seek to define him and label him. He must rid himself of the power that he has. And though Chuck flirts with a lot of Scripture and Jesus imagery throughout, he doesn't take it to the final conclusion as we see the main character trying to right the wrongs himself. But the quest for purpose, forgiveness, justice, mercy, etc. was incredibly moving, and yes there was plenty of the nasty stuff that makes Palahniuk who he is.

What it ended up reminding me of was the story of the rich ruler who approaches Jesus and asks what he has to do for eternal life. Jesus answers with a list of commandments the man has obeyed. When the man replies that he's got those down, no problem, Jesus then tells him to sell everything he has and follow him.

The narrator and his "friend/love interest/enemy" (it's complicated) have to deal with this very issue. The companion is doing assassinations for money using the spell and as she seeks to destroy the spell that made her rich, she gives what she has away, ultimately resulting in her losing her life (at least her physical body, there's an interesting switcharoo there). The narrator sacrifices his health, his job, and is even willing to die when he realizes the extent of his sin. He seeks reconciliation with his father and eventually tries to put things right.

So then on my walk home I started thinking about how all of this resonates with me. How much of what I want is just what I'm told I want by our culture? How much of what I have gets in the way of me following Jesus? And what do I need to let go so that I can truly live?

Anyway, great book, highly recommend it, though you should probably be at least 25 before reading anything by Palahniuk. :-)