Lullaby

This is my first book by this author, and honestly, there's no regrets. This book comes out the gate with the weird and horror aspects and keeps it up until the very last page. There's a couple of paragraphs and even a handful of chapters, that were a little confusing until I figured things out; but that just made the story all the more fun honestly. I really liked the symbolism of the books overall theme, the greed of humanity and how humans are always looking to have some form of power. For all the comedic quips sprinkled throughout the book, the story is pretty dark and definitely makes the reader think long and hard about the things they themselves do that impact the world. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

This was the first novel I'd read by Chuck Palahniuk, as I had heard some good reviews of his writing style and decided to check out one of his novels, and I started off with Lullaby. This novel is very different then anything I've ever read, both the writing style and plot but I felt it was incoherent at times, so I'll give my best description of what it's about. The story focuses on a journalist named Carl Streater telling the events in detail, and gives an introduction to what is going on. He was once married and had a daughter, but he read them both a "culling song" from an old storybook that apparently will kill anyone that hears it. Carl himself in his present job is assigned to writing stories about cases of sudden infant death syndrome, and he begins to suspect that others have read the same culling song to their children and only he knows of its true power. But Carl himself is cynical and angry and develops an ability to kill people by merely thinking the song towards someone. He then determines to collect all copies of the book and destroy them and is assisted by a real estate agent named Helen, who knows of the culling song and agrees to help him and they also want to find some spell book that contains all kinds of mystical spells/curses. I won't give any rest away but I will say the novel sometimes tends to lose focus and at times I think Palahniuk just ranted on certain aspects of society he finds ignorant and repulsive. For example, early on in the book he devotes an entire chapter fuming on what he describes as a "quiet phobia" people have to where they can't stop listening to TV and radio. But all in all I think this was a very good horror/thriller novel that has a pretty scary idea, being able to kill someone by saying or thinking a song, so I will say this is a good read but it may not be good for everyone.

It just occurred to me that I should have looked into whether any of Palahniuk's books are part of a series or if they are all stand-alone stories. Either way, I enjoyed so much the twists and turns that surprised me... that I didn't see coming. The prologue introduces the narrator, where he describes the character Helen as 'our hero', and you get to spend the rest of the book questioning the tone of that sentence. Was Helen a hero? Was the narrator being facetious, or sarcastic? Was his tone bitter and resentful or in admiration of a truth we don't know yet? In fact, the whole of the book is the continual question of where each of the characters stands on the spectrums of good and bad, hero and villain, virtuous and evil, moral and immoral. I had not read a solid first person perspective story in a few years, and I really enjoyed being along for the ride with Mr. Streator.

This was a wild ride (as are all the other Palahniuk books I’ve read). I found the entire concept- a book of children’s stories you can check out in any local library that has a lullaby in it that kills anyone it’s read to with no warning- fascinating. I liked the different angles taken towards dealing with such a lullaby. Destroy them all or harness their power. I also think it’s a sad book. Obviously any book that discusses SIDS is going to be sad. I wanted to rate this book four stars but there were a couple times where I zoned out. Overall it was a very interesting book though

I read Lullaby a very long time ago in college, and I finally got the book in hardcover. This is by far one of my favorite books by Chuck Palahniuk. The writing style is smooth and the reading is fast, The story is fantastic, witty, and clever. I love the dark undertones, the comments on society, and the characters. If you haven't ever read Mr. P's work, here is the place to start. "We're living in a teetering tower of babble. A shaky reality of words. A DNA soup for disaster. The natural world destroyed, we're left with this cluttered world of language. Big brother is singing and dancing, and we're left to watch. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but our role is just to be a good audience. To just pay attention and wait for the next disaster." -Chuck Palahniuk Lullaby

Amazing book. I need not say more, Chuck P. never ceases to captivate me. This book starts out leading you to believe it will remain a tragic story about a family and the hardships that seem to stem from the acquisition of their new house and this new *book of lullabies*, but it steers you in a completely weird, macabre and fantastical direction. 2 thumbs up!

Una lectura amena, muy en la línea de Palahniuk aunque a mi juicio bastante inferior a otras obras como Fight Club o Choke. Contiene reflexiones interesantes, pero el final es demasiado grotesco sin fundamento alguno. En cualquier caso, la lectura es amena. Una buena edición, cuidada y respetuosa con el formato en papel.

Come per tutte le opere di Chuck Palahniuk è un must leggerle in originale inglese per lo stile pressoché impossibile da rendere in italiano. Chi ama l'autore non rimarrà deluso: si ritrova la usuale compiaciuta denuncia delle alienazioni del consumismo e dell'individualismo della società americana. Ho preferito Choke, Invisible Monsters e Fight Club, ma di sicuro questo libro non delude.

Nach den ersten drei Romanen von Chuck Palahniuk - INVISIBLE MONSTERS, SURVIVOR, FIGHT CLUB - fragte ich mich, warum ich diesen Autor eigentlich immer weiter lese. Ich hatte das Gefühl, mir wäre alles zu viel und ich würde nur die Hälfte verstehen. Dann bekam ich sein viertes Buch CHOKE in die Finger und begriff es. Plötzlich sah ich, was der Autor tat und die anderen Romane öffneten sich mir von Neuem. Es gibt keinen Schriftsteller, der so gnadenlos und entblößend mit unserer Gesellschaft umgeht. Niemand legt den Finger so direkt auf die Wunden und pult darin herum. Nicht nur ist Palahniuk dabei klinisch präzise, er eröffnet dem Leser einen Blickwinkel, der bis dahin scheinbar überhaupt nicht existiert hat. Mit seinem horrenden Wissen von Fakten unterstreicht er dabei seine Story, macht sie realer und fieser, als jede Dokumentation sein könnte. Und dann kommt seiner neuer Roman heraus und führt die bisherige Arbeit nahlos weiter. Es ist nicht nur unheimlich, was hier geschrieben ist, es ist nicht nur beängstigend - es ist sowas von düster und ironisch zugleich und steckt voller Ideen, die für zehn Bücher gereicht hätten. Man liest atemlos, man grinst und greift sich gleichzeitig vor Schreck an den Kopf. Denn hier schreibt jemand nicht nur über Amerika, er redet über die gesamte Weltlage und das Chaos um uns herum. Dabei gelingt es ihm dennoch einen postiven Ton anzuschlagen, so daß man sich immer wieder fragt: Wie schlimm ist es wirklich? Wie schlimm kann es noch werden? und: Was tue ich dagegen? LULLABY ist eine Parabel, die viele zur Seite legen werden, weil sie nicht wissen wollen, was in der Absurdität dieses Lebens möglich ist. Niemand schaut gerne in den Spiegel, um zu checken, wie gemein oder häßlich er seit gestern geworden ist. Niemand will wissen, was die eigenen Gedanken verbergen. Palahniuk kann das. Er bedeckt einen mit Häßlichkei und Schönheit, mit Hoffnung und Ausweglosigkeit und mischt die Phantasie mit der Realität, bis man beide nicht mehr voneinander unterscheiden kann. Chuck Palahniuk geht mit seinem neuen Roman diesen besonderen Schritt weiter, den man sich von der großen, neuen Literatur wünscht. Ein leuchtendes Buch mehr im Regal.

Brilliant book! Definitely recognisable as Chuck's writing in the extremes and the thoughts that he allows his characters to think. This was a brilliant book that I couldn't put down and I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone! This was about a newspaper reporter writing an article about cot deaths, who make an unusual discovery of a pattern in some of those that he is investigating. He takes this investigation further and becomes embroiled in his own story of murder and magic; as he meets up with Helen, a flamboyant estate agent whose behaviour is more than just eccentric. Helen leads the report further into the investigation than he ever thought possible and their lives take on a new direction of sought-after worldy power, which soon becomes too much for him to handle. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Chuck adds another twist to the plot. This story may appear an unbelievable plot on the surface, but it leaves you wondering about your own children's bedtime rituals!