Damned by Chuck Palahniuk follows
the idea that every cliché you’ve ever heard about Hell is absolutely and
completely true. And Hell isn’t really
that bad of a place so long as you don’t expect it to be like Heaven. All it needs is a little optimism and some long-overdue
re-landscaping by the supernumerous tenants.
The book is creative, thoughtful and entertaining, and is probably more
broadly-appealing to readers than most of Palahniuk’s other, more shockingly
gruesome works. With trim, lean writing
the author creates the most sympathetic, likeable protagonist of his
career. To his credit, the 13-year old
female protagonist is thoroughly authentic in thought and viewpoint, which
allows Palahniuk to lead the character to a number of unusually profound conclusions. Like the protagonist, every member of the
supporting cast is similarly illustrated with sympathetic—if not tragic—human
weaknesses. As the backstories of these characters
are revealed the reader becomes continually haunted with the idea that there is
no Heaven at all, and that Hell is for everyone.
Despite its strengths, Damned is
not Palahniuk’s best. His trademark technique
of using repetition in changing contexts fails to fulfill its purpose in this
novel. The result is frequently negatively
iterative, if not, at times, indulgent.
The structure of the final act is particularly weak as well, giving the
impression that the novel was cut short of the full story the author was trying
to tell. Virtually without warning, we
are ushered to a rapid climax which dissipates anti-climactically. The pivotal idea to the story’s final
revelation—that the main character is driven by free will—is hindered by the
poor structure and ultimately results in invalidating all the story which
preceded it by making it feel pointless.
Damned is worth a read,
especially for those who love anti-fundamentalist and anti-liberal satire.
Rating: 3 / 5