Amidst the bare-knuckle fights and violent masculinity of his narrative is a carefully constructed satirisation of modern-day life. It’s true: Palahniuk doesn’t shy away from politics. To Emma, Palahniuk’s description of consumer culture is ‘particularly relevant in these times’.

This week, Emma wants to talk to me about Palahniuk’s approach to consumerism within his novel. Fight Club is one of the novels she has been reading. Amidst her work, Emma has been filling her free time with reading, among other things.

‘I have days that are good and days that are bad,’ Emma tells me, and we agree that this up-and-down sensation is shared by many of us during times like these. She’s a key worker for a Mental Health Charity, LAMP (Let’s Talk About Mental Health), and is in the process of writing a book for their thirtieth anniversary, detailing the Charity’s history. When asked, Emma tells me her Lockdown has been a tumultuous one. But, what’s especially interesting about Fight Club is the undercurrent of sociopolitical critique that runs throughout the novel.Įmma’s a fellow Literature student, and she and I have been friends since the beginning of University. Those that have seen the famous film adaption will know that the narrator finds solace in physical violence and, with the help of the mysterious Tyler Durden, opens an underground fight club. A ‘tantalising exploration of violence, male identity politics and therapy-culture’, the novel follows a nameless narrator as he struggles to navigate the stress of his job and recurrent insomnia. And yet this week, Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel, Fight Club, is exactly what my guest, Emma Brine, wants to talk about. The first rule of Fight Club? You don’t talk about Fight Club. “The things you used to own, now they own you.”

Fight club book