Hannah’s Weblog

first of all this book is really hard to read and not think about the movie. and whenever something happens that  didn’t happen in the movie i’m trying to picture edward norton doing or saying that. i’m tryin to stop because obviously the book was writtne first…

the first six chapters were pretty dead on with the movie though. its not until later that the scenes and dialogue gets jumbled together. marla seems a little nicer. i think another reason why i have to reference the movie in my mind is that the book is much more choppy and sporatic than the movie- if thats possible. you get more of a reference to why the narrator and marla come to these support groups- to feel alive. another thing that caught my attention was how the narrator says he never gives his real name in support groups. he says that in the movie too,  but it was interesting because we never do learn the narrators real name- only Tyler Durden’s.

how they met was really weird. on a nude beach? that is so out of the blue. where was there a reference to a beach anywhere else? i think they’re in miami so i guess it wouldn’t be so odd… but just how he’s creating a hand? and then perfection is only for a moment in the palm of that hand. i’m sure its some kind of metaphor, maybe for the work that he will do later on? are they only hoping for an instant of perfect world and then expect the world to get crapped on again?

there are definately more “father” references in the book. he talks about his father early on 49-50 and on 53 there are all absent father references, about fighting him, hating him, etc. and later on there is more said about the lack of direction in there lives bc there is no father. and then even later comes the “father as a model for God” and “if your father has failed you what do you think about God?” again the reoccuring theme of the absent power figure as a main idea of modernism and postmodernism. another thing, since i’m on “isms” is that i’ve been reading the “romantics” in another class and they are all about searching for truth, beauty and love- and i just wanted to point out that whatever movement Tyler’s getting at couldnt’ be further away from this one. the number one rule in Project Mayhem is “don’t ask questions”. This goes so far against not just romanitics but i think almost every moment i can think of! even the post modernists are all about questioning everything so… where does that leave Tyler?

and chloe. is anyone else as creeped out by the narrators reaction to her death? he says it should be the sweetest moment (35-37) of his life and Marla is ruining it by being in the same room with him. and then he goes into how she probably died and i was really disturbed… why is death such a high for him? i thought he went there to feel more alive, to feel like he was going to live while everyone around him was dying. and then hes overjoyed when someone does. maybe because she proved it to him, that people do die… it doesn’t make much sense to me.