Chapters 9-12 nothing too, too, major but some interesting tid bits

Chapters nine and ten, nothing interesting to my topic happens and I can neither gather any useful information from these two chapters. Chapter eleven gets good because homosexual questions are still on the rise because on page 89 "Tyler said if I loved him, I'd trust him." I hope that he means love him as a friend because even though the gay community is growing stronger today, when this novel was written 12 years ago it was not so open and strong. Even today people still shun the thoughts of it and how they are perceived if they are gay my be a bad turning point for Tyler and the narrator in the book. They may actually hit rock bottom if they are homosexuals. In chapter twelve the narrators boss finds the original copy of the fight club rules that he typed up. I wonder if he cares what the boss thinks because I can tell the boss is extremely irritated with him right now, but I do not think the bosses perception of him really impacts him at all. I think he would rather be fired then to keep on working there. The narrator also finds out that his parasite support group has been disassembled and he discovers from his friend Bob that there are three new fight clubs that meet on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I think he is pissed because anyone who has been in the Saturday original fight club was not supposed to talk about fight club; those are the fight two rules of the fight club.

Chapters 6, 7 and 8 there is soo much going on its nuts

Rule #1: don't talk about fight club
#2: don't talk about fight club
#3 when someone says stop or is limp even if they are pretending the fight is over

The narrator and Tyler Durden are the creators of Fight Club. They started this because neither had ever been in a fight before and they wanted to know what is was like to be able to hold their own in a fight with another man. All men are the same when they go to fight club. Some are accountants and some are janitors and so forth but when one comes to fight club no one is judged for their jobs or appearance, they all fight to get stress and anger off their chests and after the fight everything that is real is numb. Nothing matters after the fight and week after week one comes back and does it again if he wants to. In one fight the narrators gets his butt kicked by an a new guy and I wonder if people perceive him differently because he is a "veteran." They say that nobody wins or loses, but the question is still their and I wonder if they guys gave him crap about it. Then the narrator gets a kick to the head because Tyler and Marla start "doing the deed" which is a slap in his face because he was starting to like Marla. I guess Marla does not care what the narrator thinks about her, but used to care about what she thought because of the meetings they went to together. The narrator also thinks that Marla has ruined another part of his life: Tyler. I feel bad for him again at this point because it seems like everything is crapping on him and he just goes to the fight club and lets out his stress there. Then the question of homosexual comes up again because on page 72 "Tyler licks his lips wet . . . of my hand." He makes a kiss mark of saliva on the narrators hand and then puts lye on it and it begins to burn through his hand. I do not understand why Tyler would kiss his hand or want to burn the narrator it is very unpleasant to think about this image and why someone would let someone else mutilate them.

Chapters 1-5 confusing, but I'll explain

The big question in chapter one is: why does the narrator talk about Tyler Durden, but then he does not talk about him again until chapter seven or eight? Also I believe that he might be homosexual because there is a big love triangle between him, Tyler and Marla. He wants Tyler, Tyler wants Marla and Marla wants him. Homosexuals have a big problem in todays' society and are looked down upon, so I wonder if people throughout this book will perceive him in a negative light. I hope not because I will feel terrible for him because in personal experience I have many gay friends.

Chapter two was interesting because I discovered that the narrator goes to all these support groups and the other character Marla goes to all of them as well. The way she perceives him is accurate because she knows that he is a faker and a liar, but no other character sees that as of yet. He goes to all these other support groups to see how much worse other peoples lives are than his because he only has insomnia. I think he is a scumbag and that is how I perceive him at this moment.

Chapter three and the narrator finally talks about what Tyler does for his jobs and how he met Tyler. The homosexual question comes back because he meets Tyler at a nude beach and stares at him and what he was making on the beach. What guy on a nude beach would stare at another guy unless he was gay? Apparently Tyler is not gay because he only asks the narrator for the time at the beach, but his occupations are a projectionist and a waiter. There is no perception about Tyler at all until the next few chapters.

Chapters four and five are messed up because the narrator meets Marla at the support groups again and now all he can see is that she perceives him as a faker and liar once again. She is there because no one she knows has died yet so the meaning of life is nothing because she has not experienced anything like death to compare it to. Talk about messed up in the head, I can only imagine what she must think of others and what others must think about her. Also the narrators condo burns to pieces and I feel sympathetic towards him because when I was six my house burnt down so I know how it feels and I am on his side at this point, but that does not mean that my mind will not change later on in the book.

Starting a New One :] Fight Club *

Okay so, sorry George that I haven't been keeping up with this blog but I promise by next week I will have at least one blog on the the beginning of this book and how it pertains to my essential question. Thanks for being patient I really appreciate it. I have just had some crazy things going on in my life with outside school stuff and my grandmother being in the hospital.


Thanks,
L. Katz

Sad Ending But I Knew It Was Going to Happen

The ending to this book was totally screwed up. First I discovered that sex addicts feel nothing besides hunger and tiredness. I think thats terrible. I think Palaniuk decides to have Victor tell us this is because Victor is a scum bag he has no affections and he certainly cant feel anything during sex. Another part of him not feeling anything has to do with a remark that he makes on page 227 of the book, he says, "Emotion is bullshit. I am a rock. A jerk. I'm an uncaring asshole and proud of it." Palaniuk gave one of the best lines in the entire book right there. It totally explains why Victor is the way he is. He hides his feelings and has himself convinced that Sex Addicts cannot feel emotion. Right there he is giving a different perception to people about himself. (WE NEVER GET AWAY FROM ANY PERCEPTION). I also found out that his mother is not his really mother they way I thought she was. She actually stole him out of a stroller because she was an immigrant, so that she could stay in America. . . what a crazy B****. Omg sorry for the provocative language but wow that was appalling to find out. Finally the woman doctor who has been "taking care of Mrs. Mancini", she is actually a patient at St. Anthony's Care Center as well, but her and Victor did fall in love. Again this shows the perception factors that are in reality. She played if off very well that she was a highly significant doctor at the care center and then Victor found out and he was crashed. So, this is one instance that perception can really hurt people in many different ways. Basically that is the end Victor and Dr. Paige Marshall dont see each other again and his poor mother dies.

-- l.katz

ahhh cant wait for the next book. . . .

hmmm. .... interesting

So far the book has been amazing and I cannot put it down (but sometimes i have to hence why i haven't finished it yet. Anyways his mother (Victor's) seems to have a philosophy behind what people can do to make something that will last in this world that we live in. "If you can change the way people think, she said. They way they see themselves (ah ha self perception). The way they see the world ( perception of the world around them). If you do that, you can change the way people live their lives. And that's the only lasting thing you can create." This statement I believe is very contradictory. The reason I say this is because Ms. Mancini can not even tell who people are, not even her own son. I do not understand how she can come to this conclusion about the world and have this statement have so much to do with perception, when she can perceive things accurately for herself. I like how Palaniuk gives this twist to her character and I think it adds maybe a little depth to her because I thought she had none at all. I say this because Palaniuk uses flashbacks of Victors' childhood and talks about how insane his mother was even when she and he were younger. Another interesting comment that I liked was one that Victor made in chapter 31. He says to the reader "Please just show me one thing in this world that is what you'd think." Victor is right on the money when he says this because society today is one big fat lie. He knows and realizes how much people change their appearance or lie about things about themselves just so that people will perceive them in a better light. Victor knows this and really does not give a damn because he is a freakin sex addict. He knows the world would perceive him as dangerous or disgust if anyone knew, and some do and he could care less. I think it shows a great attitude. People should really care less about what other people think about them because then we would not have to put on the fake appearance just to appease everyone. It would give everyone a better perception of each other and society.

-- thats all for now.

-- l.katz

The mom

In the following chapters Victor and his friend Denny go to visit his mother in the care center. The only way that Victor is going to find out what his mother thinks of him is if Denny goes and talks to her and pretends that he is Victor. Another thing that happens is that Dr. Paige Marshall tells victor that in order to save his mother he has to have sex with her, which is not an easy task since he has been sober for about a week now. They will need to take the fetus and plant it into her brain so that she can create new tissue to fix his brain illness. Anyways as his mother talks to Dr. Marshall while Victor is there one day she has brilliant insight. She says that "People spend so much time in judging what other people create that they create very little of their own." She also says that we use "criticism as fake participations." It is funny how she is the one with the brain damage/illness and she is the one that sees how people are constantly perceiving people in the wrong way and in doing so they accomplish nothing in their lives. Also she says that because we use criticism we never really participate in our own lives, thus creating a fake perception to the world around us. I find it interesting how Palaniuk uses Victor's mom to actually convey this message, even when she can not even tell who her son is.

-- l. katz ( catcha later )