Being an avid Chuck Palahniuk fan, I find it my duty to read all of his books. This time around I finally finished reading Snuff. While attempting to catch up on all his old greats, the feeling of being pressed for time is one that is constantly nipping at my heels. At this point, with the release of each new book he puts out I’m not ashamed to admit that Palahniuk can write faster than I can read; making him that much more of a writer, and me perpetually that much less of a ‘reader’. But aside from that lets talk about Snuff.
Snuff follows a small group of characters, Mr. 72, Mr. 137, Mr. 600 as well as one or two others. Each being one of 600 men looking to break history by fornicating with the aging, once famous porn star Cassie Wright. It sounds raunchy, that’s because it is. But don’t let that fool you, its not all dirty innuendos and puns. Such as Chitty Chitty Gang-Bang. Or, The Da Vinci Load. Or, The Tale of Two Titties. Its much more than that. Snuff is laced with themes of lust, longing, female empowerment, and struggling with ones own sexuality. While this formula may seem like an instant recipe for success, especially with today’s fascination with sex, its not; at first. Snuff is one of Chuck’s shortest books. Although out of all the previous stories Ive read from him, this one took me the longest to get through. It was twice that I got about 60 pages or so in and then sort of lost interest. That’s not to say that the writing was bad, just that the story didn’t fully grab my attention until I got further into the book.
What kept me coming back was my knowledge of Chucks writing style. Some may say that his books lack that initial spark and for a moment or two throughout the first few chapters of Snuff I felt the same. The characters felt indistinguishable, the setting felt drab and the story felt like it had no underlying arch. While I almost gave up and put this one back on the shelf, I’m extremely glad I didn’t. This may not be the best place to start if you have not read any of Palahniuk’s previous work although for any fan of his writing this is certainly worth checking out.
In typical fashion, the ending climax was redeeming of any previous downfalls and managed to make me cringe while simultaneously putting a smile on my face. Its certainly not his best work, in fact, its far from it. With that being said, don’t get the wrong idea. Snuff is still chock full of laughs, nauseating moments, and enough pop cultural references to make your head spin. Its certainly a fun ride, one you’ll be glad you took, just don’t expect it to pick up speed fast.
4/7
