by Matt Dubois

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Having seen the movie, Fight Club, I was slightly disappointed reading the book, not because the movie was better in any way, but because, having seen it, so many of the book's secrets that are integral to attaining its full effect have already been revealed to me. I feel as if I have somehow come to know something I shouldn't, and my ill-gotten knowledge has detracted, however slightly, from the powerful punch the book should pack.

However, knowledge is power, as the say, and knowing that Tyler Durden is all a figment of the narrator's imagination does in fact seem to be helping my understanding and enjoyment of the novel. For instance, in incredibly dark and complex scenes such as the one in which "Tyler" pours the lye on the narrator's hand and forces him to comprehend a number of concepts, I am armed with the simple knowledge that Tyler isn't real; all that he does is actually, in some way, being done by the narrator himself, which reveals a very different, far more deeply disturbing undertone to the book than if there actually was a physical counterpart to the narrator. Because I already know that Tyler doesn't exist, I can (unlike during my first viewing of the film) appreciate the dark nuances and psychological twists with which Palahniuk has riddled the novel. Knowing that the narrator is actually acting on his own and discovering all the new facets of his own psyche, turning from a mild-mannered nine-to-fiver to a terrorist, without external guidance truly allows me to gain a better view and understanding of the transformation while it is in progress, rather than retroactively. While it is slightly disappointing to know what will happen in the plot, my knowledge of the book's dark, secret side allows me to appreciate it in ways in which I could not, had I not already known its plot.

Learn more about this author, Matt Dubois.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.