Pygmy [Hardcover]

 

 

Create your own review

Don't get me wrong, I usually love Chuck's work - even the stuff everyone else hates. So, it pains me to have to give this novel a single star, which apparently in Amazon-speak means "I hate it".
For one thing, the book is written in a broken English reminiscent of scenes from bad racist parodies of Asian cultures in sketch comedy TV shows. Conceptually, this works given the premise of the book; practically, it makes the book incredibly difficult to read for more than a chapter or two.
Even ignoring the difficult language the content of the story itself is boring - something I have never been able to say about one of Palahniuk's books. Even the few "shock value" moments failed to draw my attention more deeply into the story.
Simply put, there is really nothing about this book that would make me recommend it to anyone. If this was the first Chuck Palahniuk book I'd ever read it would be hard to convince me to ever attempt to read another.

A few years back I would have told you Palahniuk was one of my favorite authors. His work is cutting edge, unique, and always shocking. Each of his works is unique, from other authors and from his own works. Palahniuk has an incredibly imaginative and creative mind. The closest authors to him are: in Canada Douglas Coupland and in the UK Irvine Welsh. But the problem with always shocking and being so unique is each new work must outdo the previous. As such I think I have lost my taste for Palahniuk's writings.

The book is unique, different and well-written. It is the story of Pygmy, one of a group of youths from a totalitarian state that has been sent to the United States, to live with Christian families and experience a better life. At least that is what the Host Families and church believe. Yet in reality these youths have been raised from a young age as agents of the state, part of a planned terrorist attack on the States.

Palahniuk does a great job of dissecting Midwestern life through foreign eyes. It is a satire both of America's fears and of America itself. However the story is just too much - male rape, high school massacre, planned seductions, pregnancies and impregnations. And the whole book is written as a series of dispatches from Pygmy to his home government, written in a halting, misunderstood English. Palahniuk captures a feel about the language, yet still conveys his message.

Palahniuk's books are usually a pleasure to read and so addictive that I cannot put them down. Some I have read more than once, even back to back - finished it and started reading it again. That was not the case this time. Twice I put it down for a few days, and was uncertain I would pick it up again to finish it. This was the first Palahniuk book I have read that I easily predicted the ending; that, in and of itself, was a disappointment. As a book it is okay, but as a Palahniuk book it is disappointing on many levels. For the hardcore Palahniuk fans out there - they will love it. I think I have just lost my taste for his extremism.

(First Published in Imprint 2009-05-29.)

I'm not even sure where to begin with this novel. The first book I had ever read by Chuck Palahniuk was Haunted, which wasn't the most fantastic book that I've read, but it was fun and delightfully gruesome. After reading that one, I was hooked on the author and went out and bought a few of his other books.

The problem with Pygmy, or the fact that I bought Pygmy, is that I bought it from Amazon, based on it's premise from the back cover. I thought it sounded really, really good. What I need to learn to do is to first look at a book'a physical, tangible book'before I buy online. Or at least, see if I can look inside the book online. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I probably would have picked up another'any other'Palahniuk book.

I'm going to say that it's not the most terrible book that I've read, but it's not what I was expecting from Palahniuk. The whole thing just fell short of what I was promised'I expected more of an attack by the end, whereas I just got a mediocre, blah ending. And the journey to the ending wasn't even worth it. I hate ranting on Palahniuk, but honestly, I started skimming by about page 140.

One of the good things of the novel is how Palahniuk pokes fun at American life. At times it was very humorous and the way the 13-year-old comrade describes certain things or places is interesting. Though, I felt like something was missing. I hate to ruin the book for you if you haven't read it, but let me throw out a scenario: Say you and your family are drugged while eating dinner'when you woke up, wouldn't something more happen than just a little bit of confusion and the carrying on of life?

And what about the other eye? (again, don't want to ruin it, but if you've read the novel, seriously, what gives?)

The disjointed, choppy writing style was slightly refreshing at first, but just started to get annoying'hence, my skimming. And at times, I felt like it just didn't make sense. If a 4-year-old can recited the periodic table and is just oh-so-smart, how could he not grasp another language? Why would his dialogue be so choppy? At one point in the novel, the narrator, our comrade who speaks in short, sometimes nonsensical sentences, corrects another characters usage of 'who' changing it to 'whom.' If he knows how to use 'whom' in a sentence, how does he not know English?

The book relies heavily on quotes from a variety of communist leaders, which is okay, but towards the end Palahniuk throws in a quote by D.H. Lawrence which just seemed very out of place. Not to mention the fact that the end is tied up in a little bow, so to speak. Again, not what I was expecting.

After reading Haunted, I had braced myself for the gruesomeness that Palahniuk incorporates into his writing, but honestly, I didn't find this book to be that bad. Yes, there's sodomy and shootings and whatnot, but mix that with the writing style and it's just not the same. My mouth wasn't dropping open at any point during the novel because of twists and turns'I didn't find it that exciting. I know he was going for satire, but maybe I just didn't get it.

I'm not going to give up on Palahniuk, though. I plan to give his other novels a read and I'm sure I'll enjoy them.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 13 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

1.0 out of 5 stars These book so bad I not like
This is the worst Chuck P. book I've ever read... I usually like his stuff. Haunted and Survivor are freaking amazing. Nothing awsome in PYGMY alas - just frustration. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Propaganda is Painless

1.0 out of 5 stars Can't be bothered
I'm a huge fan of Chuck's and I'm sure some brilliance is included in Pygmy but trying to figure out the verbiage was not a good spend of my rec time. Read more

Published 6 months ago by James Briggs

3.0 out of 5 stars He's known for better
Not one of my favorite Palahniuk books, but he tried something fresh by using a wacky Soviet-inflected, kinda-English dialect with the main narrative. Read more

Published 17 months ago by SBuckle

5.0 out of 5 stars I can understand the love it/ hate it reviews...
I can understand how there seems to be a chasm in the reviews of Pygmy. Either people love it, or people hate it. Read more

Published 19 months ago by ElektroDrummer

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book; both physically and in content.
A very good book to read, and the hard cover is very good quality as well.

The book has some content that could be pretty offensive to younger people though, so it'd... Read more

Published on Feb 9 2010 by Stewart

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable, if you make the effort
The prose is difficult to read at first, but after the first few chapters it gets easier to digest, though its content may not be so easy to take. Read more

Published on Aug 24 2009 by D. Coulombe

1.0 out of 5 stars VERY hard to read
I was thoroughly disappointed in this book. The premise is a good one. A totalitarian state sends undercover operatives to infiltrate the US by looking like exchange students... Read more

Published on Aug 21 2009 by NorthVan Dave

5.0 out of 5 stars Pygmy is Highly Underrated!
Yes I agree, it is a somewhat difficult read, but nonetheless, if it were written any other way, it would not have the same impact. Read more

Published on July 30 2009 by B. Miller

3.0 out of 5 stars Really Gross Black Satire About Cultural Differences And Conditioning

"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Read more

Published on Jun 9 2009 by Donald Mitchell

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, Chuck
Oh, Chuck.

Even with your 14 year old boy sledgehammer sexual innuendo, I did enjoy reading most of your books. Read more

Published on May 26 2009 by Princess Lucy

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 13 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!