I have to read it again. Its one you have to finish before you judge it. ( )

incredibly weird, incredibly hilarious, incredibly incredible. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this Palahniuk novel and the absurd web he spins. ( )

This is an adult novel by the author of Fight Club. Tender Branson was in a technologically reverse cult (think Amish) until he was expelled at adulthood and sent into the "real world" to be a servant for the rich. This novel tells the story in retrospect as he is the only person left on a plane as it runs out of fuel on auto-pilot and he is telling his story to the black box flight recorder. Tender was a twin but instead of being the eldest he was a few seconds after and this means he cannot marry in the cult or have children but must serve those outside. His job for these rich people involves every minute of his day catalogued with some meaningless chore (i.e. 2pm, scrub fireplaces) Along the way he gets involved in a suicide help line where he "helps" people to suicide, and, more importantly every single member of his cult suicides! With a health worker watching him to make sure he doesn't top himself, he meets Fertility (the brother of a boy Tender told to kill himself) - strange woman who likes the voice on the "help" line but thinks that Tender in real life is a loser. In the mess that Tender has made from himself, his health worker suspects that he is NOT the last member of the cult and also that the remaining members were actually murdered. She fears that Tender will turn up dead also and, while helping him with his chores, turns up dead! Who is left in the cult that is killing the remaining members of the cult? A very intriguing book with unexpected plot twists and turns but definitely NOT for a school library unless it is Senior students only.

Despite the dark themes - a suicide cult, a serial killer, the manipulative nature of the mass media - Survivor manages to be a witty and uplifting book. Much of the wit comes from Palahniuk's prose style with his dry turns of phrase and his eye for the unusual simile, but there's also a liberal helping of satire in the text too, both in the way the general poplace view the Creedish Death Cult and Tender Branson's rise to manufactured celebrity. I also liked the small touch of the way the pages and chapters are numbered backward, giving a continual sense of a countdown.

As with his previous novel, Fight Club, things are not as may seem apparent; I missed the subtlety at first and needed to be pointed to it by another review. Unlike the previous book, the twist doesn't undermine the whole of the main plotline but subtly changes the ending and ties up a few hanging ends that I'd thought were inconsistencies in the narrative. ( )

Young guy from religous cult goes and - hang on, I've forgotten. Better go back and re-read before I say anymore. Still, I do remember enjoying this book very much. ( )