Diary: A Novel

This is a story written in diary format from Misty's perspective, but it's a letter to her husband, so there is second-person narrative element to it, which I liked. Basically, this story is about Misty, a girl who fell in love with a guy and ended up getting pregnant. So, she quit art school. She quit art, period. Though her husband comes from a rich family, they fall on hard times, so she gets a job as a waitress. He gets a job remodeling houses. We come into the story after the husband has tried to kill himself and is now in a coma; Misty gets calls from her husband's clients and finds that his remodeling jobs held secret messages; and Misty's mother-in-law keeps trying to get her to paint. For some reason, this will save all the show more residents of the island on which they live, and island that is being overrun by tourists.

To describe Diary in two words: deliciously weird.

This was my first foray into Palahniuk's mind. I have quite a few friends who are in love with him, but I have to admit, for the better part of this novel, I just wasn't sold. The beginning is just strange. Costume jewelry seems to be a big issue, and I just didn't get. Everything was surreal; the way Misty was able to find hidden messages that led her exactly where she needed to go; the way Misty's mother-in-law, daughter, and doctor treated her; really, everything about it was simply strange.

None of it seemed to connect, and I thought I was reading a story that was strange just for the sake of being strange. However, it still intrigued me and I kept on going. I wanted to know what would happen to poor Misty. Would she start painting again? Would her husband wake up? Would her mother-in-law lay off? I had all these questions, and I wanted them answered.

Thank goodness for those questions, because Diary comes together beautifully. Don't get me wrong, it's still strange. But it's strange with a purpose. Everything is happening for a reason, and once that was made clear, I fell in love. The narrative is expertly done. I was taken on the journey with Misty, who also had no clue about what was going on. Along with her, I discovered the island inhabitants' strange beliefs and their even stranger plan for saving their livelihoods.

There were some times where I thought the story was too drawn out, but for the most part, I enjoyed it. It's horrific, terrifying, and intriguing all at the same time. For those who like their books weird, definitely pick this one up. You won't regret it. show less

It has taken me a long time to get around to reading this book, but I am glad I finally did!
Diary is a 'coma diary' written by Misty Wilmot for her husband. Or at least that is what she thinks she is doing. Before falling into a coma, Peter was doing some very weird things - making rooms in houses disappear and writing bizarre messages on walls. Misty struggles to carry on with life, knowing that she has to leave her dreams of being an artist behind if she is to raise her daughter and care for her widowed mother-in-law.
Then Misty's story takes a bizarre turn, and it turns out that fate has a pull on Misty she never anticipated.
It is hard to review this book without giving any of the plot away. All that can really be said is what at show more first seems to be a literary exploration of the giving up of dreams for the grind of everyday life soon develops into a modern Gothic tale full of strange characters and bizarre events. In the hands of a lesser author, this work would have been in the 'kooky' basket, but a master like Palahniuk creates an absorbing take on modern life that just happens to be completely left of field. show less

(35) For some reason I thought I would never read or enjoy a novel by this author - based on something I heard, maybe about 'Fight Club,' but I forget what I heard and am really not sure why I have never read Palahniuk before. I chose this for a Halloween read after a little internet search for literary horror. Misty Marie Kleinman is writing in a diary after her husband is found in a coma from a suicide attempt. They live on Waytansea Island where tourists have overrun the locals. Strange happenings abound regarding art, inspiration, old folklore, mysterious writings found in walled off rooms that her husband worked on - they seem to suggest an upcoming apocalyptic event. Before long, Misty is drawn into an island-wide intrigue and it show more is not clear WTF is going on -- to the reader or the writer of said diary. But it is cleverly and sharply written in a visceral way that makes for great entertainment.

This is more of a psychological thriller as opposed to real horror or mystery - though there certainly are some mysteries and reveals. I found it a bit overwrought at parts especially about paint colors, and other art-type facts. But I loved the crazy storytelling from the mind of an increasingly deranged narrator. I loved the occasional grotesque description - the pin through the nipple, the pugilist pose with the uber-long fingernails, the knife in the shinbone, etc - very well-done re: chilling and bile-raising without being gory.

Definitely a good, if kooky, read and perfect for me for Halloween. Not scary. Not brain-teasingly mysterious. Really kind-of genre bending, hard to give it a name. Better written than Stephen King, less classy than Sarah Waters, crazier than Tana French but in a way reminiscent and recommended by those who like those authors. I will definitely read him again if I am in the mood to suspend my disbelief and be slightly shocked and repelled. show less

Unsurprisingly this book is very disturbing. It's written as a coma diary to Peter Wilmot, who tried to kill himself with exhaust fumes but ran out of gasoline and now lies in a coma in hospital. It turns out that all the time he was refurbishing summer houses of the rich in his home town on Waytansea Island he sealed in whole rooms or closets in which he left hate messages in black spray paint.

The story is already bizarre in the beginning, but it gets even more so later on. I liked the writing style. It's different from most things you read. "A couple drinks, a couple aspirin, and repeat" and weather forecasts of Misty's mood. There is a scene in the book, taking place when Misty and Peter meet, that sends shivers down my spine just show more thinking about reading it. But I guess it served its purpose - I kept reading in horrified fascination. Diary is by no means a nice book, but a fascinating one. show less

Reading this book was a bit like falling down the rabbit hole. The rhythm of Palahniuk's writing is so urgent, it compelled me to keep turning pages, even as the images his words painted grew more and more twisted and terrifying. I stayed up until the wee hours to finish because I knew if I left off in the middle of that horror I'd have nightmares, but it definitely wasn't a typical horror novel. Intriguing themes and subject matter--I loved the way the author wove in the study of facial muscles and the origin of pigments with the Stendhal Syndrome and the questions about the meaning and purpose of art--and an extremely creepy concept kept me reading, and the unique voice of the main character kept me caring about her fate.

If I am unsure of a book, if I want to like it but the first few pages make me want to gnaw my face off, I give it ten percent. Figure out how many pages it has, divide by ten, and that’s how many pages I’ll give it to convince me that continuing is in any way worth it. I used to agree with the old librarian rule of reading your age (i.e. I’m 25, so I’d read 25 pages) but on shorter books, that proved silly. In this case, the book is 260 pages, I read to page 26. And I still hated it. But I kept reading, probably out of some sadistic need to end up hating myself, Palahniuk, everyone in the novel, and viewers like you.

This epistolary novel revolves around art-school-dropout Misty Marie Kleinman Wilmot and her fated existence show more among the chipped paint facades of Waytansea Island, located somewhere, it seems, in New Jersey. Appropriate for a hellish existence, New Jersey. There, she has been baited and lured, and now she hangs on the line as her life, and her previous lives, flash before her/our eyes.

The novel is not without merit. It’s intelligent and colorful and, if nothing else, proves that someone’s done their painting homework. But anything written in (even semi-) second person (i.e. addressing the reader as a character) as this is, can be jarring, unnerving and uncomfortable. It was like having an anxiety attack for three days straight.

Somewhere around page 200 I decided that I didn’t completely hate it, that it wasn’t just some sadistic need to be reading that kept me doing so, that there was something of me in it relating to the art. But as I reached the last few chapters, that vicious self-serving need to just finish the damn book took the wheel again. By the end, I felt like Peter Wilmot, sitting alone, gas tank empty, engine exhausted, poisoned by prose-y sleeping pills and fumes.

But the real kicker came when the story seemed over. On the last page of the book, Palahniuk does exactly what I loathe, exactly what Porter Grand did with Little Women and Werewolves by including the fictionalized publisher’s letter and exhibiting the novel as a previous version by Alcott. It’s a cop-out. Palahniuk’s work is far too intelligent to sink to that kind of nonsense. Better to end on an anxious high than sink in the finale with that kind of kick in the head that makes the psychological and kind of horrifying tone of the novel feel trivial and dull like hard plastic.
Lauren Cartelli
theliterarygothamite.com show less

I am usually wary of authors attempting narratives from the perspective of main characters of the opposite sex, but Palahniuk delivers. This book is about a woman dealing with the attempted suicide of her husband and the unravelling of a lifestyle she spent her entire life dreaming of and trying to obtain. She is sometimes infuriating in her relentless bitterness and sometimes pitiful and worthy of a reader's deepest sympathies, but she never stops being Misty, so kudos to Palahniuk. Woolf would be impressed, I'm sure. This isn't a nihilist fiction, but it is fatalist in its presentation and message. It's straight to the point, a bit terrifying in places, and thoroughly entertaining. Long-time fans and new readers alike should enjoy show more this novel. show less